Cafe' Racer Demand?

well I expect that someone could just as easily find a couple of cafe racers that have sold for good money but its not really the point. :wink2:

I reckon you'd make far more profit from buying up scrap bikes and breaking them up and selling the bits,

It would be worth listing the parts of a complete bike and pricing up their resale value and comparing that with the cost of building a cafe racer and selling for profit. I know which one I think would profit most:D

take a look at the ridiculous prices this ebay seller is asking :yikes: $110 for a used stator
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_odkw=&item=330681439100&_osacat=0&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&_ssn=twowheelspares&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313&_nkw=yamaha+xs650&_sacat=0&_from=R40
 
peanut said:
well I expect that someone could just as easily find a couple of cafe racers that have sold for good money but its not really the point. :wink2:

I reckon you'd make far more profit from buying up scrap bikes and breaking them up and selling the bits,

It would be worth listing the parts of a complete bike and pricing up their resale value and comparing that with the cost of building a cafe racer and selling for profit. I know which one I think would profit most:D

take a look at the ridiculous prices this ebay seller is asking :yikes: $110 for a used stator
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/m.html?_odkw=&item=330681439100&_osacat=0&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&_ssn=twowheelspares&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313&_nkw=yamaha+xs650&_sacat=0&_from=R40
Click to expand...
Well Peanut, I look at several sites a day that list vintage and custom bikes for sale and I have yet to see a custom XS that sold for what it cost to build let alone at a profit.
If it is that easy to find one that sold for a profit then by all means find some and post them here.
 
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Scrambled said:
Well Peanut, I look at several sites a day that list vintage and custom bikes for sale and I have yet to see a custom XS that sold for what it cost to build let alone at a profit.
If it is that easy to find one that sold for a profit then by all means find some and post them here.
Click to expand...

I agree entirely scrambled .:thumbsup:

Where did I suggest that a profit could be made by building XS650's ?

The appeal of these bikes is partly their cheapness especially if you want to chop it to bits and hack it about. You'd never recover the cost of the hours you put into a rebuild let alone profit.

I've been restoring classic sports cars as a hobby for 45 years and can't think of a single restoration I've made a profit on if I count the hours I've worked on them. :(
 
I'd say the key is to keep your investment low. Have fun building it but don't expect much over 2K for a winter sale and 3K for a spring/early summer sale.
 
The last XS I built sold for a profit (actually sold for $500 more than what I listed it for)...its not that difficult of a task. Make a quality product, treat it as business, do it once/do it right, have a budget...do I build bikes and parts for profit....nope...but doing what I love and getting to put food on the table doing has been a pretty sweet deal. If you have to out source everything...buy premade parts...pay for labor..etc then your margins obviously start to dwindle, but everything I do has a minimum bench mark that needs to be hit...if it looks like I cant hit it...I typically pass. Good luck fellas...
 
Like I said to the original poster the only way to make money building bikes is ; 1 build a few show winners and get a good reputation ( takes years ) and 2 only build bikes for paying customers , they supply the bike and pay for parts and labor.

Just building your dream bike and then trying to sell it never seems to work.
 
livingdeadmc said:
The last XS I built sold for a profit (actually sold for $500 more than what I listed it for)...its not that difficult of a task. Make a quality product, treat it as business, do it once/do it right, have a budget...do I build bikes and parts for profit....nope...but doing what I love and getting to put food on the table doing has been a pretty sweet deal. If you have to out source everything...buy premade parts...pay for labor..etc then your margins obviously start to dwindle, but everything I do has a minimum bench mark that needs to be hit...if it looks like I cant hit it...I typically pass. Good luck fellas...
Click to expand...
Hey Livingdead, how come you don't have an album in your profile ? I would like to see what you build . Did the $500 profit include labor ?
 
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Scrambled said:
Hey Livingdead, how come you don't have an album in your profile ? I would like to see what you build . Did the $500 profit include labor ?
Click to expand...

Lol no man...the $500 was on top of the profit I wanted to get, it was a nice bonus. The bike was listed for $3500 but was all set to be traded for a newer sporty. Another dude called me checked it out dug it we went back and forth a little, I said I think I want to take on this sporty and he said he'd pay me another $500 to not trade it and let him take it...I promply helped load the bike up lol...I try to base everything off a certian $/labor hour and I have certain margins that I stick to to make it worth my while. The bikes I've built have been posted around here before...guess I never thought about an album. This was my first XS, I've built HDs but prefer metric for resale purposes.
 
This was her... Took her on as a project... Fixed what needed to be fixed, took away some, added a ton, super solid bike it was a lot of fun to roll on.


www.jumpstreetcustoms.tumblr.com for some more of my work.
 

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I'm thinking the best way to make money on xs650's is to build kick ass bikes that you like and take them to bike shows. Either sell these bikes when the price is right to fund the next project or keep them and put some cards on them that you will build by request. Let your work speak for itself and if people are interested they will contact you. This way you don't have to deal with overhead, stocking parts, getting shop, advertising etc.

I got offered 9k for my wife's recently but declined. I could have easily funded 2 bikes for the time and money I had into it. But its her first bike and our first project together so I said no. Didn't do it for the money. But I did tell the guy if he wanted one I could build him one.
 

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