I was thinking that it would be neat to build a pre-war style bobber, or maybe a cool 50's style panhead. I don't know to much about bikes. So my question is, what would be good to start with? What would be a good frame to start with?Maybe a complete bike? What would be the cheapest? Thanks.
Do MAAAAD research, learn what I call the "chopper and bobber Elements of Style." Like hotrods, theres distinct 50's, 60's and 70's styles, except motorcycles have a teens, '20's, '30's and 40's style too, if you think about it... Find my Crocker post, start there....
if your lookin for cheap your probally lookin at the wrong motor, pans arnt cheap. but youll get your best deal on a complete bike just not in great shape. welda hard tail on if its a swingarm and start choppin.. make whats in your mind happen. Bones
Man, just ready about the type of bike you want, I'd figure the cheapest way is to buy a sportser and setup the engine on a rigd or customize the frame, some one posted on of the best sportster ever a few days ago here and did have a vintage rigid look going on. With a sporty you'll only be about 4k-8k deep. a big twin will run you at least 8K and by that time you can just save 8K and buy a restored or semi restore flathead Vl or something off a vintage motorcycle board. Just do some homework and figure out exactly what you want your bike to look like.
Abe? What? I'm hurt..... Unless you find a bike really cheap, I thike its better to build from frame up. Then you can have it just the way you want it with out a ****load of parts left over. And there is NO diference in price in building a BT over a sporty, you can put just as much money in both, all the parts are the same except the engine/****** and frame. FS
Whats market price on a ratty old running 45 like Hatch has got? Now, If you have no care as to how cool you look to the "right" people.... .... CHEEEEP: I've partially given up on the harley thing for a while... I got my $400 57000 mile '80 HONDA cb900c ("the Barbie Bike's big mean, *****y sister!") running well and sprayed satin black... its a thinly disguised sportbike masquerading as a cruiser.... So far I'm up to about $700 total after new parts/tire/registration. fastest thing I've ever owned. Its made me ill in the head, I want to take it to the track and drag it. My American V8's haven't been driven in a week....
No such thing as a cheap bobber if you're going to use an actual vintage american engine in it. Just for a little idea on a 45" HD bobber, my basic motor I picked up for $350. To build it up a little bit hot, with doing a lot of the work myself, it's probably going to be another $2k just in the motor. That's going to be the biggest chunk of money in this bike, though. The frame is a '68 Triumph with a bolt on rigid tail section, HD rear wheel with a bobbed fender of sorts and solo seat with springs. I've got maybe $150 in that. ****** is going to be a Triumph, got $30 in that. Getting the engine sprocket modded to work with the Triumph duplex chain will likely be $100+. As of right now the front end I have for it is a gsxr inverted unit left over from a streetfighter project. I need to get a hub to fit that which will take a laced wheel. The headlight is a '30s car unit with a 7" bulb. By the time it's done I expect to be in it around $5k but it could be less depending on what I do with it. Now that I think about it this one might come in less than $4k. Now the '29 Indian 101 scout bobber is the money pit but I'm hoping to come in around $12k on that one using mostly original Indian parts with some aftermarket stuff and some original Crocker stuff too (carb cover and steering damper). That Knuck farther up the post is nothing short of amazing, I just love that bike! It's looking pretty late 40s, early 50s with a hint of modern thrown in with the headlight so low, the fancy paint and the low seat. Just gorgeous! My compliments to the builder! If you want to use a knuckle motor be prepared to get about $10k just in the motor. If that fits your budget you can get a brand new flathead Indian Chief engine/****** combination from Kiwi for $10K. I think anything is possible on any budget with enough imagination and elbow grease. Just be prepared to do a lot of it yourself. I agree with the sporty chop being the inexpensive route. A little shopping should be able to score you a running shovelhead sporty in the neighborhood of $3k, then just get a weld-on hard tail and the other aesthetic details you want and go to town. If you want a springer front end on it you should be able to do one for under $1000 new. Good luck!
i was kinda hanging back on this one since i dont know vintage american bike/parts prices but what i can tell you is... i agree with all said so far... if you know where to score parts (as in trade other parts for 'em or your skill/labor) and can do a lot of the work yourself you can build a bike on the "cheap", especially if you dont care how correct or period the pieces actually are besides having the right look. BUT,,, bikes like cars can get very expansive really fast! (almost on an expodential scale compared to cars since they only have two wheels!). so, make a budget, half way through you project double it and then 3/4 of the way through add some more money pete. ps, i wanna see pix of the bike w/ the gixer usd front end!
Bones that little sporty is just sweet! One of the best deals going too at that price. It's a great platform to build whatever style bobber you might like on too. If I still had my old sporty chopper, it would look a lot like that by now, except it would have a leaf spring front end on it. Pete, I'll try to get that bike mocked up later this week and try to post a pic. I'm curious to see what that combination will look like too!
You should be able to build a Yamaha like the one above for $1500 or less if you take your time to find good deals on parts and start with a running bike. I may be a little biased, but I think the dollar:cool factor ratio of Triumphs and other brit bikes makes them pretty attractive for chopper/bobber/kustom projects. I'm finishing up my Triumph project right now, and I'd like to do an early Panhead next... but I'm figuring it will cost me about 4 times as much to build the Pan in a similar style to my Trump. "Harley" and "cheap" do not usually go hand in hand.
sporties can still be had cheap.to me they are like garden tractors.you can make them look cool.i have had a few of them during tuff times.flatheads look the coolest but if you know little about them its not for you[my first bike was a 1942 wla]
bones! that bike is just f'ing money! so spot on! nice job. hermit... you're familiar with Confederate right? hearing you talk bout mixing modern sport bike suspenders whith the chopper/bober style made me immediately think about this months cycleworld issue. hatch... think about spoke rims form a salvage yard? looks good!
Gotta set of spokes coming with another basket case I bought...they are actually getting hard to find.
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