Building Race Ready Dirt Bikes then selling for Profit?

[cchalmers3]

Hey guys,

Just wondering, I got looking around for brand new "race ready" (Not stock bikes, but have aftermarket suspension etc) dirt bikes for sale and couldn't find any. They're all used and a few years old. Do you think a guy could buy brand new dirt bikes, never ride them and then install a lot of aftermarket parts and get the bikes so they're top quality motocross bikes and then sell them for a bit of a profit? Would you guys buy a brand new bike that is race quality (aftermarket suspension, levers, brakes, clutch etc) for a bit of a mark up so you wouldn't have to do all the work in putting it together and ordering all the parts? And also you'd get to take all the original stock bike parts with the purchase. I was thinking of higher end racing dirt bikes in the $20K range. I like tinkering in my garage and building bikes, even if I don't get to ride them... Any input would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Craig

[DEMI]

wish ya well, but it will be hard road. Today's market is thin/shrinking at best.

Edited April 1, 2017 by DEMI

[Pigsfly]

2017 yz250 $7400 race ready . 

 

Good luck 

[Korey James]

There's so much stuff alone you could do to a motor. The pros are sponsored and don't have to pay for any of their bikes/parts. Motors alone could cost you 10-15K. If you want to make profits on dirt bikes buy them blown up for cheap, fix them yourself then sell them for a bit of a profit. That's they only way you'd make money. People aren't going to spend 20k on a "race ready" bike.

[Smoking 2's]

I'll never pay over blue book price! I'm a computer idiot and could easily produce receipts! Every bike is factory to me!

[cchalmers3]

Ok thanks for the input. Ya I would produce all the original receipts, break down the entire bike cost and just charge for the labor to put it all together. I know some people are lazy and just don't want to do any of the work to build top ends, bottom ends or do anything mechanical to the bike hahaha So I thought possibly people would pay to have someone else do it, kinda like they do to houses, vehicles etc lol

[Smoking 2's]

Yep, bike shops with a background other wise to many sceptical people, I can easily do anything, do you trust me!

[cchalmers3]

Sure I trust you, but I'm also Canadian lol 

[Smoking 2's]

Good point, your(not your directly) people just tried to fly cocaine thru my area! Sorry about there luck! My small micro county ruined there life, Homeland added to it..

[lakeportmike]

The only people who really need a bike like this...already have one for free!  For the average motocrosser most mx bikes come from the factory "race ready". (I've won local expert mx races on mostly stock bikes)...sure people like to mod their bikes...but not to the tune of 20k!

 

 

[cchalmers3]

45 minutes ago, Smoking 2's said:

Good point, your(not your directly) people just tried to fly cocaine thru my area! Sorry about there luck! My small micro county ruined there life, Homeland added to it..

it was probably just snow lol since oil and natural gas prices have crashed we've been looking for other export alternatives. And we heard many parts of the US and Mexico are hot! haha Regardless though glad to hear Trump has things under control down there, he'll probably have us building a wall here soon too lmao except our past few Prime Ministers have bankrupted us so we'll have to relocate all our beaver dams and use that as a wall instead! hahaha

Cheers,

[cchalmers3]

9 minutes ago, lakeportmike said:

The only people who really need a bike like this...already have one for free!  For the average motocrosser most mx bikes come from the factory "race ready". (I've won local expert mx races on mostly stock bikes)...sure people like to mod their bikes...but not to the tune of 20k!

 

 

ya the $20K is CAD. It'd be $15K USD. Our bikes off the showroom floor are $9,500 CAD.

[MentalGuru]

You've discovered a good way to lose money IMO.   

Each bike would need to be built specifically for the customer.  You would need to become a dealer for every bike brand you want to offer if not all you are selling is used bikes.   You would need to become a wholesale buyer for the parts along with being or hiring a certified tech that has race experience along with a well standing reputation in the sport.   Even if you managed to do all of this the stars will need to be in alignment for you to make any money.  You would have overhead operating costs, advertising expenses, labor and more to add to the cost.

It's a lose-lose type deal.  

[lakeportmike]

You CAN make a little $ modifying people bikes though. Especially if you can do motor work and suspension. I've been doing it on the side part time for about 4 years...I just work out of my garage and I already have the tools (been racing and building my own bikes for decades) so really no overhead costs. I started just doing friends bikes but now I'm doing friends friends bikes lol..and I even have a contract to work on a fleet of Kawasaki's at a local dirt riding school... Starting to wish I had a bigger garage!

[cchalmers3]

Haha sweet garage!! And good on you, nice work. Ya I was debating that route too, I know lots of people who don't like doing any work on their four stroke engines. The plus about doing it out of your garage too is you can create a little business and write off your garage space, telephone bills, utilities etc for tax purposes. Would have to claim the income but the tax write offs (Especially here in Canada) are well worth it. Damn governments... hahaha 

Thanks for the comments.

[Hudson Charlton]

When I am going to buy a mx I will look for a good deal of a bike that is loaded with aftermarket parts. The trouble is when buying one with all the after market parts known to man kind, is that the owner always wants to get EXACTLY how much he put into it. So generally I just wait until I can find the owner who needs cash and wants the bike gone. I find all the average buyer cares about is that it looks good and starts good. Now don't get me wrong there are of course people who do care. Like stated it would be a very tough road. You would have to find a very cheep beat up bike that NEEDED new parts. You would just replace the broken with aftermarket and bang you have a bike that will sell fast. 

[lakeportmike]

there is a company in Oregon that does something like what you're talking about...they take modern 4 strokes and put 2 stroke motors in them...and trick everything out!

Check out this Redline cr500

[BOAB]

Unless you have a reputation in the engine and suspension building world no one in their right mind would pay anything near what it is going to cost you. Sorry, but being a nobody is going to put you in the category of 99% of us, you get less than half out of a bike, car, truck, whatever than you put into it. Work hard, build a reputation and MAYBE 10 years from now you can make money at it.

 

 

[mlatour]

An actual 'race' bike is built to suit a specific rider's preferences :

engine power characteristics, handlebar bend, grip material, seat height, final drive ratio, suspension spring rates & settings etc. only to name a few,

you can't build something 'custom' ahead of time that meets every potential buyer's exact needs.

 

Anyone and everyone can slap aftermarket bling on a bike, quite often not making a bit of difference in improving it's performance,

someone that experiments & fine tunes a stock bike (engine / suspension) to it's full potential is rare these days.

 

 

Edited April 1, 2017 by mlatour

[Westcoasting]

3 hours ago, cchalmers3 said:

Haha sweet garage!! And good on you, nice work. Ya I was debating that route too, I know lots of people who don't like doing any work on their four stroke engines. The plus about doing it out of your garage too is you can create a little business and write off your garage space, telephone bills, utilities etc for tax purposes. Would have to claim the income but the tax write offs (Especially here in Canada) are well worth it. Damn governments... hahaha 

Thanks for the comments.

Do some of the work on the books for the tax incentives and do most of the work for cash and no receipt.