How to build motorcycles for a living

[HotIce]

I've found it an interesting read 

http://www.bikeexif.com/build-custom-motorcycles

[Monsterlover]

[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!

[Randy@StradaFab]

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

[Speedbag]

Pretty tough to make a profit on building complete bikes.

This.

Interesting read. 

[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.

[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

[Speeddog]

~~~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.

[HotIce]

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]

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.

[memper]

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

[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.

[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.

[HotIce]

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]

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.