‘It’s project time’

The North Wind doth blow and we shall have snow, and the biker’s mind turneth to the Winter Project.

I’ve mentioned the pitfalls in buying a ‘project bike’ before, so it’s only fair to point out where a project might actually be a sound idea.

The first is if the sum of its parts, sold separately, amount to more than you paid for it. That way you’re guaranteed to get your money back if (when?) you realise it’s never going to be completed: you can break it for parts. This usually applies to classic bikes, but can work for modern stuff if, for example, you pick up a popular bike whose engine has blown or something that is frequently crashed, like a sports 125 (by learners), a BMW tourer (by born-agains) or an A2 bike (by newbies).

That leaves you with the task of finding a decent replacement engine (rebuilding a blown engine is way more expensive than swapping it for a good used one), so go looking for accident damaged bikes. Problem here is that you also pay for a shedload of worthless broken parts, but still, this frequently produces a good bike for little outlay. Just remember to change the engine number on the V5.

The golden rule is this: you can easily find yourself getting sucked into a money pit. It’s tempting to throw a couple of hundred at a project, then find that it needs another couple of hundred, and another couple, and think that every spend is going to be the last. It never is. Set a clear budget and know when to cut your losses.