If you see a motorcycle flying down the highway, you may feel that it looks like freedom. There’s the countercultural part of owning one of these vehicles, but that might not necessarily attract you. You might just like the idea of hopping on one and taking off to get away from your troubles.
While motorcycle riding might appeal, if you ever do it, you must try to exercise all the necessary precautions. 85% of South Carolina bike accidents see serious injuries, and that’s true in many other states as well. Assuming you know to wear a helmet while riding your motorcycle and to obey the speed limit and other applicable traffic laws, then you may want to go ahead and buy one.
However, you will probably not want to do it indiscriminately. There are times when it makes more sense than others to buy one, so let’s talk about when you might do so.

Near the End of the Year
If you go buy a new car, you will often want to wait till close to the end of the calendar year.
You will usually do that because the dealership will have new vehicle models coming in.
They might want to move some of the older merchandise to clear some space on the lot or showroom.
You might not know that it’s frequently the same with motorcycles, though.
Just like cars, motorcycle manufacturers will often release new models around the start of the new calendar year, which means dealerships will feel particular motivation to move out the old stock.
If you want to get a steal of a deal, go talk to a salesperson at the motorcycle seller of your choice right round the end of December. You might get some generous financing, more so than at other times of the year.
When There’s a Sale Going On
You may also wait and buy a motorcycle when there’s a sale going on. Since many people associate motorcycles with Americana, they often have big, blowout motorcycle sales right around the 4th of July.
If it’s not close to that time of year, then you may look into sales that happen around the other holidays. A motorcycle seller near you might have a sale around Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, or Labor Day.
Check the websites of any sellers close to you. If you target a holiday and wait for a sale, you can often get a more favorable deal.
When You Get a Bonus at Work
You may also wait to buy your motorcycle till you get a nice bonus at work. If that happens, it’s normally right around the holidays. Some workers even get quarterly bonuses or ones for hitting target numbers, especially if you work in sales.

If you can get a bonus at work and put it toward your new motorcycle, then you might pay for most of it all at once. If you still need to pay for some of it via an installment plan, you might not have very long till you own the bike outright.
That’s probably something you want. If you can get to a situation where you’re only paying for the bike for a few months, and you’re not paying very large amounts, either, that’s ideal. There’s only one thing better: paying for the whole bike all at once. You may not have the money to do that, though.
When You Get a Tax Refund
You may also decide to get a motorcycle when you get your income tax refund if you know you have one coming your way. Usually, you will have some idea whether you overpaid or underpaid your taxes each year. Sometimes, the number might surprise you, but usually, you will at least know whether you’re getting anything back or not.
If you get a tax refund of several thousand dollars, that can represent a very nice down payment on a motorcycle. If you also have some money in savings, you may even be able to pay for the whole thing all at once.
If you have money in savings that you can combine with a nice cash windfall, that’s one of the best times to make such an extravagant purchase.
When You Get Some Other Kind of a Windfall
Maybe you can also wait till you get some other kind of cash windfall besides an income tax refund. If you get some money as an inheritance because a relative died, you may feel like that’s the chance to get that new motorcycle for which you’ve been waiting. You may also use the money if you cash in via a scratch-off lottery ticket.
You may get some money from a class action lawsuit if a product harmed you. With such windfalls, though, you can seldom predict when they will come your way. Maybe you feel like a relative might die soon, but you can probably never predict something like a lottery win.
If you try to combine several of these strategies, that might work. Maybe you take the money from an income tax refund and combine it with some cash that you saved for a couple of years. You can also try to get to a motorcycle dealership right around the holidays when there’s a sale going on.
No matter what circumstance you set up, though, you may also want to think about some additional considerations. Maybe you will want to get your new motorcycle at a time when you know some of your buddies will get theirs as well. Perhaps you’ve talked with your friends about this possibility, and now, you’re all going to pull the trigger at once.
Maybe you’ll get yourself a new motorcycle if you get a new job, or perhaps you’ll do it if you just ended your marriage. You may feel like you should treat yourself. Getting this thing you’ve wanted can mark a major change in your life that you feel needs commemoration.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Olivia Poglianich
Content Strategist
Olivia Poglianich is a nomadic brand strategist and copywriter in the motorcycling and adventure space who has worked with brands such as Visa, Disney and Grey Goose. Her writing has taken her all over the world, from a Serbian music festival to a Malaysian art and culture event. Olivia is a graduate of Cornell University and is often writing or reading about travel, hospitality, the start-up ecosystem or career coaching. Her latest interests are at the intersection of web3 and communal living, both on and offline.