GO FURTHER FOR LESS
Affording a new or used bike has never been easier thanks to Personal Contract Plans
While bikes have never been better value than they are right now, we’ve also never had more things fighting for our money. But PCP is about as close to a win-win situation you’re ever likely to get where motorcycles and bank balances are involved. Personal Contract Plans have gone from being a rare oddity in our world to taking a significant chunk of the new bike finance market, and it’s growing fast. If we follow the trend of the car market, over 90% of financed new bike purchases will be on PCP in five years. But it might not be right for you, so make sure you fully understand what it is and how it works. The figures look crazy for some makes and models – but it’s not as mad as it might seem. The upshot is that you can ride these new bikes for less than you might ever have imagined – and what’s more you can have another new one in three years’ time, probably without increasing your monthly outlay, or having to find a fresh deposit. The big catches are that you won’t ever own the bike and there’s no guarantee you’ll have enough equity to use as a deposit when it’s time to upgrade. It won’t suit everyone. The system works by letting you pay for the bike’s depreciation (plus the interest), rather than the full retail price. Add in a decent deposit, and you’re only paying back a small chunk of the loan value, which is how you get such a temptingly low monthly outlay.
So what’s the catch?
At the end of the contract, you don’t own anything. Now you have to decide whether to: pay off the outstanding amount and keep the bike; give the bike back and walk away owing, and owning, nothing; or roll your PCP deal on to a new bike. Many use the equity in the GFV as a deposit, and roll onto a new PCP deal. But be aware that you might not have enough equity to do this, meaning you’ll need to find a new deposit.
What am I really paying for?
You’re effectively entering into a longterm hire agreement, so if you run the bike into the ground you’ll end up having to pay more than the agreed value at the end. But if ownership doesn’t bother you, and you stick to the contract terms, you can’t go far wrong.
‘You can ride a new bike for less than you might imagine’