When buying a bike (car or other similar sum), I always look at the options.
Are they offering a low finance rate, or even zero?
If they are offering zero, how much will they reduce the price by if I pay up front? I once got 10% off!
Notice my use of "up front", I did not say cash. I could pay by a credit card, which then gives me a whole lot of other options.
A credit card allows me to put off the outflow of cash for 6-8 weeks. That gives me time to do something else.
I mentioned in an earlier post that you can use interest free credit cards to transfer a balance from one card to another. There is a charge for this, but as long as you know what it is and take it into account it could be worth it.
Before paying cash, ask yourself where is it coming from and what interest rate is it earning where it is right now? I once took out a 3-year deal to buy a car up front, even though I could pay up front for it. I'd already got the best deal I could, but the money that I had ready was earning much more than the 3% that Marks & Spencer wanted to charge me (it's a while ago now!)
I once was going to pay for a bike with a zero % finance deal, but the credit company wanted too much information from me and I found it very intrusive. I honestly suspect that they were fishing for lifestyle data to sell on to others, so I reversed my decision and paid with a credit card and then by bank transfer later to pay off the credit card before incurring charges.
The other very important thing to watch out for is looking for credit too many times. That could be as simple as looking for a new credit card. Or maybe a different mortgage company. Collectively, all of these efforts signify to the credit scoring agencies that you are in trouble and are a risk. Your credit rating will be reduced and you may end up not being able to get a credit card or a mortgage. When asked "have ever been refused credit?" you will have to say "yes". Now that IS a red flag! At best, the rates you will be charged will be higher. I know this for a fact because I went from a platinum credit card with an allowance of £15,000 to not being able to get one at all! This was entirely innocent due to me searching for a new mortgage. But I had just ditched the credit card company because they annoyed me and as part of the new mortgage thing, I had moved from one bank to another. All these things added up to no new credit card for me. I had to go cap in hand to my old bank and ask for a credit card. "Who are you?" they asked. I replied that up until two weeks ago I was a customer of 30 years standing with my own personal banker (on her day off). "Sorry we have no record of that!" They grudgingly gave me a Barclaycard blue card with a £500 limit They made clear that they were very much doing me a favour. £500!!, I spent more on company expenses in a week than that. It was a major inconvenience. I had to get travelling companions to pay the hotel bills and for hire car petrol on their cards!