Motorcycle hearse finance
For a lifelong rider, the last journey on three wheels has become a genuinely mainstream request rather than an eccentric one.
Whole-of-market — 60+ lenders searched, including
Can you finance a motorcycle hearse?
Motorcycle hearse finance funds the trike and sidecar hearses used to carry a coffin behind a large motorcycle. The vehicle is a purpose-built conversion, usually a heavyweight touring machine mated to a glass-sided carriage or a sidecar deck, and it is registered as a motor vehicle while being entirely unlike anything in a standard valuation guide. Funders who write the funeral sector will consider them, assessing the builder, condition and the business behind the purchase. They are typically operated as a specialist service offered to families through several funeral directors.
Used kit: Yes — used motorcycle hearses do change hands and are fundable, though the small number in existence means values depend heavily on who happens to be looking at the time.
Get a quoteor call 07581 364281
What would a motorcycle hearse cost per month?
Business asset finance is quoted on a flat rate, so that is what this shows — with the equivalent APR underneath, because the two are not the same number. A quick guide only; your actual rate depends on the asset, term, deposit and lender.
Representative example: on Hire Purchase, borrowing £25,000 over 48 months at a 6.0% flat rate (equivalent to 11.5% APR representative), you would repay around £646 a month; total amount repayable approximately £31,000, of which £6,000 is the cost of finance. This calculator is for illustration only — it is not a quote or an offer of finance, and the rate and repayments you are offered will depend on the asset, term, deposit and your circumstances. CW Asset Finance is a credit broker, not a lender, and may receive a commission from the lender that funds your agreement. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval. CW Asset Finance is an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 630701).
How lenders treat it
The buyer pool here is smaller than for any other funeral vehicle. There are only a handful of builders, a modest number of operators nationally and no ordinary disposal route, so a funder considering one is accepting that reselling it means finding a very particular buyer. Mainstream motorcycle finance is unavailable, since the vehicle bears no relation to the donor bike once converted. The specialists who do write it look at the quality and provenance of the conversion, the engineering approvals behind it and the record of the operator. Mileage is generally low and the machine is kept immaculately, so condition is rarely the issue. As elsewhere in this sector, the applicant’s stability carries a great deal of weight, and an operator with years of bookings behind them is a far easier case than a new venture.
Makes and models we fund
Examples of the machines we are asked to fund. This is not an exhaustive list — if what you are buying is not here, it does not mean we cannot fund it. Your supplier quote is what the agreement is written against.
| Machine | What it is |
|---|---|
| Triumph Rocket 3 trike hearse | British triple converted for funeral work |
| Harley-Davidson Tri Glide hearse | Factory trike converted to a hearse |
| Suzuki Hayabusa sidecar hearse | Sidecar hearse outfit for fast bikes |
| Honda Gold Wing trike | Touring trike base for a hearse conversion |
| Indian Roadmaster trike hearse | American touring trike hearse |
| Casarva trike conversions | British trike conversions for large motorcycles |
| Grinnall trike conversions | UK-built trike conversion kits |
| Triumph Rocket 3 support motorcycle | Escort bike to lead the cortege |
| Brian James Trailers enclosed transporter | Covered trailer to move the outfit |
| Ifor Williams enclosed trailers | Box trailer for machine transport |
Get a quoteor call 07581 364281
Who buys one
Usually a specialist operator who provides motorcycle funerals across a wide area and works with dozens of funeral homes, or a forward-looking independent funeral director adding a distinctive service that no neighbouring firm offers. Riders’ families request them specifically, often naming the marque.
Get a quoteor call 07581 364281
How it is treated for tax
Bought on hire purchase, business plant and machinery normally qualifies for capital allowances on the full cost even though you pay for it monthly, which is a large part of why hire purchase is the common structure. On a finance lease you generally set the rentals against profit instead. The rules change between budgets and your position depends on how you trade, so treat this as the direction of travel and get your accountant to confirm the detail before you commit.
Motorcycle hearse finance questions
Will an ordinary motorcycle finance company fund one?
No. Motorcycle lenders underwrite against standard machines and their resale data, and a converted funeral trike falls entirely outside that. The enquiry needs a funder that already writes specialist funeral vehicles.
Does the donor machine affect the decision?
It influences it. A recognised heavyweight touring or cruiser base gives the funder something familiar to anchor to and suggests the conversion was engineered properly. An obscure donor machine makes an already unusual asset harder still to assess.
Is a transporter trailer worth funding alongside it?
Many operators do, because riding the hearse hundreds of miles to a funeral is impractical and exposes it to weather. An enclosed trailer is a conventional asset and generally funds without difficulty next to the machine itself.
How do funders view a brand new operator?
Cautiously. A specialist asset with a tiny resale market and no trading history behind it is a difficult combination. Evidence of arrangements with funeral directors, and a realistic view of bookings, makes a material difference to the reception.
Are these used for anything other than funerals?
Rarely, and funders assume they are not. The conversion has one purpose, which is part of why the resale audience is so narrow and why advances against them tend to be conservative.
Get a quoteor call 07581 364281
Also in hearse and funeral vehicle finance
- Hearse finance
- Funeral limousine finance
- Funeral fleet finance
- Private ambulance finance
- Removal vehicle finance
- Horse drawn hearse finance
- Electric hearse finance
- Used hearse finance
- Funeral home equipment finance
- Mortuary equipment finance
- Coffin trolley finance
See everything we fund in hearse and funeral vehicle finance →
Not an offer of finance. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Get your quote
Tell us what you’re looking to fund and Conor will come back to you personally — usually the same day.
Prefer to talk? Call 07581 364281 · serving Leeds, York, Harrogate, Wakefield, Selby, Tadcaster & across North & West Yorkshire.