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How to build motorcycles for a living

Started by HotIce, April 14, 2014, 10:56:47 AM

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Monsterlover

"The Vincent was like a bullet that went straight; the Ducati is like the magic bullet in Dallas that went sideways and hit JFK and the Governor of Texas at the same time."--HST    **"A man who works with his hands is a laborer.  A man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman.  A man who works with his hands, brains, and heart is an artist."  -Louis Nizer**

Curmudgeon

Thanks. I don't "get" what they do, but they are very nice guys. One of the bikes was at Bikes-in-the-Bottom yesterday. Seems he's moved out of his house garage anyway. At least there are a lot of loft-style spaces available in downtown Richmond, which sure beats trying to do this somewhere else!
2011 796 ABS "Pantah" - Rizoma Bar, 14T, Tech Spec, Ohlins DU-737, Evaps removed, Sargent Seat, Pantah skins

Randy@StradaFab

  Yes that was an interesting article. Been there, doing that! ;D Pretty tough to make a profit on building complete bikes. There is much to be said about "building your brand".

Speedbag

Quote from: Randy@StradaFab on April 15, 2014, 05:28:36 AM
Pretty tough to make a profit on building complete bikes.

This.

Interesting read.  8)
I tend to regard most of humanity as little more than walking talking dilated sphincters. - Rat

duccarlos

From what I can tell, most of the custom builders will only have 1 or 2 project bikes. They will sell the parts they fabricate separately, better profit margin.
Quote from: polivo on November 16, 2011, 12:18:55 PM
my keyboard just served me with paternity suit.

memper

When I worked for Paul Cox he always had at least 5 bikes in the shop in mid build. He was a busy guy. But he also had to supplement with leather seats and knife making.

Now Deus Ex....THERES some successful branding!
http://deuscustoms.com
"Calling a bikini fairing on a monster a fairing is like calliing a girl in an actual bikini proper work attire....unless shes a stripper." -He Man

-----------------------------------------
Important: always check your battery filter and regularly change your headlight fluid.

Speeddog

Quote from: memper on April 15, 2014, 05:02:53 PM
~~~SNIP~~~

Now Deus Ex....THERES some successful branding!
http://deuscustoms.com

Well, I've been to their Venice, CA location.

Trucker caps for $30, T-shirts for $50 and a shop apron for far enough above $100 that I didn't even commit it to memory.

Honestly, they're not building motorcycles for a living.



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~~~ "We've rearranged the deck chairs, refilled the champagne glasses, and the band sounds great. This is fine." - Alberto Puig ~~~

HotIce

Quote from: Speeddog on April 15, 2014, 07:41:01 PM
Well, I've been to their Venice, CA location.

Trucker caps for $30, T-shirts for $50 and a shop apron for far enough above $100 that I didn't even commit it to memory.

Honestly, they're not building motorcycles for a living.
They do build nice bikes, though $$$$, even for ones which are not really one-off.

ChrisK

Quote from: Speeddog on April 15, 2014, 07:41:01 PM
Trucker caps for $30, T-shirts for $50 and a shop apron for far enough above $100 that I didn't even commit it to memory.

Honestly, they're not building motorcycles for a living.

I'd be interested to know the ratio of bikes Deus builds to the number of shirts they sell... and then compare that to the number of bikes Ducati builds and the number of shirts they sell. I'd be willing to bet it's not that far off.
1998 M900
2007 CBR600RR Track Bike
1982 Virago 920 Cafe/Fighter Project
1980 Lambretta Moped
Supra Boats enthusiast

"There is no minimum."  - some guy.

memper

Quote from: Speeddog on April 15, 2014, 07:41:01 PM
Well, I've been to their Venice, CA location.

Trucker caps for $30, T-shirts for $50 and a shop apron for far enough above $100 that I didn't even commit it to memory.

Honestly, they're not building motorcycles for a living.

No they're absolutely not. They are a branding machine. Quite successfully too. That said, Classified Moto doesn't build bikes for a living either. The article to me is mostly about branding and marketing. The dude probably makes more on the other stuff (lamps, sconces, tees, parts, etc) than on the bikes.
Classified bikes are really not all that impressive. But the dude is smart in that he is projecting an overall image and maybe eventually a "lifestyle".

Tim Harney is the same way. His venture is supported by his furniture and tv appearances.
http://www.harneyboybikes.com/harneyboybikes/Home.html


"Calling a bikini fairing on a monster a fairing is like calliing a girl in an actual bikini proper work attire....unless shes a stripper." -He Man

-----------------------------------------
Important: always check your battery filter and regularly change your headlight fluid.

Speedbag

There was a time (like, say, back in the late '90s) when I wanted to do customer builds. Now I'd rather just put something together to please me, and if it sells after the fact that's fine.

I should have pursued it further, and pushed the branding thing. Still could, I guess. But having been semi-self-employed once as my main source of income and later having the economy yank the rug out, I'm not inclined to do anything like this again on a full-time basis. Like the article suggests, I'll keep my day job and dabble in my spare time.
I tend to regard most of humanity as little more than walking talking dilated sphincters. - Rat

ChrisK

You can't have brands like Classified Moto and Deus Ex without at least a little substance behind them. I don't believe anyone would buy a Classified Moto T-Shirt if they didn't first believe they've built some cool bikes. In that regard, I believe the two guys at Classified Moto are in fact building bikes for their living. Without the bikes, nothing else sells. Perhaps the lamps, but I doubt the two of them could make a living off of just those. Whenever they do open their build queue, it's only open for a few days at the most, with their "higher end" packages being sold at well over $10K. That, to me, is building bikes for a living.
1998 M900
2007 CBR600RR Track Bike
1982 Virago 920 Cafe/Fighter Project
1980 Lambretta Moped
Supra Boats enthusiast

"There is no minimum."  - some guy.

HotIce

Quote from: ChrisK on April 16, 2014, 11:46:53 AM
You can't have brands like Classified Moto and Deus Ex without at least a little substance behind them. I don't believe anyone would buy a Classified Moto T-Shirt if they didn't first believe they've built some cool bikes. In that regard, I believe the two guys at Classified Moto are in fact building bikes for their living. Without the bikes, nothing else sells. Perhaps the lamps, but I doubt the two of them could make a living off of just those. Whenever they do open their build queue, it's only open for a few days at the most, with their "higher end" packages being sold at well over $10K. That, to me, is building bikes for a living.
$10K for a build, you mean?
It's much much higher than that. Friend of mine asked a quote for Deus's Project X bike, and it was around $35K IIRC.

ChrisK

#14
I thought I remember hearing something like 14K to 15K for the higher end Classified builds, but I could definitely be wrong.

Edit: Just found it. To get a bike similar to Sackhoff's most recent one it would cost $21K. That was for a short time back in January.
1998 M900
2007 CBR600RR Track Bike
1982 Virago 920 Cafe/Fighter Project
1980 Lambretta Moped
Supra Boats enthusiast

"There is no minimum."  - some guy.