How Much do Builders Sell For

River City Rocker said:

Let's throw in some variables, what if the engine is fully rebuilt, what if it's tuned correctly, what if it's nothing exotic but aesthetically pleasing, yet fully functional and user friendly? I mean, you can "what if" all day. But hearing that someone would only dish out $2500 for a bike that runs just as good as it ever did--that doesn't even seem worth it. Hence, why I've never sold my bike to try out something new--I have way too much time and money invested into it, I'd never make it back.

I'm also seeing people that are basically doing nothing to a bike and flipping it for twice as much, driving up the price for basically unrestored bikes. There has to be some worth and differentiation for something that has been rebuilt from the ground up--a margin of more than just 1 or 2k.

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There are a ton more variables: make and model, engine displacement, stock or modified, rarity of bike, age of bike, mileage, location, etc., etc. There are no general rules, except, perhaps, by specific make, model, and year. CB350Fs, for example, usually sell from somewhere between $1500 and $3000 for a nice running bike, depending on cosmetics and factors above. Some people pay more (location, customization, other factors), but paying much more doesn't make too much sense. CB550s are generally in that range, but a little more expensive (displacement), CB750s even more (maybe up to $5k? maybe more? Depends where you are, I guess, and who's doing the buying). Other makes and models kind of follow the same pattern.

Flipping bikes is a whole other kettle of fish. Some guy got pissed on me here last night because he was trying to sell a chopped up CB550 that need wiring and some other stuff for $1800 that hadn't run since (supposedly) two owners ago. I pointed out that was ridiculous, asked some questions, he got pissed, and he took his post down. Part of his (or his friend's) argument was that that was a reasonable price in "SoCal". For shits and giggles I looked up CB550s on CL in LA, and found running examples for $1500 and $1800 that looked to be in decent shape and not all hacked up. I'm guessing that he bought the bike for a grand or two and thought he could flip it without doing anything to it to make money. Maybe he can, but not here.

That being said, what I and most others here, are looking for are barn finds and nice bikes that people don't know anything about or care about at all, who sell for cheap. My range in AZ was up to $750 (for a 1978 CB750F that just needed carbs cleaned and tank relined). Here in MA it's up to $1200 for a very nice CB350F that's in great cosmetic shape with low miles, and just needed a few bits and pieces, battery, carb cleaned (this one is for my wife, so I'm not going to try to sell it and make money). That being said, there is a nice, running CB350F that has been on CL in my area for 6+ months for $2300, with no buyers. The $750 CB750 I sold to a guy from LA for $1800. He was going to bring it back to LA and sell it for more. When I fix up bikes and resell them, I do it to make a little money, for fun, for the experience of working on a new bike, and frequently to hook up a friend who wants to buy a bike but who doesn't have experience. I've only once bought a bike and sold it for more without doing anything to it, but that's because I got a 350F and a CB550 for $500, both complete, and sold the CB550 for $500 for money to work on the 350F. Dude who bought it got a great deal, and I got a 350F for free.

I bought this for running for 200 bucks
I think I'm selling on eBay in the spring
Very little was spent in parts but I got a year and a half in making things

I don't know too many people that make a living just building bikes. Most guys I know do other stuff, as well: make parts, sell parts, repair bikes, paint, or build commissions. A lot of these shops we see custom bikes come out of are local repair shops that also build bikes.

There is very little money in building 40-60 year old bikes. Unless you are Colorado Norton Works.

You don't make money from building bikes. You make money by selling t-shirts and swag printed with your cool shop logo. The bike just draws traffic to your website or blog.

A lot of good truthful thoughts and comments on this topic. I have played with bikes for many years mainly for my personal use, however for the past 6 years having been retired I now customize and build bikes for the shear fun and pleasure of it. I monitor the CL's and Kijiji's to locate projects and then create whatever I see or feel works with the base.

It's an expensive hobby and I don't break even when I sell my finish products. The reward for me is the knowledge gained during the build and seeing the completed project received by my peers and end purchaser with awe and prided of ownership. As an example I have bought a pile of junk for $200 and after completion sold it for $4300 barely covering the cost of components and out sourced services. I have never expected to recoup my labour, as I consider each build an opportunity to learn something new and a chance to demonstrate my skills and creativity.

As to the price of custom garage built bikes, prices are a factor of exposure. Selling these customs on CL, EBay or Kijiji is not going to hit that someone with the resources ($$$) nor is it going to spark the interest from a true aficionado searching for your specific style of build. Face it these sales venues are searched by deal mongers that want everything for nothing. The only way to make money is to be commissioned to build to a rich customers vision.

I agree with a lot said here and I have another angle. I don't spend a ton on a bike I'm not going to keep, hence I've always made at least a few bucks on each sale. The way I look at it is, what's other people's hobby costs? Golf can get expensive.... Skydiving is literally tossing $ out of a plane. Pretty much anything has a cost. Last year I bought a ratty XS850, spent a few $ and many hours to get it running and looking good, rode it for a year, sold it for a small profit. If I take my man hours out of it, It maybe cost me about a .70 cents an hour to enjoy this bike. How many hobbies can you enjoy for .70 cents an hour???

I know this kid, he bitched and moaned that he could never put enough $ together to get a bike. He works, makes ok $ but couldn't get it together. One day I was at his house and found he owned a half dozen telescopes.... I asked him if he really needed six of them? We picked the two nicest ones and sold the rest. Then he bitched he couldn't afford the Honda he wanted. I found him the cleanest Suzuki for about a third the price. Then he bitched it didn't look right. Found a bunch of parts in my garage and it looks great.

I'm a hack, I don't cut things up because I don't have the skills many of you fine gentlemen have, problem is there are a lot more guys like me that even though don't have the skill, are destroying many bikes. I look on C/L and almost cry when I see the over price hack up stuff I know is going to rot away in somebodies back yard when this cafe' thing subsides.

Face it, most of us got into to this to get old bikes running for a low cost and fun of getting the job done. Then between the T.V. shows and a few celebs riding cool bikes, this blew up into what we all kinda shy from. $50 T-shirts and boutique stores. I don't care that I make little on my flips, what I care about is that it leaves me in better condition than when I got it.

A few years back, I bought the same bike back three times. Somebody would buy it, ruin it, and want to sell it. I finally sold it to a nice kid moving to Boston and he still has and loves the bike. I get a bigger kick out of that than a bike I've made big $ on....

I now have a 305 Super Hawk. I think I might put some $ into this bike. Even though it's probably too small for me, I love everything about it. It's old, tempermental, has awesome lines and just something you don't see around. I've already an offer for twice what I paid, but think I might keep this around for a bit.

reminded me of this:

http://www.bikeexif.com/custom-motorcycle-builders

Hahaha couldn't have said it better! 8)

There are guys that make money building vintage bikes. But the people building drag queens for hipsters are not the ones making any money anymore. The masses are finally starting to move onto another bandwagon to jump on.

The money is in bikes with real substance, not pipeburn junk.
There are people out there to pay good money for sorted and have improved function, again....NOT some fashion item.

If you can get in low enough there is always money to be had....I grabbed a non working moped for $5 made it work then traded it for an xs 360 that didnt work ( kill switch was on ) got that one running faster than the moped and had it sold within a month for $1100

There is always a way to grind out money.
I think the OP is talking about some land with pixy dist where some guy walks into your garage with $35k and a picture from pipeburn and asks for one just like it.
Like I said, there are people that are actually paying big bucks for bikes. But it isn't for art projects. Actually there is a fairly large hole in the hobby that could be filled if you could make a functional product. Most have come around to the idea of laughing at the junk on pipeburn and the clowns from CRTV. How many wheels fell off? Most bikes never even run! It has to be a joke right?

This is a bike that people will pay money for.


This is a bike that is openly mocked and has little real value now, and will be worth less then scrap once the bandwagon is empty.


This is a bike with well thought out modifications. They play to the bikes strengths and add to it as a motorcycle.


This is little more then at art project...Works less then a stock motorcycle(actually I don't thing the builder ever made it run)
It is the motorcycle equivalent of a clown shoe

That last bike could have been a real nice bike, but there was no attention paid to the important stuff and yes I don't think they ever got it running. Real shame, but those examples are spot on, 2 very well thought out, ridable bikes with mods that make them faster, better, and 2 art projects that could have been real bikes with just a little bit of care and thought.

WAY to many people are just building art projects and then passing them off as motorcycles.
People that are going to actually pay good money for something are not some moron. They want function in a motorcycle.
Its fairly easy to tell who is just chasing a look. Funny thing is that if the bike is built right, the look just sorta happens.

It does also get into the "fad" of the day. The two art projects that I posted are really nothing different then the chopper people openly make fun of now. Just instead of wire rear tires, springers and flake paint the formula is no fork travel, replica tires and stupid rear ends. While the mods and look are different, the thinking is exactly the same. Some are trying to pass "brattstyle" off as something else to now that there is a wave of people that finally want some real performance upgrades out of a café racer.

Really at the end of the day people do what they want. That's fine. I just object when these idiots want to talk about the connection of man and machine and all this waxing poetic about a performance time lost.....when looking at a bike that doesn't run and works less then stock.....

Guys are doing the same BS to cars now too. Again, it is what it is.
I just look at it an laugh really.
This is the automotive equivalent of the spiderman CB450

Ive played both ends of the field.
I am currently building a 1 or 302 Seeley race bikes.


Have a vintage chopper


But its my superbike that gets the most miles


Thing is to just be honest about what the bikes are, what they are for and all that jazz

Let's be honest- People have been modifying cars and motorcycles since the end of WW2. Trends come and go, but it's nothing new. The good and the bad have always been part of the deal. As far as that last Pipeburn motorcycle- He really didn't get it running? How the fuck does that happen? I'm borderline stupid and even I can get a motorcycle to run.

Honestly I don't remember. I know he had issue with the carbs.....big surprise.
And they literally pushed it though some hipster video. Really I am not shocked that it, or others like it don't run....much less get ridden. It isn't about motorcycles, riding or anything like that. This is purely a project in making something look a way and then have pictures taken of it.

You are right about how long people have been modifying motorcycles. And I am sure there has been a fight of form vs function since the beginning too. Just back to the OPs post though. In my eyes the people that run successful shops in the long term are not riding the dick of some new fad in the hobby. They are doing the constant thing that always works, always has appeal and people always want....a functional motorcycle.

deviant said:

Let's be honest- People have been modifying cars and motorcycles since the end of WW2.

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WWII ? Cars and motorcycles have been modified since day 2 in the history of cars and/or motorcycles...

Ichiban Moto said:

WWII ? Cars and motorcycles have been modified since day 2 in the history of cars and/or motorcycles...

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Haha. True, sort of. But the whole "hot rod" thing began in the 30s.