Cycle rebuild is it worth it?

Kind of embarrassed a coulple of days ago I fell out of bed, and wacked my left big toe it is purple and painful to walk much. Being laid up been watching bike videos on YouTube Tv . There is a kid that has been buying wrecked sport bikes, an 2016 yamaha R1 looked good when he was done ...he had spent almost 19k between purchase price and all of the replacement parts , and it will have a salvage title . Sure he will find someone out there that would buy it . My opinion I bought an 82 Seca 750 as an engine and frame for 100$ using mostly swap meet parts, parts from friends, eBay, Xj4ever. I built a very nice bike , I had about 800$ in bike and sold it for 1800$ I'm sure I could have gotten more , should have kept it. Now I bought another bike for 100$ and it is more complete, and have it running just working on front brakes . I'm sure I could part it out and get more than selling it as whole bike , but as in most things I buy high and sell low lol . What is your opion , is this all worth it to me it is .

 

Unless you're working with machines that have good demand and resale value it's a labor of love vs. a business model. When it's all said and done I'll have about $3,000 tied up in my XJ and might be able to break even, but I got the bike because I wanted it - something I could fool around and learn on then ride with pride.

 

Yes it is worth it for the enjoyment of getting the bike running especially if you don't spend lots of money fixing it.

 

Hobby and love for sure. If you are trying to make $$ from doing the refresh and sell not too sure how long you will stick with it. Once you get the process down of cleaning the carbs and flushing out the brakes, setting the valves to spec, then you are good. If the bike needs fresh tires or you will pass that on to the buyer it is really hobby and love.

I still have a 82 xj750 with no title and it is a full bike. Have it running and I just need to swap out the steering head bearing to the new ones. Not too sure if I wan to keep it with all the others I have in my stable.

Good luck getting the toe healed up, tape that toe to another good toe next to it and push on. Noting more you can really do besides let it heal. Last time I did that I went on a long hike the next day to more or less numb the toe, it worked and I was able to work with it as it healed up. Not really recommended but for me it worked.

 

Not worth the time if you are trying to flip it and you could be working at another job. "side hustle" it may pay off, but I bet if you take any profit and divide by your time, your hourly benefit will SUCK.
As mentioned, enjoyment factor. My xj650 was my first bike "back" into the biking world. I now have another bike that is newer but I feel I earned my way back in by bringing mine back to life. Its the story that makes it worth it.
The other day at a convenience store a guy on his crotch rocket said "holy crap, how old is that?", told him 40 years and he said "I did not realize bikes could last that long".

 

The videos these were high buck sport bikes, most just unbolt plastic , clean up road rash he bought a BMW sold new in 2021 for 22k after he bought it and replaced all the parts he has 21k in bike with a salvage title . I'm sure he can recoup most his money it looked great when he finished . I work for a living but don't have that kind of money for bike that will sit for four to five months a year. I have maybe 2k wrapped up in old yellow , I added the factory fairing , saddle bags, upgraded spin on oil filter, braided brake lines , tires, brake pads, shoes and an AGM battery and other goodies . I enjoy tinkering with it , know I won't get rich selling it but I don't want to flip it .

 

i think I can chime in. If flipping bikes is the game then I think searching around for the right bike is very important, something that can be fixed with minimal amount of cash. The XJ I bought needed a lot of work and it STILL needs work as you can see by my thread...

i would be at a loss if i tried to resell my XJ. A smarter idea would've been to part out the bike to be honest if money was the idea since the issue was so deep in the engine with 39k mileage.

i bought the bike to teach myself how to repair motorcycles without having to tear down my daily commuter bike. def learned a lot, though im still spooked about some things, i.e. working on the electronics of a bike, not too sure how it works and if i might fry something.

but i enjoyed the idea of riding around a 40+ year old bike super cool and seeing as there's a big following of this bike, it should be easy to keep maintained up until the 22nd century (if im still alive). itll an old relic of the 20th century, 1982, before i was even born!

 

My shop has become my meditation space. I recharge while working on an old bike, getting it running and road worthy. I also enjoy how each new-to-me bike feels so different from any others. As a result, I end up with a new bike each fall to work on over the winter and then ride the next season. Currently have 4 in the stable, though I'm pretty sure I'll sell the 1980 Honda CX500 Deluxe in the coming months.

 

By chance did you change over the mechanical fan on the CX to a electric one? That is a fun little mod to do. Those older fan blades on the CX become a problem with age. That and only bike I know of that has a mechanical fan running off the crank. Really fun little mod for it...if you want to play.

 

Also, consider that some of those guys make the money from the video, not from the actual project.