Profit from doing this?

[Guest]

Hey guys, if I were to restore/build up a bike from parts, would it generally be profitable?

Projects sound like a fun idea to me, and selling them for profit, win-win!!!

Any experience doing this? Does it work?

Thanks guys

[Mr Fro]

Hmm...

From my experience of restoring old cars and bikes (they don't even have to be old TBH), it's a bit hit and miss.

I don't think I've ever made a loss on a project but then I've not always made a profit either...

My worst case - an old Reliant Scimitar which I bought for a couple of hundred - turned out to be a money pit and I just about broke even.

My best case - An old Goldwing that I paid 800 for, did a bit of tinkering, rode it around for a year then sold it for 2k.

If you've got an eye for something desirable that needs minimal work and you can snap it up at a good price then you may well be quids in. The pitfalls are numerous - you might buy something that turns out to be an old dog, something that no-one else wants or something less than legal.

I've always got something on the go but now I buy stuff that I want and will use until I get bored then pass on to someone else. If I can get my money back (including TAX/MOT/insurance/parts etc) so I get effectively free motoring then I'm chuffed.

Just like any investment, don't risk more money than you can afford to lose!

[Joeman]

If you factor in your own time at a rate higher than national minimum wage, its a very tricky excercise to turn a profit, unless you are a very fast worker or you manage to find lots of great bargains that won't take much time to restore and can sell quickly.

If you have plenty of free time and just want to do it as a hobby, then yeah it should be possible.

[eastanglianbiker]

can often make more profit from stripping them nd selling for spares than you can from restoring them if you are on about everything being correct part from correct year

[fq-craigus]

people tend to do it for love not money, buying the bikes and parts yourself then trying to profit will be a headache, how ever restoring other peoples projects and charging for time... win!!

[Alice-In-Sunderland]

There's no money in restorations unless you find some idiot to pay over the odds prices. There is however, relatively good money in breaking bikes.

[Abraxix92]

Although i personally have not done this, i think people do it for the love of the bikes, a sort of art if you ask me, taking something broken and unloved and making it into something astounding/rideable and loved from new owners, i also believe if i ever choose to do this and had the money it would to be more about learning how to remove this that and the other, or how do i check this and that.

That way i can mess around learning on something cheap before trying it on something more expensive on your main bike.

But yes, now and then you will gain profit which is a win win, you can say i refurbished this beauty and be proud of yourself.

[Grumpy Old Git]

A friend of mine bought an old Jota which was being advertised as a 'non-runner'. Conversations with the owner revealled that he bought it some years before and had 'swapped out just about everything' but could not get it to fire up. My freind offered £800 (asking price was £900) and subsequntly bought it.

Cost him another couple of hundred to hire a van and collect it from Perthshire.

Went round to help him check it over and apart from various rusty bits, it all looked OK but - No spark. Ran a wire from the breaker feed to the battery - kicked it over and..... Spark!

Checked cable run and found that the feed wire in the multiconnector just below the front top part of the frame was not inserted correctly - pushed in to the 'click' - reconnected and... We have life!

Ran rough for a few minutes than all was OK!

That was about 2 years ago - He sold it last month for £2,400 having done nothing else apart from keeping it clean!

That's the way to do it!

[Guest]

I can tell you a tale of 2 speed triples.

My mate Andy is a bit money mad and keeps banging on about how much bike X is now worth. He has a few old bikes and is really into Triumph twins with a 50's trophy and 69 Bonnie. he is in the triumph owners club as well as the VMCC . One of his mates in the Triumph club bought a MK1 speed triple for £900 as a non runner. He stripped the carbs and put clean petrol in and now has a running bike worth £1500 to £2000.

So thats a bit of result.

My mate then says I think I'll buy one as I think they are going to go up in price. If I get a cheap one I can make a killing. So he bids on a non runner and ends up paying around £1200 for it. He had to buy a new battery for it, strip and clean the tank and carbs, buy a sprocket and chain set, have the forks re chromed (which meant he had to buy a front and back paddock stand) as he took the wheels out and had them cleaned and repainted, a pair of new tyres, new pads for the front and various stainless bolts to replace the crappy Triumph ones (but he left the front disc ones as they are a stupid size and price). It ran but the exhaust is a mess and needs taking off and cleaning and if you look closely at the tank the paint is starting to craze over in places.

So in total it cost £2000 to buy and sort. He then went out on it last Saturday and when he stopped for a brew it wouldn't start so he had to bump it. So its seems to have the usual triumph electric issues.

He could have paid that amount of money and got a nice one with a lot less hassle. So yes you can make money but not everyone does