Originally Posted by
genejockey
So I went to the dictionary, or at least the online equivalent of it. Here's how it (Merriam-Webster) defines "Affordable":
: able to be afforded: having a cost that is not too high
Which really doesn't definitively fall down on either side of the tastes great/less filling "financing makes things affordable/no it doesn't" argument. If you define "able to be afforded" as " can afford to make this payment every month for the life of the loan", then, yeah financing makes it "affordable". It doesn't make you more able to pay the full price up front, so arguably it DOESN'T make it "able to be afforded", and with the exception of situations where the rate of interest is below the rate of inflation, financing will make the item more expensive in real terms.
Personally, I don't believe in financing something that will likely be or become worth less than what I'd owe on it. That way, madness lies. And I wouldn't ever see a bike as an "investment", unless we're talking about a collectible, and even then, collectibles are risky investments. Then again, I already have several bikes and none of them were financed.
Honest question, do you pay cash for your cars? The whole industry is built on that type of financing. Not sure madness lies that way for everything.