I have two options... Stroke my motor or buy a bike...

I'm leaning towards the bike because I've had my license for two years now and still haven't put my foot down to purchase. I have been looking around on Cycle Trader and Craig's List, but either people want ridiculous amounts for older bikes, or it sounds like a shady deal.

any suggestions on where else I can look? I want an R6...preferably a Raven, older or newer, I'm not too sure if I want to buy outright or finance and go newer, seeing as this is my first bike.

so i suppose my questions are...

Where should I be looking?

what's the wiser...finance, or outright and older?

There's a few bikes on cycletrader.

From visiting a few sites it appears that 06 Raven's with low mileage, mint shape, and not previously wrecked are going for about $8500-$8700.

Hope this helps when you're seraching around.

they had a 05 R6 out front of the suzuki in mesquite for along time. idk if its there or not any more but it was like 7800 or something only a yr old at the time i think. wasnt a raven but it was black.

Try cycletrader or your local magazine stands. Lots of scams now days so be careful if not buying local.

I would call and get some insurance quotes before you do anything. When you find one you like, look to see what it's worth on here---> http://www.kbb.com/kbb/Motorcycles/Default.aspx?linkId=hp_mc_text

Normally you are shooting for a price in the middle of Trade In and Retail NOT retail...