Hey guys,

Always been a cafe style lover, but of late I have been really drawn to the boardtrack racer style of bike. While I was living in Canada, I came across a mob in Califonia (Mailbu Customs) that sold the exact style of bike that I was after. Now last week I also seen the same frame now from a mob back home in Aus in Vic. Now the style of bike I am after isnt availble off the shelf, so I have resigned myself to the fact that I will have to build or have built my dream bike.

Which brings me to the age old question, is it worth it? The roller that I am looking takes a pan, shovel or evo engine. I am not fussy, I am happy to purchase a donor bike and reco engine, gearbox etc. if its required and use gear off that bike. Or purchase new gear if its at the right price.

I did some searches on here on rego, engineering etc. but I didnt find a lot of information apart from the fact that its a long drawn out process, and some people have been burnt by the process.

The better half has resigned to the fact its going to happen and asked that a little change out of 25k would be nice.

 Is that enough, if no what do you think a build will cost. I am not into bling, infact the chrome thing isnt me at all, looking at mid range gear, but keep the build neat. Not a drag bike, not a race bike, just a beach cruiser.

Am I dreaming?

If that's the style you like, go for it.

Got to say though they do nothing for me.

 

I know there not everyone's cup of tea, but that's the look I am going for. I was more interested in people's thoughts on a build cost. Like I said pretty standard engine, I do love the Weber carb on the jelopy build so things like that interest me. 

 

 

give me a call 03 8405 9212, I can help you

Mate if you are doing a lot of the work yourself then you might come close to the 25,000 ... but if you are out sourcing a lot of the work like I did then you may want to prepare yourself and the better half to a few more dollars .

Like everything in this world but especially custom built Harleys it comes down to how long is a piece of string scenario ... don`t get me wrong I Love my Bikes and the whole process when putting them together ... my 08 Softail was a lot of bolt on Bling and a shitload of engine work that I am still playing with ... but my 99 Springer was the one I out sourced and again loved nearly the whole process , discussing build ideas with my chosen bike builder and seeing the end result come to life but my first mistake was buying a near immaculate 99 Fxsts and then stripping it down one day later ... my better half thought I was nuts ... the jury is still out on that one , Lol .

Other mistakes I felt I made was not having a totally full idea going in and changing my mind on things as we went along ... while the end result is pretty dam close to what I envisaged I reckon I could have saved some dollars if I had a more clearer view from the start and sticking to it ... mind you I reckon a lot of bike builders will tell you that changing things up as you go along is all part of the bike building game .

I have a bucket load of pics in my profile , check them out if you are curious to see how much work went into my build ... most of the long termers on here are probably sick of me posting pics of the old girl , Lol .

Is it worth it ... well it all comes back to what you want ... my Springer , buying it , having it customised , getting engine work done , and other assorted goodies here and there owes me in the Ball Park of $50,000 ... it will never sell any where near that figure if I was building it as an investment and that is one thing I knew going in but if I was to do it again like I said above I would have done things slightly different but I reckon it still would have been in the 35 to 40 Grand Ball Park ... remembering I had some one build my dream which of course is where a bucket load of the money went .

Luckily I wasn`t building it or having it built so I could turn around and sell it ... I always wanted a Springer with a 50`s / 60`s Bobber / Chopper style ... have had it for around 3 years now , have won a couple of small time Bike show Trophy's , that is good for the Ego but again not built for that reason and still absolutely Love riding it ... would I sell it , yeah if the right figure was offered but until that day I jump from my 99 to my 08 and love getting out and about .

Just on the rego side of things and I am not sure how it works where you live but my builder didn't have any issues getting it registered at build end ... it helps that practically everything on it is legal any how ... well nearly everything , Lol .

If it is your dream then go for it but if it is for investment purposes then well you never know ... be sure to post your build pics if you go ahead , always love to see what other people come up with , cheers .

Tim .

yeah mate ,definately go for it. give it a go you will love the experience of it all,,,good and bad,,,more good though when you make progress and see it all start coming together.
from the ideas that were in your head.
i am nearing the end of my bobber build, you can check out my pics in BOBBER BUILD, its been a long hall for me but will be worth it in the end,and yes speak to walker,he helped me no end....jocky