Where do you draw the line to take on a "project bike"?

Guys,

In reading a couple of other threads in the past week or so I saw where one of our members had recently taken on a really tough project. The bike, by his own admission had been left outside for many moons. Most of us know how much that can entail when trying to restore or even just to get it running. One of the mods in a separate thread had mentioned something which basically warned against throwing good money after bad.

This made me think of my own procedure or guidelines for determining if a project is worth taking on or not. You know, making the actual decision whether to buy the basket case bike or not. I’m curious as to how others make that determination? For my own reference, I needn’t go any further then my first restoration of my modern motorcycle era, after I got back into bikes a few years back. I made a mistake caused by emotions rather then objectivity.

After getting back into bikes by buying the only brand new bike I’ve ever owned, I was looking for something for my sweetheart. I came across a 1980 CM400A Hondamatic (http://s808.photobucket.com/albums/zz3/jeffkushner1/) bike with only 1200 miles on it. The owner swore that it ran but it had sat outside for 20+ years. I bought it for a song and took it home. I had a pretty good background working on bikes although I hadn’t had my hands on one in many years. I knew that the transmission and engine on that bike were pretty bulletproof. The bike however was rough, VERY rough yet I had taken it on so I reasoned I may as well get it right. I spent the better part of that winter bringing it back to life. It didn’t take what I would call a lot of money but it took hundreds of hours…more then one “hundred”, many more. Even after the bike ran, I found that the gaskets leaked so it needed to go back into my shop.

Since then, I’ve come up with my own set of guidelines to work from when I look at a restoration candidate because if I had a chance to go back in time, I never would have bought that bike. It simply wasn’t worth the time and effort I put into it.

My question to the rest of our members who enjoy bringing back these classic bikes is NOT what factors you rely on to help you make your decision whether to take on a bike or not. I think that most of us look at how the bike has been stored, what kind of overall shape it’s in, what will the bike be worth when complete, how “classic” is the bike, how “rare” is the bike, how popular is the bike and those types of things.

My question is where is YOUR “price point” or “work hours needed” point if the bike passes the above “tests”?

jeff

 

With me, it is more or less knowing 1. the costs of replacement parts 2. the value of the bike when restored or rejuvenated 3. The amount of time and effort it will take to get a worthwhile return on the investment.

So in other words, I usually look for bikes that someone is too stupid to know how to fix or bikes that have been modified in poor taste and by doing so they have ruined the value or rideability but is able to be reversed. Then I low ball the hell out of them with cash in hand, do what I need to do to make the bike run reliably and fetch me a nice profit.

If it is a bike I intend to keep, then I tend to spend a bit more freely. The time involved doesn't really bother me as there is nothing else I'd rather be doing then messing with bikes...

 

I always find it interesting to read peoples' responses to questions such as these. I personally don't look at any project with any of those things in consideration. When I take on a project, it is solely for my own personal gratification.

 

spark,compression, and a low price

 

It really depends on what I plan on doing with the bike once the project is done. If I plan on selling it when it is done then the initial price and the price of parts needed are what I look at. Time involved in the project doesn't matter as much. I do it because I love it. My 550 Seca project has around 100 hours into and most people would have probably said to scrap it. It was beat to hell. I have around 10 hours just in the tank alone. That bike has been with me for almost 25 years and it deserves all the time and money it needs for all the enjoyment I have gotten from it.

 

My xj600 was my 1st bike after a 20 year layoff. I bought it with 2 months "MOT" (annual roadworthyness inspection), so thought it wouldn't be too bad. I was wrong but there were no serious issues apart from PO neglect and "Bodging". Not sure if that is in the US vocabulary but it's a slang term for "Temporary repair"

I wanted something to ride to work but found that by the time I had realised all that was wrong, its test and road tax had run out and so I spent the winter doing it up.

Aged 16 I was a useless mechanic but having worked in Production Engineering for the last 30 years there isn't too much I wont tackle. Money always seems to be a limiting factor for me.

Things that put me off are "Streetfighting" modifications and downright lies! You can normally spot them if an owner has only had the bike for a couple of weeks or puts something like "No battery" in the description. The PO of my 600 told me he had failed his licence, but I was later able to check his feedback - he was trying to make a living selling bikes on ebay. He then used "Girlfriend pregnant" and "Live in a high crime area" as reasons for selling the bikes he bought later.

To agree with "Zombiehouse" the time didn't matter and I found it more satisfying refurbishing something rather than buying used spares from ebay (Cheaper to). A lot of parts got refurbished at work........in my lunch break, of course!

 

hey dude,any luck in finding a new ride yet?

 

No - I am very jealous of the posts where someone gives somebody else a bike!! No spare cash,(Can't begin to say how many things have gone wrong since Christmas - I'm a regular customer at the appliance spares shop!!!) unfortunately, but keep looking for a bargain!

Hows your bike?