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June 17, 2009 8:04 a.m. pinchvalve SuperDork

OK, so no way this is a good time to open a custom bike shop, but let's play what if. The economy has gone south, the mega-buck bikes are going the way of the do-do, but people still like cool Check out the post about the (Thumper Brit Bikes.) So here's my thought.

There are @ billion Japanese bikes from 1975 - 1990 laying around junkyards and scrap yards and e-bay. So buy up a bunch of them and get a little inventory going of used stuff. Specialize in rebuilding a few engines, say all Honda Twins and Fours. Then mix and match frames, cool bars, cool wheels, and such with some fab and paint to build some neat creations. Cap the out-the-door price at $15K, and offer an entry-level rebuilt bob-job for @ $5K. You could also do repairs and inspections to help pay the bills.
June 17, 2009 8:17 a.m. CrackMonkey HalfDork
Not enough market. It might make a fun hobby for a little extra income, but I doubt it would fly as a full-fledged shop.

Who is buying bobbers/choppers/cafes?
- Old guys with money. They want something as a status symbol. They'll spend big bucks to get it. They won't buy a $5k bobber, they will buy a $15k+ custom.
- DIYers. They might have money, or they might not, but these are the guys riding $5k bobbers. They're more likely to use craigslist and ebay to get the stuff they need. They might need welding help, or paint help, or some machine work, but they won't buy a complete bike.
- Dreamers. They might have money, or they might not. Either way, they'll probably just end up on a slightly used SV650. At some point, they might try to become a #1 or #2, but they'll realize they're too boring for that, sell the bike and return to the land of fuel-injection and electric starters.
- Marque enthusiasts/vintage enthusiasts. They just want something old because it reminds them of a by-gone era. This is really the only set of buyers that will buy a $5k vintage bobber. But, they are few and far between. And you would be competing against stock, or slightly custom, $5k bikes.
So, anyway, I think if you have garage space, you can probably make a few bucks resto-modding old Hondas (or Triumphs, or whatever), but you would be better off treating it as a hobby and not a job.
June 17, 2009 8:29 a.m. Woody SuperDork

Having recently sold an old Honda motorcycle (last weekend), I've got a pretty good grasp on the market for this stuff.

In this case (Honda Fours) it seemed like a perfectly restored stock bike or a really nice low mileage survivor might bring in somewhere around the low to mid $3000 range. A really, really nicely executed cafe racer version of the same bike would draw a ton of interest and maybe sell for around $5000.

As the Monkey said, it might make for a fun hobby but probably not a successful business. Anybody spending more than $5000 is looking for something made in the US, Britain, Italy, or Germany, or a much newer Japanese bike.
June 18, 2009 2:46 p.m. therex SuperDork

Also, congratulations! You just invented Cycle Exchange: http://www.cyclexchange.net/index.html
June 18, 2009 10:00 p.m. alex HalfDork

Sure, but where do you turn if you think CB750s are gutless wonders, unworthy of the hype?

I keed, I keed.

(Sorta. I've ridden tons of CB750s, and not a one has done a thing for me. But to each his own.)
June 19, 2009 12:56 a.m. Appleseed HalfDork

Really? Check this guy out.

http://www.cb750cafe.com
June 19, 2009 5:00 a.m. foxtrapper SuperDork

pinchvalve wrote: There are @ billion Japanese bikes from 1975 - 1990 laying around junkyards and scrap yards and e-bay. So buy up a bunch of them and get a little inventory going of used stuff.

Uh huh. Did that. Twice. Two major problems:

1, everyone wants a fortune for their stuff.
2, no one wants to spend anything to buy your stuff.

Specialize in rebuilding a few engines, say all Honda Twins and Fours. Then mix and match frames, cool bars, cool wheels, and such with some fab and paint to build some neat creations. Cap the out-the-door price at $15K, and offer an entry-level rebuilt bob-job for @ $5K. You could also do repairs and inspections to help pay the bills.

Let me introduce you to a few folk I know who do that sort of stuff. Every one of them has other jobs, to pay the bills and support their hobby. The only portion they make money on is repairs. Some make some money on restorations. But that's not the selling of restored bikes, that's restoring or fabricating someones dream. There's just not much of a market for a CB350 dirt track bike. Only when a client comes in specifically lusting for a dirt track CB350 can you sell one.

The mixing and matching of bike parts you're talking about is nowhere near as easy as you think. Lots of parts come close to mixing, but not quite. That's why back in the day there wasn't much mixing and matching. Handlebars and turnsignals were about all you could mix and match with ease. After that, it starts getting progressively hard. Try taking something off a CB360 and fit it onto a CB350 for example.
June 19, 2009 10:15 a.m. alex HalfDork

Appleseed wrote:

Really? Check this guy out.

http://www.cb750cafe.com

Yeah, some of Carpy's stuff is cool enough. There's no question in my mind that folks have made some cool looking bikes out of them.

They're just...meh. For me anyway. Heavy like a big vintage bike, no torque, and no character.

Give me twins or give me death!
June 26, 2009 2:26 p.m. motomoron New Reader

I encountered Carpy when I was selling a complete Paul Dunstall SOHC CB750 cafe bodywork set on eBay. Interesting guy.

Once I'd sold the Dunstall stuff at a profit of about $800 over the no dollars I'd paid for it years ago, I no longer needed any single cam CB E36 M3 in my garage. I sold all of it, also on eBay, and swapped the final complete, ratty bike for a 1982 GT 26" BMX cruiser. And if that's not a fantastic deal for me I don't know what is.