Could you save money by building a new Buell from parts?

[Bueller]

I was at the local Buell workshop today, and my bike's twin was there in a pretty bad way.  (Rider undamaged).

The bike was being assessed for insurance, and the replacement items read like the Firebolt parts catalog.  The motor, the muffler and perhaps the wheels looked like the only survivors.  Because of the labour, the bike was probably a write-off.

What was interesting was the prices for the parts.  To avoid currency conversion, these examples are in % of new bike on road cost.
Frame - 12%
SwingArm - 3%
Fairing - 1.2%
Headers - 1.5%
Airbox cover (say tank) - 1.5%

etc.

The total cost of all parts for my car reputedly cost 4 times the new price of the vehicle, but it looked to me like you could buy a Buell wreck to get the VIN, and build a new bike from scratch and with your labour it would cost less than the bike new.   Even if you could get close I find that pretty amazing.

[Clive]

If the frame -- which holds the VIN -- is damaged, I'd wonder.  I'd heard that frame damage to the Buell totals it, as the hollow, built-to-hold-the gas frame is much more difficult to repair.  No idea if that's true, partly true, ...  

[Kootenanny]

Actually, a lot of the major parts--frame, swingarm, etc.--are often available on eBay, since Buell XBs are popular donor bikes for choppers...

[Bueller]

If the frame -- which holds the VIN -- is damaged, I'd wonder. I'd heard that frame damage to the Buell totals it, as the hollow, built-to-hold-the gas frame is much more difficult to repair.  No idea if that's true, partly true, ...  

Hi WH,

I figure that the VIN just a number used for legal identification and tracking.  Down here, you need a VIN and a compliance plate, without it you couldn't put the assembled bike on the road.

I agree that it would be nearly impossible to repair a fluid tight hollow aluminum frame, and I wouldn't like to ride with it afterwards.  The price of the new one made me think who would want to repair it.

I think the labour would write it off, but I just wonder if you could possibly end up saving money by building one as a project.

If the frame is bent then a lot of other parts will go with it, so I can understand why it would often end up a total wreck.  The insurance value decreases sharply after the first year, so they just pay out the second hand value.

[Bueller]

Actually, a lot of the major parts--frame, swingarm, etc.--are often available on eBay, since Buell XBs are popular donor bikes for choppers...

Even better

[JamesG]

You might be able to piece one together from used bits from ebay, but even then I think you would wind up spending more than for an equivelant used whole bike or even new.

There is an economic reason ppl part out old bikes...

[Bueller]

You might be able to piece one together from used bits from eBay, but even then I think you would wind up spending more than for an equivalent used whole bike or even new.

There is an economic reason ppl part out old bikes...

Ah yes JG this is my point.

Kootenanny is talking about new bits from eBay, and I am talking about new bits from HD.

To show that I can follow what you are saying, I will give an example.  I sold a perfectly reasonable car to buy my 750.  I then bought the heap below so that I could still go to the drive-in, sprayed a few highlights so I could find it in a car park and drove it for 3 years.  At the end of this time the diff was louder than the radio so I wrecked it, and sold the bits for double what I originally paid for the car.  I wasn't particularly aggressive in the sales department; I didn't advertise and there were heaps of parts like the front grill, taillights etc that I just junked.  I reckon that I could have got three times the original purchase price if I hustled.

So this is the way that second hand parts operate.  Remember that a second hand bike is depreciated and so second hand parts can be cost effective.  (I always check new as well, sometimes the car wreckers ask more than new prices for stuff).  If you buy a new bike you want it all bright and shiny new, so secondhand parts don't work.

What I am musing on is the possibility of building a new Buell from new parts and discounting your labour having this save you money.  I agree that this goes against all we have learned about the pricing of spares, but my observation with the Buells is that it may be line-ball.

[DogBoy]

Can't help with the bike rebuild but those pictures are hilarious.