What bike...

[DefTrap]

BTW if I were in the position I would spend £200k. I honestly don't think I enjoy the actual tinkering very much...really not sure. I reckon if I had the means I'd much rather tell other people to go away and actually make the stuff I've come up with. Making sparks and smelling fumes isn't really my thing all that much I don't reckon.

Whereas I would spend my ill gotten gains on a massive workshop with enough fancy pants toolage so that I could do it myself. I just don't have enough lifetimes to do it all.

[Mr. Dazzle]

200k would just about cover one moderately fancy pants machine these days I reckon.

[Yorick]

Not allowed custom vehicles here

[Count Steer]

I'd buy a Vincent and a Brough as my daily runarounds, just because I could. And they aren't difficult to maintain (from what I read).

Not that keen on giving to the poor. I give to heart and cancer research as any breakthrough will benefit everyone, rich or poor, wherever they are.

No need to just hand out the cash to the poor. If you had that sort of money there's loads of things you could do that you might find interesting and could even generate some money. Start a bike renovation workshop, employ somebody good and train some youngsters to do the mechanicals/paint etc. They might even build you something better than Brad's bike.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Or you could give 200k to the people who've already done that.

[KungFooBob]

I'd spend it all on drugs and hookers.

[Count Steer]

Or you could give 200k to the people who've already done that.

They are in America, you aren't involved and can't use their facilities as and when you want. They're not spannering your Brough either.

Or your Triumph.

[Mr. Dazzle]

If I had billions I still don't think I'd be spending 200k on a new custom bike because it's not worth that, at least to me anyway, not when there is still plenty of off-the-shelf bikes that would be as good or better.

Depends what you mean by custom. I could easily spend 200k making what I would consider to be a custom bike...but as I'm sure you could imagine my idea of custom would be somewhat more involved than most.

I wouldn't pay 200k for someone else's engine in a half (or even three quarters) baked welded tubular frame, no.

[weeksy]

If I had billions I still don't think I'd be spending 200k on a new custom bike because it's not worth that, at least to me anyway, not when there is still plenty of off-the-shelf bikes that would be as good or better.

Depends what you mean by custom. I could easily spend 200k making what I would consider to be a custom bike...but as I'm sure you could imagine my idea of custom would be somewhat more involved than most.

I wouldn't pay 200k for someone else's engine in a half (or even three quarters) baked welded tubular frame, no.

How and on what?

Considering something like a 1290/panigale or whatever is remarkable, what would you actually comission?

[Mr. Dazzle]

Well that is part of the reason I wouldn't bother....you can get really good stuff as it is! But bear in mind if you were to make one Panigale (i.e. you can't take am engine off the shelf, the frame isn't bent and welded tube etc) as some sort of hypothetical custom you'd be looking at 7 figures easy.

The only sort of thing I'd build would be something like the Britten.

A set of tools to make "proper" structural carbon bodywork would be 5 or maybe 6 figures no problem. Before you've even made anything.

Time to actually design said bodywork....5 figures spent for someone who knows what they're doing. I'd probably do that myself though!

Not even gonna countenance a custom engine of any sort, that would be a stupid idea. Factory stuff is gonna be better and cheaper, until you're spending millions.

Obviously doing the legwork yourself cuts down on that ALOT, but I'm neither interested or skilled enough to do that.

I suppose its fairer to say I'm not interested in anything less than factory standards. So I'm basically paying for a factory custom...and there's only really one vaguely comparable kind of bike out there for that, factory racers and prototype racers. Famously cheap of course!

Realitically, making "proper" motorbikes is fucking expensive.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Yeah I thought about him a bit....I reckon if you did an honest appraisal of how much time etc. he spends the bikes would cost more than you think.

[weeksy]

Yeah I thought about him a bit....I reckon if you did an honest appraisal of how much time etc. he spends the bikes would cost more than you think.

https://thekneeslider.com/two-allen-mil ... -h1-850-5/

This implies £90,000 (for the pair) so a long long long way from $200,000

[Mr. Dazzle]

That's why I said "honest"....how much does Mr Millyard spend doing it, including all his time? How much more would he have to spend to also have a dealer, admin staff, marketing etc?

You could argue that in his case he's well enough known that he'd sell them from word of mouth. How much did he 'spend' to get there?

[weeksy]

That's why I said "honest"....how much does Mr Millyard spend doing it, including all his time? How much more would he have to spend to also have a dealer, admin staff, marketing etc?

You could argue that in his case he's well enough known that he'd sell them from word of mouth. How much did he 'spend' to get there?

I'm not sure what his honesty in his hours have to do with it ? We're talking about the retail price of buying the bike, not how much time and effort someone put into it surely ?

[Mr. Dazzle]

How can you divorce the time spent making a bike from the cost of it? That's makes no sense.

[weeksy]

How can you divorce the time spent making a bike from the cost of it? That's makes no sense.

Because we're the customer.... nothing apart from the price to pay actually matters. If it takes the bloke 10,000 man hours it doesn't matter as long as the price is reasonable, in this case of Millyards bike, it seems to be £45,000 for a bike (which didn't sell at that price). Even if it cost him £100,000 to make it.... well who cares as he's selling it for £45,000

[Mr. Dazzle]

Only if he's willing to donate you 55k of his time. Thats why I said honest.

There are some companies which operate at the a loss like that on some vehciles, I doubt these custom manufacturers are among them.

[weeksy]

Only if he's willing to donate you 55k of his time. Thats why I said honest.

There are some companies which operate at the a loss like that on some vehciles, I doubt these custom manufacturers are among them.

I'm completely missing your point fella, so i'll move on.

[Mr. Dazzle]

If it costs someone to £100k to make a bike and they sell it to you for £45k they've lost 55 grand. That's pretty simple no?

With people like Milyard a huge chunk of that notional 55k is their time. In this hypothetical example if they properly accounted for that the bike should cost you 100 grand. Now I get the sense Milyard isn't doing this to pay the bills, so he doens't charge in that way. In fact does he even sell bikes at all? But if you're running a business and you need to pay teh rent and staff wages and whatever you do need to account for it.

Which is why I said many customs you see on the internet aren't a fair appraisal of the true cost. You couldn't run a long term business at the numbers you see a lot of the time.