Man, there's a dozen good ideas here!
(I like the $400,000 one, myself...
).
Jonesy: I may take you up on those pipes. The HM300 set is hard to come by within a $2500 budget, when I hope to start with a stuck K2 engine. I'm REAL sorry to hear about Timken getting out of the ball bearings: now, I'll have to be branded as an "unobtainium supporter" until I can prove out some other bearings. The next best choice might be the German ones, if I can remember that brand (and get some samples). Or, there's a possibility that those new, deep-race spec, ball units may work, too. They were developed for the long-life motors first brought out by Baldor in 1992: they are so durable that some of those motors I implemented back then (10 HP units) have over 15 years of continuous runtime on them with no worn bearings yet. Pretty impressive!
I might have to do more than 1 bike, it seems. I've committed first choice for the first unit to my local customer at $2500 estimated price, but it will be for a "basic" streeter, not a built-up hotrod (except maybe the cam, pistons, and porting bits). It will, however, blitz.
Then maybe another version? Say, a cafe "K", followed by an "F", so I can learn from the "F" gurus here? I love learning and kitbashing bike parts together. And, isn't the K7-K8 the "K" look with the "F" engine and different carbs? (Eldar, where are you?) This one really does need some chain lightening, though...
CD-ROM, PDF, Tree-chips, or stone tablets notwithstanding: I lean toward the printed package idea right now, but the book isn't here yet. We'll figure that one out as we go...
If I raffle one of these bikes off at $200,000 or more, I promise to return all the proceeds above my mortgage back to the buyers of the tickets....
