Are you in a situation where your adult son would love to have a motorcycle but maybe can’t do it? Whether he actually can’t afford it or just won’t give himself permission to do it, you might be in a better financial position to afford it. If you’re going to make a motorcycle a gift, why not make it a surprise gift?

5 Tips for Buying Your Adult Son a Surprise Motorcycle

If you plan on buying your adult son a surprise motorcycle, then Experian has some tips you need to consider, including some of these:

1. Know What You Can Afford: You want to give your son just the motorcycle he might dream of, but can your bank account handle the expense involved? Will you pay straight up for the whole thing at once or spread out the payments through a loan program?

2. Think About Why You’re Doing It: Are you just looking to splurge and lavish your adult son with something he wants? That’s okay. It’s your money. However, if it’s a reward for him becoming a father, graduating, getting a huge promotion, or some other life event, then make sure everyone knows what it is that’s being celebrated.

3. Know Your Loan Options: If the motorcycle is a gift, then you shouldn’t expect to make a down payment and then saddle your adult son with the monthly payments. Be prepared to handle the loan installments, but also be ready for any family awkwardness that might arise from you technically owning the motorcycle that was a gift.

4. Get a Storage Unit: Your son might not have a place to park the motorcycle right away. Getting a storage unit means you can put it somewhere safe where you can surprise him with it. He can keep it there until he’s actually ready to bring it home and ride it.

5. Can Your Son Afford It?: Even if you buy the motorcycle, will your son be able to handle the gas, taxes, and maintenance over time? Know whether or not you’re willing to also cover that. Your son worked hard to establish his independence as an adult, an even if you mean well, intruding upon it might backfire hard for the whole family.

Buy From Anywhere

Thanks to affordable car and motorcycle transport options available, you can buy your adult son a motorcycle from practically anywhere in the country. Using a motorcycle shipping service means you can look for just the right motorcycle and price online and have it delivered to where you are. Arrange for it to be something you can pick up at a local distribution center, or even have it shipped to a specific residential address for the utmost convenience.

Buying Used

Buying a used motorcycle is a great way to save money on your gift. Even if your adult son has been dreaming about a new motorcycle, one that’s a gift is still new to him and is likely to be very well received. Just make sure you do your due diligence along the way.

Buying used motorcycles can happen at dealerships, but you can also look at auctions, shows, and private sellers. It doesn’t take a lot of time online to start finding all sorts of possibilities. If you want the most bang for your buck, look at what private sellers are offering. They don’t have the overhead that dealerships do, so they won’t be looking to charge as much in the first place.

Having said that, dealerships are more likely to have higher-caliber bikes. They are picky about their trade-ins, and they are likely to have mechanics available to them that fix up the bikes that they are looking to sell.

If you can, before you are totally committed to buying it, have a mechanic you trust look it over and let you know its condition. Even better, have someone test-ride it for you if you aren’t into motorcycles yourself.

Does He Have His License?

It’s worth trying to find out if he already has his motorcycle license before you get him something to ride. The gift will go over a lot better if he’s able to take it out for a ride sooner rather than later.

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