What’s your mental image of a “Harley Guy”? If It’s a ne’er-do-well, hair blowing in the wind outlaw looking to stir up trouble, that impression needs updating.
Earl Schick is a Harley guy. He’s a helmet-wearing Dad who rides for charities, participates in bike blessing events at church, is a Veteran and spends his days writing mortgages. He even watches his carbs.
“A new Harley is around $40,000 and depending on the style you can get a beautiful used bike for less than ten. There are business professionals who enjoy the wind in their face and the freedom of riding. I can work seven days a week, so there’s nothing better than when you take the bike out for a beautiful ride or just to get a burger and a beer. That’s the payoff.”
“I started with dirt bikes around 10 years old, so naturally when I was 17 I took my road test. There eventually came a point when changing diapers became more important than riding, but now those days are behind us. This is sort of a gift to me to be able to follow that passion again.”
Earl’s style is a “cruiser,” not some “Ninja-style” bike that jets around traffic, leaving highway mayhem in his wake.
Risk/reward is better served as ride/reward in Earl’s eyes.
Making it yours
Something most motorcycle guys enjoy is making their ride an expression of themselves. It’s not like driving off the lot in a minivan, with the apex of personalization the stick figures of your family stuck on the back window.
“You’re always adding or changing something. You might change out the motor, the mirrors, the foot pegs, add shiny chrome or more. $40k is just the starting point. A bike is an individual thing, it makes a statement.”
It’s that spirit of individualized, customized detail that guides Earl through his day job.
“No two fingerprints are the same. Even twin brothers don’t have the same fingerprints. Every mortgage is customized. Every borrower has individual needs. When I see something I like on a bike, I ask where they had it done so I can look into doing that on mine. With a mortgage, people ask me the same sorts of questions. I’m their resource to get the things done that they’d like to do. A customized bike is a collection of parts from different sources. A good Mortgage Lender brings all those customized parts together into one plan. I know how all the parts integrate and how to tailor them to fit together to find that feeling of freedom of your own road – your financial one.”
And who better to help you assess risk than someone who has the good sense to know that runaway speed isn’t for everybody — even if you’re wearing a helmet on a blessed bike?
Earl Schick is a Generational Lending Specialist at Crown Home Mortgage. Contact him on his site (eschick.crownhm.com) to see how a Harley guy can be the key to a smooth ride on your road to financial stability.