Project Bike (any thoughts)

[mindburden88]

One thing I have been wanting to do for a while was start a project bike build or repair to get my hands dirty and to have a bike that I worked on.  I have been wanting a Harley project (road king, sportster, some softails), but maybe there's a different bike that would be more interesting that you guys might recommend (like a small cruiser, older

Comments

[elizilla]

Budget?

I mean, people imagine their junk Harleys are worth ten prices just because of the badge. If you feel that's worth the extra dosh, hey, rock on. Your time is valuable, don't waste it on things that don't make you happy.

But if your main reason for doing it yourself is to keep things cheap, you should look for other marques. And for something less trendy - there's a current fad for cafe bikes that's driving up the prices, not just of the bike, but of all the unobtanium parts you might be trying to buy on eBay.

[mindburden88]

Oh god I would never buy a junk bike from anyone for that reason. I was looking into salvage yards that has bikes for sale and auction sites selling wrecked bikes. For parts I wouldn't buy anything new just decent parts for good prices. I love to wrench so as long as the job slowly progresses bit by bit I would love it. I was looking café bikes, they seem fun.

[elizilla]

Well, then my advice is this:

Do not start with anything that needs front end parts such as forks, headlight bucket, instrument cluster. Those are the most valuable parts of a salvage bike and will cost the most, if you can even find them. Cosmetic parts, like gas tanks and body panels, are harder to find than mechanical parts, but if the problems are mechanical you will need more skill to resolve them. Play to your strengths when you choose the machine you will start with.

Also, consider buying two of the same make/model. One can be the runner and the other can be parts.

[mindburden88]

I'm a MMI graduate and have been wrenching for years on family bikes, mechanical wouldn't be much of a problem. But thank you letting me know

[motomuffin]

First, everything elizilla said

[motomuffin]

(I recently restored a 1981 Kawasaki KZ550LTD and while parts availability was, in fact, a problem, the KZ forum was super duper helpful as far as parts matching -- Kawasaki and Suzuki both love their parts-bin bikes and LOADS of things (like the turn signal flasher that went bad on me) that are listed NLA for your particular make/model can be cannibalized with very little effort from other makes/models and the forums always have someone who's mapped all that out.

[mindburden88]

I wouldn't want to do anything older than 90'. If a came across a decent Honda I would do it (depending on the shape it's in) I would love to get my hands on a 97 Harley road king or softail, I love the EVO motor they have. Thank you for the list of places to check. The KZ550 sounds fun