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We should have a build off

9K views 86 replies 22 participants last post by  jaguar 
#1 ·
How about if we try to come up with a way to do an internet build off. My initial idea is that we do it on a points system. Maybe you get a point or lose a point for every dollar separation between the cc's and the dollars, US. This based on the old dollar per cc adage for buying the starting point. Buy a CX500 for $500 and zero points, buy a CB750 for $500 and you have +250 points and buy a CX500 for $750 and you are at -250. If you want to start with a bike you already have then you need to declare the purchase price at the beginning, but it can't get you positive points. For instance I will start with my XL500S that I paid $200 for, but since I don't have a bill of sale or proof, I will have to start like I paid $500.

Then we go with a point per dollar spent as verified in receipts and if you are using parts from your parts hoard then you have to use comparable values documented on e-bay with buyit now prices or with prices sold from completed auctions. All parts have value. We can determine some set values for common items like bars, pegs, used tires, etc. Finally we set a value at the end and the forum can declare it fair or set a different value by a vote or consensus. There will be a point awarded for the differential between points spent and points earned with the highest net gain declared the winner.


What do you think? Can we do it? Who wants in? This way nobody has to go out and buy a bike or sell it when done. Just some fun that will depend on some honesty and integrity of the participants and the forum members. It acn even be one of the works in progress like the Patina special or Jags Seeley or Marc's Triumph.
 
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#2 ·
I have kept fairly good track of cost on both the Seeley and my 850 Commando.
Think it would be a fun way to get people active (with cool shit) on this forum.

Want to do this as one massive thread or individual build threads?
 
#4 ·
Sounds like fun.

What about selling parts off the bike or at least assigning the dollar/point value to that as well? Obviously a trashed pair of handlebars wouldn't count, but say the gas tank or seat?

Performance enhancements vs. cosmetic? Cheap emgo shocks vs. Hagon?

I also catalog every dime spent on parts including shipping in excel files so that's easy enough.
 
#10 ·
Right, and I don't really plan to sell the Seeley either.

Lets not make this purely about money.
Zero interest in $500 builds, same is true for $1,000,000 builds.
I would MUCH rather talk about interesting ways to spend money.
For me the thought that goes into a mod is what we should be talking about.
 
#11 ·
I want to read more about people that are hunting cool shit!

Share the knowledge of what is what and how to spot stuff.
Then the "build" is taking junk like this


And getting it ready for a bike.


The story, skill, knowledge and such are the interesting parts.
 
#12 ·
If you can find decent CB750 for $500, please tell me where!! Around here, if a bike starts, people want $1000 to start, even if everything else is crap. I almost bought a 74? CB350(cant remember the exact year) last year for $150. But it needed some help, out of my depths for sure. It had been in a head on, so the front fork was done, looked like a skilled welder could almost have chopped off behind the triple tree and re-did the whole front end and it would have been ok. I wish I had now, I think the motor alone might have been worth the $150 or more. But it had also been sitting in a lean to for at least 20 years untouched, so who knows if it was anymore than recycling.
 
#13 ·
STOP FOCUSING ON THE PRICE. Would "A" $500 CB750 be a deal? No idea.
Are some? Sure but not all. Lets talk about what to actually look for.....

There are millions of bikes out there.
I see that SOHC CB750 prices have really softened lately here.
 
#15 ·
I think the idea is to find a way to motivate the current member here to share some of the killer things they are doing.
 
#21 ·
I've got to-the-penny records and accurate to the quarter-hour build times for nearly 50 bike builds, 40+ with photos numbering near or over 100.

MOST of them are already online, on a couple of my Delphi forums, Facebook page, and/or AccessNorton, TriumphRat, TriumphTalk, BritBike.Com, and DoTheTon sites.

Also, doesn't the "Bike Of The Month" deal serve as a build-off of sorts?
 
#26 ·
If we could get sponsors!
I've gotten sponsors to supply some of my parts in the past, but never for a full build.
it's a lot of hard work to get sponsors, but if you were to build the bikes to sell and give all money to a good cause, may we could get sponsors.
 
#36 ·
We've tried to do that on several forums and it never worked.

One place it DID work was one of the Norton owner's clubs (Michigan?). I contributed some parts and it was a great build. Fetched good money, too. It worked because it was mainly club members actually doing work.
 
#34 ·
Ok, here are the rules as I see them. This will all be based on the honesty and the integrity of the participants. We will need to assign and justify values as each builder sees fit.

1. Based on a dollar per cc standard the net difference will be negative or positive points.
2. The value of any parts will be negative points based on actual purchase price or justified price if taken from stock.
3. Substantial parts of value that are removed from the project bike can be positive points based on justified price or actual sale price if the parts are sold.
4. The bike needs to be either street legal or track legal when completed. If going for street legal it MUST have a title. If it is a race bike it must meet the rules for a specific class for a sanctioned race org.
5. If a modification improves the performance of the bike it is worth the value of the parts involved. If the modification is cosmetic only it does not add to the points as a mod, but will be factored in at the end as it the total value of the bike.
6. The value needs to be set by the builder with the net difference determining the winner. However, the forum will be able to call BS on the value set by the builder and by consensus develop a new value.
7. The highest positive point total will win a really cool recycled trophy or plaque from a box in my garage.


The contest will start now and can include projects already in progress, so Jag , Tanshanomi, Marc and I can already be in.
I will start a new thread and post the first picture of my contestant. Let's keep all of the builds in a single thread.
I don't know when we want the contest to end, I will be either done by August 1 or I won't be done at all. That is when I have to go back to Alaska and will be away from my bikes until 2017.
 
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