My advice, for what it's worth.
Buy a used bike. There are so many good used bikes out there that people are selling because they are getting out of riding, they just had a kid, just bought a house, etc. etc. etc. You save GST right off the bat, which is a huge discount. Almost enough to make it worth financing the bike.
Target something with a value around $5-6K. It's not so large that you couldn't eat the loss if something goes drastically wrong. And it's not so small that you'll be stuck on a 250 Marauder for the next 5 years. Get basic insurance for it only, and be vigilant about locking it up at night. Plan to ride safe, and don't buy comprehensive coverage. It rarely, if ever, pays back to have ICBC repair your bike if you drop it. Plan on fixing it yourself. The money you save not paying comprehensive for 5 years will easily buy you a complete set of plastics and a brake lever or two for most sportbikes.
If you believe that theft is a serious risk for the bike you're buying, get "specified perils" coverage (which is fire/theft, but not fire/theft/vandalism) to save some money. Be a little less vigilant in locking it up, if someone tries to steal it, gives up when they hit the disc lock, and drops it in your driveway instead, ICBC will call this "vandalism", or they'll claim that you dropped it yourself. You want them to successfully steal it, so ICBC can pay you out for it. Make sure the declared value is reasonable, and adjust it every year to reflect the bike's market value at the time it's most likely to be stolen (middle of summer). Unless you add something new to it every year, that means your declared value will drop every time you insure the bike.
Buy a used bike. There are so many good used bikes out there that people are selling because they are getting out of riding, they just had a kid, just bought a house, etc. etc. etc. You save GST right off the bat, which is a huge discount. Almost enough to make it worth financing the bike.
Target something with a value around $5-6K. It's not so large that you couldn't eat the loss if something goes drastically wrong. And it's not so small that you'll be stuck on a 250 Marauder for the next 5 years. Get basic insurance for it only, and be vigilant about locking it up at night. Plan to ride safe, and don't buy comprehensive coverage. It rarely, if ever, pays back to have ICBC repair your bike if you drop it. Plan on fixing it yourself. The money you save not paying comprehensive for 5 years will easily buy you a complete set of plastics and a brake lever or two for most sportbikes.
If you believe that theft is a serious risk for the bike you're buying, get "specified perils" coverage (which is fire/theft, but not fire/theft/vandalism) to save some money. Be a little less vigilant in locking it up, if someone tries to steal it, gives up when they hit the disc lock, and drops it in your driveway instead, ICBC will call this "vandalism", or they'll claim that you dropped it yourself. You want them to successfully steal it, so ICBC can pay you out for it. Make sure the declared value is reasonable, and adjust it every year to reflect the bike's market value at the time it's most likely to be stolen (middle of summer). Unless you add something new to it every year, that means your declared value will drop every time you insure the bike.
