Topic: What Kind of Budget/Cost to Plan On?

[RSchaefer]

I have seen in a variety of posts, reference's to - 1) What someone paid for their original project bike.  2) What someone sold a project bike for, say $3K to $10K. or 3) What someone was planning on spending for the restore, say $2K to $6K.

I feel like each of us must decide whether to pay someone else to do the work or do the work ourselves.  The resulting need to "decide which way" comes down to - 1) We have, or have access to, facilities: friends, your own shop, etc. that allows you to do some or all of the work yourself.  2) You don't have the best facilities available, but you want to do as much as possible yourself.  3) You know your going to spend some money but your focus is going to be on - the most accurate restore, changes that effect safety or maintainability, and/or changes that increase power or engine longevity or some other reason.

Anyway, we all have to constantly make decisions about what we are going to do ourselves or have someone else do for us.  Ultimately the effect of these decisions will determine the final "actual" number, say - this is how much I have into it.  Not what you think the market will pay for it!

I think it would be very useful to me, and I'm sure others, to know and understand how each of us are deciding on these issues as we go along - as the sharing - would more then likely help others with the same decision!

Not sure what I am proposing but as an example:

I received a weathered CB75F0 w/under 20K miles for free about 20 years ago.  I started tearing it down to the frame a couple of months ago and started reading the forum.  I have always been concerned the cost to procure restore parts for the CB750F would be expensive.  Anyway I was pleasely surprised, at least for me, that most parts are available at reasonable prices.

I started putting a budget together and based on my rudimentary pricing decisions, I came up with a budget of $2K, and thats based on me having received the bike for free.

So now I'm into - should I send out my cases to be polished or pay someone else to do it?  Should I take the head & cylinders off to paint everything and then what would I do or have done with the heads off.  How much should I rattle can, powder coat or anodize?  And many many other pricing related questions.

Anyway, as I search for this type of information on the forum, I can't find it!  Sure would be nice to know what others are thinking of relative to budgets and when folks are making these pricing decisions, and why!!

[KB02]

As you said in your post, it all comes down to what you have available/can do yourself/your confidence in your abilities/time on hand.

I put about 6 grand into a free bike. I did most of the work myself over a four year period (and it's still not right...). There is a certain satisfaction I get from knowing that I did it myself. Something, though, I knew I couldn't do and had someone else do it - like porting the head: I brought that down to MRieck. But I prepped and painted the engine and bike tins myself. I brought it elsewhere for sand blasting and powder coating but I know that some people here to their own.

My next project is going to be an On-the-cheap type of job. I know I could never recoupe the money I have put into my Cafe project, but the point was having the project.

[bwaller]

I was a Honda mechanic for the period these bikes were sold. I bought a 750K3 new and it's still my only street bike. I have several others to boot, (including the CB570 roadracer I plan to race this summer) but don't plan on owning anything modern. I'm just around the corner from 56yrs. old and have worked my whole life, I'll damn well spend whatever it takes to keep my bikes sharp and the smile on my face.

I'm a dinosaur, can't help it. 

Decide what you want to use the bike for and spend what you can justify.

[Doctor_D]

You really don't want to know how much it's possible to spend on one of these bikes, especially when you get into, "while I've got it apart" mode.    I think I'm closing on $20k.

On a serious note, light top-end job on a tired motor, bronze swingarm bushings, tapered steering head bearings, fork springs, sandblast and paint or powder frame, rebuild brakes, full carb rebuild, intake rubbers, new cables and lines all around, exhaust system, tires, tubes, etc... these things add up faster than seems possible.  Unless you're a craigslist/shopmeet ace and a shade-tree machinist you're into $3-4k.  Stay away from the cheap stuff like Mac exhausts and no name chinese shocks or you'll be throwing good money after bad.

[Flying J]

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=85101.0

pretty much same quesion.

[RSchaefer]

Thanks ALL.  Good referral to the Cafe Racer thread, not what I'm doing, but costs are probably the same.  I think Doctor_D got what I am going to want to do about right:

"On a serious note, light top-end job on a tired motor, bronze swingarm bushings, tapered steering head bearings, fork springs, sandblast and paint or powder frame, rebuild brakes, full carb rebuild, intake rubbers, new cables and lines all around, exhaust system, tires, tubes, etc... these things add up faster than seems possible.  Unless you're a craigslist/shopmeet ace and a shade-tree machinist you're into $3-4k.  Stay away from the cheap stuff like Mac exhausts and no name chinese shocks or you'll be throwing good money after bad."

I had originally told my wife $2k, thinking that would give me a little room, but noooooooo its probably more like $4K.

Its good to know that most of us view this as a labor of love because thats what it really is for me as well.