Building a Motorcycle

[GonzoLizard211]

Anyone here know how hard it is to build a motorcycle? I am considering building one, because the idea of riding around the country on a motorcycle with my bag sounds awesome to me. I don't know where to start though. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Art101]

If your mechanically inclined it shouldnt be tough.Ive priced building one and it does make sense for the most part.Good Luck.

 

[creature]

Building is a good idea, but any build will take a garage or dry space, tools, and the ability to get around to parts.. how big do you want the bike to be?

reliability & parts availability in relation to available bread are the #1 considerations..

how far from scratch do you want the build to be? (BTW, the rest of this rant assumes yer not talking about a kit build, but at least from the frame, up)

how much cash do you have to start with?
how much time?
how much experience do you have? ever do any tear downs, or top end work?
can you at least *completely* rebuild a lawnmower engine?

you do *not* want to lauinch on a cross country trip on your first homebuild of *any* kind, until you pace her to where she runsfault free around your homebase for a *minimum* of 300 miles..
& i mean *fault free*, unless you are an experienced mechanic who can diagnose & repair simple problems without much more than a few basic tools.

if you *do* do a build from scratch.. picking your frame, picing your motor/gearbox, doing your own wiring, brakes etc., *with no previous mechanical experience* and you have good counsel, figure about 300 hours, minimum, in the best of circumstances..less if you are being helped directly by a decent gearhead..

your first build will present you with more problems and questions than you can imagine..
at first they will seem like you are being cursed by the deamons of internal combustion design (which in fact will actually be the case), but you will gain knowledge & wisdom & self-reliability..

if your are doing this in a 'shade tree' enviornment, your first build, even if sucessfull, may self destruct after only several hundred miles..

you will have learned enough, however, to know what to look for in used vehicles & maintain them on the cheap, for prolonged periods..

if you can get a hold of parts for several of the same year & model bikes, & do your build from there, that is another proposition all together..

you will learn almost as much & you will have a lot more confidence..

the most practical approach, if you want to learn & build & take care of yourself while traveling is to find a bike & rebuild it..
consider your budget, what you want to do with it, the size you want & how much work you can realisticly do in your timeframe..

you can find good deals on plenty of bikes, especialy ones that need work..

remember that if you want good milage, manuverabilty & cross terrain potential, go for a low CC engine.
don't get a dirt bike, but get something you can push, for sure, if you want to do any moderate off-roading or stealth camping..

motorcycle traveling is fatuiging on smaller bikes, too, and requires some consideration of what your route will be like.. if you think you'll do anything in the desert, even if by highway, bring water.

bikes are not stable, so give consideration to your center of gravity when you pack.
if you're going to build to travel, make your racks low & easily removeable..

anyways.. good luck!!

C

 

[creature]

now... a motorized *bicycle*... that is a whole 'nother issue......

 

[GonzoLizard211]

Building is a good idea, but any build will take a garage or dry space, tools, and the ability to get around to parts.. how big do you want the bike to be?

reliability & parts availability in relation to available bread are the #1 considerations..

how far from scratch do you want the build to be? (BTW, the rest of this rant assumes yer not talking about a kit build, but at least from the frame, up)

how much cash do you have to start with?
how much time?
how much experience do you have? ever do any tear downs, or top end work?
can you at least *completely* rebuild a lawnmower engine?

you do *not* want to lauinch on a cross country trip on your first homebuild of *any* kind, until you pace her to where she runsfault free around your homebase for a *minimum* of 300 miles..
& i mean *fault free*, unless you are an experienced mechanic who can diagnose & repair simple problems without much more than a few basic tools.

if you *do* do a build from scratch.. picking your frame, picing your motor/gearbox, doing your own wiring, brakes etc., *with no previous mechanical experience* and you have good counsel, figure about 300 hours, minimum, in the best of circumstances..less if you are being helped directly by a decent gearhead..

your first build will present you with more problems and questions than you can imagine..
at first they will seem like you are being cursed by the deamons of internal combustion design (which in fact will actually be the case), but you will gain knowledge & wisdom & self-reliability..

if your are doing this in a 'shade tree' enviornment, your first build, even if sucessfull, may self destruct after only several hundred miles..

you will have learned enough, however, to know what to look for in used vehicles & maintain them on the cheap, for prolonged periods..

if you can get a hold of parts for several of the same year & model bikes, & do your build from there, that is another proposition all together..

you will learn almost as much & you will have a lot more confidence..

the most practical approach, if you want to learn & build & take care of yourself while traveling is to find a bike & rebuild it..
consider your budget, what you want to do with it, the size you want & how much work you can realisticly do in your timeframe..

you can find good deals on plenty of bikes, especialy ones that need work..

remember that if you want good milage, manuverabilty & cross terrain potential, go for a low CC engine.
don't get a dirt bike, but get something you can push, for sure, if you want to do any moderate off-roading or stealth camping..

motorcycle traveling is fatuiging on smaller bikes, too, and requires some consideration of what your route will be like.. if you think you'll do anything in the desert, even if by highway, bring water.

bikes are not stable, so give consideration to your center of gravity when you pack.
if you're going to build to travel, make your racks low & easily removeable..

anyways.. good luck!!

C

Well, I've never built anything like this before, never attempted to rebuild a lawnmower engine, it just never entered my mind until now. I thought I'd be able to figure it out when I had the parts together in the shop. You're right about it not being a kit build, too. I'm in LA right now and I have access to a garage with a bunch of tools, and who I could get to help me knows the basics of wiring and how an engine works.
As of right now, I just have $40 to my name, but I have basically all the time in the world to build up funds. I hoped to build a bike similar to a Vincent Black Shadow from the ground up, but buying a fixer upper might honestly be a better idea, albeit more costly. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, too.

 

[callmeG]

I've been considering the prospect of buying cheap small to mid size motorcycle with a title for the major parts, dropping in a 6.5cc go kart type engine. These motors usually go for $100 new, parts are dirt cheap and they're super simple so anyone could work on them. A CVT transmission goes for another $100,. Not super cheap but you could have a functional bike for like $400. Should top out around 50mph and probably get pretty good mpg's. If the old motor has any good parts they could possibly be sold to recoup some costs.

 

[milkhauler]

I've been considering the prospect of buying cheap small to mid size motorcycle with a title for the major parts, dropping in a 6.5cc go kart type engine. These motors usually go for $100 new, parts are dirt cheap and they're super simple so anyone could work on them. A CVT transmission goes for another $100,. Not super cheap but you could have a functional bike for like $400. Should top out around 50mph and probably get pretty good mpg's. If the old motor has any good parts they could possibly be sold to recoup some costs.

Good idea. I bought a new 7spd adult sized trike bike last summer. I was tempted to a 10hp gas motor on the back and use that to bum around town. The cops squashed that idea. I guess u need plates for a bicycle that goes above 25mph. I'm still thinking about putting an 1000w hub motor on the front tire and tossing some golf cart batteries in the back.

If I ever travel on the hwy, I always wanted aSuzuki DR 400. Small enough for the trails, but will do 85-90 on the hwy. Thier pretty cool lil bikes and be had for less than $3k.

 

[GonzoLizard211]

I've been considering the prospect of buying cheap small to mid size motorcycle with a title for the major parts, dropping in a 6.5cc go kart type engine. These motors usually go for $100 new, parts are dirt cheap and they're super simple so anyone could work on them. A CVT transmission goes for another $100,. Not super cheap but you could have a functional bike for like $400. Should top out around 50mph and probably get pretty good mpg's. If the old motor has any good parts they could possibly be sold to recoup some costs.

Do you know what all the parts I'd need to throw a working motorcycle together are other than an engine and a transmission?

 

[callmeG]

Hard to say since I haven't done it yet. You would need some sort of plate to mount the engine to that would be welded to the frame, you would probably also need a sprocket to match the sprocket on the motorcycles wheel. If the engine didn't have an alternator, you would probably want to rig one up to power your lights.

 

[moofasaorcasperorwhatever]

i think you would want a magneto not an alternator to power your lights if your planning to run with out a battery also it might be cheaper just to buy a old honda building a functioning motorcycle thats reliable enough to ride around the country is actually really hard to do even for a good mechanic and also always ends up being more expensive than you think i mean i hate to be a downer but it sounds like youd be a lot better off just to buy a functioning motorcycle...

 

[kecleon]

Sorry to be the grim r eaper but building a bike is a bad idea man. Buy an old bike and just work on it and fix it up. For me get an old (90's) Yamaha xt 600 reliable, easy to work on thumper with tons of cheap parts, fast enough to go on the highway for short blasts not too vibey at like 50-60. Simple maintenance. A d they're everywhere, like every bike breaker / scrap yard is gonna have several. Otherwise go with some other bike like that, cheap, popular, simple, reliable, old.

Or just go to a breakers and ask if they got anything worth saving with a clean registration. Or see if theyve got a ton of one model of bike then go buy one of them.

Building a bike is a nightmare unless you're a machinest and really good mechanic plus have the cash to get it registered and all legit. I used to restore classic bikes and rode bikes for 20 years. I never built a bike from the ground up becasue its an insane endeavor. I've heavily modified bikes but they were big long term projects like years of trying things. It's not an easy thing to just do....