Sore subject maybe

[member3480]

I get people all the time email me about builds and maybe I am out of touch because I just build for myself and the money is not a issue because I am building what I want for me.
So if I break down a build and not get too crazy plus already have a frame and motor am I close to what you guys think or am I way off.
I use to build kit bikes for $2500.00 now if I did the same it would be over $3000.00
HARD TAIL not installed $200 to $250 add $100 to $150 for install
TANK/SEAT /FENDER $200 to $300
FRONT END $150 to $500.
HANDLEBARS and CONTROLS $150 to $200
WHEELS and TIRES $300 to $400
BRAKES and CONTROLS $150 to $250
PMA and PAMCO $600 to $700
Just on Low NUMBERS that's $1900 NO LABOR NO PAINT
ADD the motor and FRAME say on the low $800 motor runs
You are pushing $2500 plus am I right or nuts!!
Now if you went with all RAT BIKE PARTS do you save HALF of that???
Me I like to buy new parts my ASS is riding the bike. I think this is why you see more BRAT bikes or CAFE bikes YOU have 60% of the bike and can make changes easy.
Yes years ago I did get bike at a low price but now most of the bikes I buy need work and cost me $500 plus.
I just told someone (and I am not building it) If I had to build a XS 650 bike for anyone now and make it safe and pass inspection in there state I would charge $5000.00.
I know there are deals out there and some of you got good ones but what did it cost you to build your HARD TAIL and what did you cut out to keep cost down and again most people are at the mercy of the WELDER/BUILDER if they are not doing it.
Again I am asking because I don't look at the money. I am building a TURBO bike and got $4000. in it and its sitting in boxes.
Lets help some of these new guys out with real IDEAS PLEASE
THESE TWO BIKES were built 4 yrs ago Orange bike $3000 other bike $2800
RICH

 

[DIRTY DOG]

rRch I don't know if a bike can be built for less than $2500 anymore titled running xs650,hard tailed new tank custom exhaust and paint and wiring hell you'd have 1/2 that in an engine if you rebuild it and do all the work your self I know i have 1500 in my new build and I had the eng off my last bike ( 680 cc 277 rephase ) and I have a lot in it

 

[Brassneck]

A quality paint job in itself (Not doing it yourself, and going to a shop that's credible AND for the average person who doesn't have connections there, meaning, they aren't getting a discount for one reason or another) can be as low as $800--$1600..or more, depending on the graphics and detail of the work. At least around these parts...

So take your build prices (which I think sound fairly reasonable, even on the high side of things... $3500 to have someone else build the bike is what I'd expect to pay) and add the custom paint and you're more in the $5000 range easy.

 

[Metal Wizard Machine]

Brassneck- why imply that a person can't do a quality paint job themselves? That's untrue. Lots of guys are capable of spraying a quality job. Just because a "shop" does it doesn't mean it's quality...

 

[Brassneck]

Brassneck- why imply that a person can't do a quality paint job themselves? That's untrue. Lots of guys are capable of spraying a quality job. Just because a "shop" does it doesn't mean it's quality...

Hi Metal,

No, sorry...you misread what I intended. For sake of cost, I was stating that someone getting paint done elsewhere would pay a lot to get quality work, whereas if they did it themselves or had connections to a shop that did the work, they'd pay a lot less.

Of course people can do quality work on their own... the implication is if someone CAN'T do it on their own then they'd pay a lot to get it done.

 

[Metal Wizard Machine]

Oh, yeah that makes sense then.

My mistake on how I read it.

Not that I do much for good paint. I SUCK at painting.

 

[fredintoon]

Hi Daddy,
the least you're gonna pay for anything new on 2 wheels that you'd want to ride has gotta be north of $9K?
And that's from an semi-automated factory with offshore labor costs.
Makes your costs look like an absolute bargain, eh?
Especially for a one of a kind custom build instead of a bike you could only pick out of a line up if you remembered it's plate number.
I do have a large capacity compressor and a Princess Auto $30 paint gun to do my own painting.
I use 2-part automotive paint and it looks OK from across the street.
If you close one eye and squint a bit.
But quality paint?
That takes a downdraft spraybooth and a painter with proper training.
But then again, it's not a sodding coffee table, it's a bike fer fuxsake.
Best seen as a blur as it screams by you.

 

[member3480]

I agree on the paint side because I have paid as high as $9,000 for paint on some custom Harley's I did. It just got way out of hand on these XS650 for a newbe to build unless they go BRAT or CAFE. Shops are closing up like crazy because you cannot make the money to keep the doors open. There are not 10 guys this month that would go out and buy a $3500 motor or even a $2000 motor..... cash not there. You have to be a die hard like some of us on here that build for the love of the bike. Small shops that don't have a big over head will survive but they have to do other work of some kind. There are just so many things getting ripped off and made cheaper overseas that I am surprised they have not got into frames and hard tail kits yet BUT its coming. Here in the tri state area there are some nice builds going under $3000 and builds that they got tired of building for much less. Now I get calls and emails for BAGGERS HARLEY - FURY - VTX - VULCANS and people are buying them. I can build this for half of what I can sell it for????? Maybe I need to do a XS 650 BAGGER
It just got crazy

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Don't you guys add any markup if the customer:

Watches you work?




Helps you work?

 

[Black22]

I bought this XS650 as a basket case for $800. Probably over paid, but 95% of the parts were there. Motor had a holed piston so I rebuilt the motor myself (had the jugs bored 1st over at a machine shop for $35). It came with a new PMA and Pamco too! I did all the rest of the work. Welded the hardtail on, painted the tank, bought used fenders, rebuilt the carbs, wired it from sratch, new tires, etc, etc, etc. I'm in this bike just under $3,300.

I consider it a bargain, but I wouldn't bat an eye if I had to pay someone else $1,700 for the labor (assuming I didn't know how to do the work myself)

These bikes are cheap compared to getting into a Harley or a vintage Triumph. I like the versatility of what the creator can make the bike look like. Cafe, hardtail, stock, whatever.

DaddyG, you're not nuts.

 

[member3480]

Black VERY NICE BIKE
This is what should happen but it doesn't because there are so many $2000 starter bikes out there.
TWOMANY all my shops had a line on the garage floor and a sign and if you past the line to ask questions the labor rate started and the sign said if you came into the work area to help labor rate doubled because I had to pay you HAHA

 

[SkunkMachine]

Wow, You guys are lucky. Try buying one in Aus. $6000 for an average runner. Thats before you start. We get screwed with the rough end of the pineapple down here.

 

[gggGary]

Very few XS650 purchasers have any idea of how much they are going to be spending to get a good looking, good running, reliable motorcycle. If you tell most guys how much they will spend you will see the "look of disbelief". They almost to a man have to be nickel and dimed to the final figure. They don't keep track and don't want to know. I'm the same way. Every time I start to run the T&M numbers I shake my head, quit and just go back to working on the bike!

 

[Fleksta]

Very few XS650 purchasers have any idea of how much they are going to be spend to get a good looking, good running reliable motorcycle.

I ran into this when I was selling my previous XS; most people seemed confused by my more than reasonable asking price ($2600). Had to turn a lot of people away by saying "fine, go see what $800 buys you then". Wasn't too long before one came back and paid my asking.

My current bike cost me $1400 as a runner; but ended up needing some engine work. Adding on the cost of subsequent modifications, tires, some shop labor, etc, I'm closing in on $3k. I made sure to record everything this time around in an attempt to keep things in check.

 

[Metal Wizard Machine]

I'm closing in on $3k. I made sure to record everything this time around in an attempt to keep things in check.

My wife asked me how much I spent building one of my bikes. I gave her the look and said flat out: "I don't ask you what you weigh. This is the same case. I don't want to know what this thing cost. Cheaper than hookers and a drug addiction. That's what I know."

She never asked again. Lol

 

[jtfield]

I built this, Base bike plus parts in it at $3400.00, including doing powdercoat for frame and tins, would say labor between $1500-$2000 would be reasonable. If I was to build one for a friend or family member. see link for build: http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38568&highlight=omaha In response to Metal Wizard Machine on the wife topic. Made the agreement with her for every dollar I spent she could spend in tattoo money...now i have a sweet ass bike and a smoking hot tattooed wife! Happy Wife Happy Life, LoL.

 

[topshelf333]

I figure i will probably have somewhere in the neighborhood of $2500 into mine when its all said, and done. I will be doing all the powder coating, and Cerakote work in my shop, same with all of the labor, except some custom machining. Me doing the coating work will save more around $1500-2000. If you don't to spend money on a custom motorcycle, its time to revert back to the Huffy. lol Building bikes is about the passion of building, and proving your skills to yourself. True craftsmanship is a dying art, and I intend to keep it alive.

 

[Higgy]

Building bikes is about the passion of building, and proving your skills to yourself. True craftsmanship is a dying art, and I intend to keep it alive.

Words of wisdom.

This is as good a subject as I can think of to kick off my first post here. True craftsmanship IS a dying art. Too many young folks sitting around fiddling about with their electronics these days, and nobody is out there breathing enough welding smoke and grinding dust.

I got into a seriously-debilitating crash in '07, and just now getting back into the saddle of sorts. This time I'll be building bikes and riding my own work. I'm a lifetime mechanic, and second-generation machinist. The wife is going to fund a new shop for me, so I'm buying a few XS400s and 650s to play around with.

Yep, real craftsmanship has all but died here in America, but lives on through bike builders. Cheers!

 

[Metal Wizard Machine]

Craftsmanship never died. It just went into hiding.

Read the book "shop class as soul craft".

 

[fredintoon]

Words of wisdom.

This is as good a subject as I can think of to kick off my first post here. True craftsmanship IS a dying art. Too many young folks sitting around fiddling about with their electronics these days, and nobody is out there breathing enough welding smoke and grinding dust.

I got into a seriously-debilitating crash in '07, and just now getting back into the saddle of sorts. This time I'll be building bikes and riding my own work. I'm a lifetime mechanic, and second-generation machinist. The wife is going to fund a new shop for me, so I'm buying a few XS400s and 650s to play around with.

Yep, real craftsmanship has all but died here in America, but lives on through bike builders. Cheers!

Hi Higgy and welcome,
great that you have recovered enough to climb back onto the horse and that your wife supports you.
My dad was a fitting shop foreman and he said his workers weren't fitters at all, merely assemblers because they couldn't actually fit stuff to save their lives.
And I reckon I learned more mechanic's skills keeping my elderly Velocette running than I did building jet engines at Rolls-Royce.
But now a word from your safetynagger:-
Don't breathe welding smoke or grinding dust, use a breathing mask!
That shit'll rip your lungs out.
And switch the mask to organic solvent cartridges when painting because breathing paint solvents will rot your liver.