Is this a good deal for this motorcycle?

[badmajon]

Hmmm...it seems like everybody here has missed what I think is an important detail.
Badmajon: You're about to spend a grand on a bike to commute in Georgia. I wouldn't buy it. Not for $1000, not for $200.
Get a car. Sure it's not as much fun as a motorcycle, but you will appreciate having a roof and the extra grip of 4 tires when it rains (and, if Georgia weather is anything like Miami weather, that's gonna be quite often), not to mention having an enclosed space in winter.
You can get 40+ mpg on a Honda Civic, and, just like Honda bikes, the thing is bulletproof. Then, if you really want a bike, you can get one with the savings, just to have fun with it.

I have a truck and a minivan too. I wouldn't only have a bike!

 

[DregAddict]

Hmmm...it seems like everybody here has missed what I think is an important detail.
Badmajon: You're about to spend a grand on a bike to commute in Georgia. I wouldn't buy it. Not for $1000, not for $200.
Get a car. Sure it's not as much fun as a motorcycle, but you will appreciate having a roof and the extra grip of 4 tires when it rains (and, if Georgia weather is anything like Miami weather, that's gonna be quite often), not to mention having an enclosed space in winter.
You can get 40+ mpg on a Honda Civic, and, just like Honda bikes, the thing is bulletproof. Then, if you really want a bike, you can get one with the savings, just to have fun with it.

Great point. Even if I plan on riding all five days to work on a certain week I probably end up only riding 3 of them. Some days the weather just doesn't allow for safe or comfortable riding. Other days I remember I have to stop here or there after work and I'll need my car. So when calculating the money you'll be saving on gas, the OP needs to be realistic about just how often he'll ride.

 

[badmajon]

The plan is to buy a bike ASAP, and then sell my relatively new 12-13 mpg V8 4x4 truck and get a small 20-25mpg 4 cyl 2x4 old crappy truck (toyota or something reliable) to use to haul stuff and drive to work when the weather is bad... and to pocket the savings (trying to pay off debt).

I think its a good plan!

 

[Inodoro_Pereyra]

Great point. Even if I plan on riding all five days to work on a certain week I probably end up only riding 3 of them. Some days the weather just doesn't allow for safe or comfortable riding. Other days I remember I have to stop here or there after work and I'll need my car. So when calculating the money you'll be saving on gas, the OP needs to be realistic about just how often he'll ride.

Exactly. And if you have that problem in Nevada, you wouldn't believe how much worse it gets here, on the East coast. Over the last 3-4 years, we've been having, regularly, a couple of months a year in which it's been raining (a lot) almost daily.

The plan is to buy a bike ASAP, and then sell my relatively new 12-13 mpg V8 4x4 truck and get a small 20-25mpg 4 cyl 2x4 old crappy truck (toyota or something reliable) to use to haul stuff and drive to work when the weather is bad... and to pocket the savings (trying to pay off debt).

I think its a good plan!

That's my point. If what you want is to save money, you first need to think it over, and be honest with yourself.
How many times do you REALLY need a truck, whatever its size? You say you have a minivan. I have crammed 3 sheets of 3/4" plywood and 20 2x4"s in a Ford Windstar once. And you can really haul a lot of stuff in the trunk of a Protege.
For $1000 you can probably get a 30+mpg car in pretty good shape, and then, whatever money you get for your big truck, it's all profit. Then you can get yourself a bike, once you're out of debt.