The ULTIMATE Guide to buying a PROJECT MOTORCYCLE

Описание: email me: [email protected]

Massive thanks to Trade Bikes Direct for letting me film there, here’s a link to their website:
www.tradebikesdirect.co.uk

If you're thinking about getting a project motorcycle then you've come to the right place because in this video I'll tell you everything you need to know.

I started this channel 2 years ago and I've started and finished many project bikes so I'm making this video so you can learn from my experiences, sometimes I've been really lucky and other times not so much, at the end of the day it’s all about how much time and money you have! I'll try and give you the knowledge you'll need to grab yourself a bargain, rather than end up with a boat anker!

• Your number 1 enemy is rust and seized bolts
• Budget
• Space - I'm fortunate enough to have this little space in a warehouse but let’s not forget I started this channel from my driveway
• Duration - I thought my GPZ would take 6 months to sort out but it actually took 2 years, but in all fairness, I was working loads of other content at the same time. If you do end up with a bike that’s been abandoned for over 20 years then there isn't going to be a quick process to get it back on the road, it will need a lot of new parts, such as brake lines and all of the coolant hoses, fuel lines, etc. And other things you wouldn't even think of.
• Type of bike - scooter, moped, street, sport, cruiser... do you have a dream bike in mind? Is there a bike you wanted when you were younger and you can't afford it yet but you can stretch to a rough one? My GPZ was the only bike I actually went looking for as I wanted a bike the same age as me and I wanted it to be the fastest one at the time I was born. The others are just what was on the market at the time of needing a new project bike.
• Difficulty level - barn find to MOT failure. Have you got all the tools you need? Some bike manufacturers require the use of "special" tools for certain aspects of the build. For example, I've had to order a special tool to take the pistons out of the R6 brake callipers. Make friends with a local bike garage, they'll usually be happy to help you out and maybe lend you the tools you need. Bikers are bikers and it’s an amazing community.
• Skill level - beginner to professional, remember that you will learn from working on the bike and if you stick with it you'll always improve. Can you do all the work yourself or are you going to need to pay someone else to do certain bits, like restore the tank or replace the front fork seals.
• Purpose - to keep, to flip, are you just bored?... if you're planning on keeping the bike for yourself then Duration and cost aren't as important as if you're buying it to make profit, if that’s the case then you need to get the bike for a really good price
• Rarity - are the parts easy to find? You might be able to pick up a rare bike, say a GSX1100R from the 80s for £1500, but you'll spend years trying to find the parts for it
• Is it worth it? Weigh up the value of the finished bike versus the experience you'll gain
• Be wary of crashed bikes, there's no such thing as structural damage write-off any more but cosmetically damaged write-offs are difficult to sell after repairing. My Ducati 848 is a lovely lovely bike and rides like new, but realistically, insurance write-off categorised motorcycles are generally worth about half of their value before they were crashed and I couldn't justify selling the 848 for 3-4k so I lent it to a friend on a kind of permanent basis!

Check:
• Front forks
• Rear shock
• Brakes
• Steering
• Tyres - age and tread
• Engine - does it turn over, start, idle, rev, misfire, run on all cylinders. If it runs on easy start spray then you know you've got compression and spark, just a fuel delivery problem which is most likely to be carb needles blocked, or dirty injectors if it’s a fuel injection bike, but could also be fuel pump or filter issues. It could be something as simple as the fuse for the fuel pump if you're really lucky, but bear in mind that fuses blow for a reason.
• Chain and sprockets
• Number plate
• Electrics - do they all work?
• Mileage - what you want to do with the bike comes into play here, if you want to sell it then you'll want low mileage, if you're doing a full restoration and you're keeping it then the higher the mileage the better because you'll be able to get it cheap and the high mileage won't matter to you.
• Fuel injection or carbs
• Is it complete?
• Fuel tank - GPZ tank cost £500, which included cutting open the original tank, blasting out the old liner and the rust, rewelding it and finally painting it back to the factory colours. The Yamaha FZR tank only cost about £100 as I found a good fairing set and tank for sale on eBay for I think about £500 all in, it was a while ago so I can't remember.

Enjoy the video!