The headline might read, “One Thousand Motorcycle Companies Opening Soon!” Would you believe it? You should, because it’s already happening. All over the world, individuals, small partnerships and small to medium sized companies are building custom motorcycles and it doesn’t require venture capital or thousands of employees.
Start Your Own Motorcycle Company
If you’re really into motorcycles, if you do your own repairs and you tweak and tune your bike until everything is just right, … start your own company. Are you in college, studying toward an engineering degree, waiting for the day when you’ll get that spot at one of the major manufacturers? Start your own company, instead. Maybe you are part of a group where you and your buddies can do just about anything to a motorcycle that any dealer or repair shop can, … start your own company. Do you know your way around a welder and take pride in the perfect bead and love motorcycles, too? You guessed it, start your own company. Whether you fit one of those descriptions or one of hundreds more, you could start your own motorcycle company if you really wanted to. If you don’t think so, think again.
Standard Parts and Mechanical Aptitude
If you’re old enough to remember the days when the IBM PC first came out, you may recall how the open configuration of the IBM made it easy for anyone with a little technical knowledge to build their own computer from a multitude of parts, easily available. A huge number of companies began producing computers, and, though many quickly failed, some stayed around for years and a few are the major companies still turning out computers today.
If they won’t build it, build it yourself.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve intentionally shown you a number of interesting homebuilt, amateur sportbikes and chopper/customs to get you thinking. It takes an idea, a willingness to learn and the roll up your sleeves, let’s get to work attitude to move from the idea to finished bike. Some of those builders learned how to build on the fly, metal shaping, welding, whatever they needed, it came together because they thought their idea was worth the effort.
Many readers here at The Kneeslider have commented about the shortcomings of various factory motorcycles. That’s not a problem, that’s an opportunity! Design and build a better bike. Don’t expect to compete with Honda or Yamaha but how about turning out a new frame for use with some readily available engine and standard parts. You don’t need the complex aluminum frames some companies use, Ducati seems to do pretty well with a trellis made from tubing, why not you? If you build one complete bike and get it sorted, sell your frame with a parts list of standard pieces to complete the bike. Are you good with fiberglass? Design some bodywork, maybe a small fairing or tailpiece, maybe a total body. If it looks good and the quality is high, you’re on your way.
Manufacturers Make the Small Pieces
You’re not going to build all of the little pieces, you don’t have to manufacture shocks and forks and brake calipers because you don’t have to. Lots of companies make those already. Many vehicle manufacturers source most of their parts from around the world, making a few things themselves but the vehicle they sell is the concept, design and tangible completed product.
Expand Beyond Choppers – Please!
A lot of this has already happened in the chopper area but why not in all of the other segments? Why is there such a fixation on choppers? Sportbikes, standards, off road, scooters, it’s all possible and a lot of you have the technical skill and know how. There may very well be a rush in this direction once a few individuals get it moving, … maybe you? The V Bike from Custom Chrome is their move in this direction but there is far more to do and a lot of creative minds available.
How about the alternative power possibilities? Diesel? Electric? Something else? For the really green among you, get to work.
Opportunity Knocking
Sometimes, looking back, it’s easy to see missed opportunities, if only someone had pointed them out when they appeared. OK, look here! Here’s the wake up! If you don’t act quickly, a lot of other guys are going to beat you to it and then you’ll say it’s too late. But even then, if you have a good idea and you do quality work, people will still want your bikes. Do it! Move! Start small, but start!
There has never been such a great opportunity for people to build their own motorcycles from standard parts, using inexpensive CAD software if they wish, CNC machining if they have access to some machine time, all combined with their own idea. Picture your name on the side of the tank, looks pretty good doesn’t it?
A lot of guys did it before with far less available to them, maybe it’s time to do it again.
mark says
I’d love to see custom-built sportbikes as well, but I think one of the big reasons they’re so hard to find is the engineering required. A chopper is not a performance motorcycle. It’s built for form, not function, so it’s possible to get away with welding up a frame in your basement. For a sportbike, well-engineered chassis geometry and suspension are critical.
That said, though, I would love to see people tackling these. Or if they don’t feel quite up to the task of engineering a truly high-performance sportbike, then a more traditional cafe racer instead.
kneeslider says
Building sportbikes isn’t designing microchips, it’s more complex than building a chopper but learning about the design and geometry of a sportbike frame, or a standard or an off road bike, is knowledge easily obtained. I’ve many times mentioned Motorcycle Design and Technology as an excellent book introducing the tech minded reader to the theory and dynamics involved. Will you design and build a GSX-R beater? Not likely, but you can certainly build a competent road bike far more enjoyable than the average chopper.
I’ll be surprised if some of the bigger chopper builders don’t start moving in this direction. They already have the building skills, they just have to look at the vehicle dynamics. They don’t have to discover what works, that’s already known, they just have to learn it, just like anyone else. It’s a whole new market for bikes open to the custom builder.
hoyt says
Mark, good point. But, a couple of points to further this concept along….
– the frame geometry (wheelbase, rake, trail, swingarm pivot, etc.) has remained somewhat constant for about 2 decades, except for the new Buells. That is, there hasn’t been any radical changes to those numbers, so a good welder can reproduce a frame with the same specs….
– Europe has shops making these frames: Spondon, Steelheart, Polygon Engineering, etc. The time is ripe for this to happen in North America….Big Twin Racers has started it here. Check him out, he does other stuff besides the big twin sportbike frame.
aaron says
I like this concept, but new laws regarding street bikes will likely crush most companies with production above 25 bikes a year. any new engine designs will need to be emissions friendly and liabability concerns will hurt performance chassis builders. I still hope to jump into the fray in 5-10 years, but expect it to make me little to no money.
don’t quote me here, but one of the most interesting new american companies may have just shut down. hopefully the rumor’s an april fools prank, or it’s just a temporary hiccup. I love the idea of this company succeeding, so I won’t name it in case the rumors are false. let’s just say several hundred bikes are presold (in perspective, this is several years of production for a company like confederate.), but the company has yet to make a single customer delivery, despite a huge press interest.
a sportbike should be simple enough to improve on if cost is no object. (obviously, I refer to expert work, a backyard hack employing “redneck ingineuity” may not find it simple..) check out a german builder named durbahn to see what can be done at
http://www.ducati-999.com/
click the union jack at left, then click Datasheet V2.
shaving 128 lbs off a ducati 999 while keeping an electric start? surely the lights would only add 10 or 20lbs if you wanted to put it on the street. the (claimed) weight is also 50 or so short of a world superbike racer using the same donor components. making it look way better than a 999 is just icing on the cake!
todd says
I definitely think being a “kit” manufacturer is the best place to start. Do you remember Fast Company? Along with other basice retail garbage they used to provide a kit for H-D Sportsters to turn it into a cafe racer. It was very nicely done, in fact here’s a link to an old review:
http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mcbeware/harley.html
If you do some more searching you will see that Fast Company went out of business and everything was auctioned off in 2001. The point is, even when you’re building (assembling) a nice product for a reasonably large market it will be tough.
Ever since I read about Suzuki releasing its street legal DRZ400S years ago I’ve been wanting to buy up a bunch of them, sell off all the dirt stuff and source some nice road components. I figured I could make up kits or whole bikes with a range of styles, cafe-racer, full plastic fairings, super-motard, etc. Now Suzuki has beat me to the last one but it wasn’t my first desire (Cafe Racer and Naked Standard). I figure if i wait any longer, the major players will fill the gap I intended on filling, at least that would be the sort of validation I would need to get me started.
Thanks for the reminder.
-todd
Dodgy says
Thanks Aaron, the 999 is great, now to do that to the SV650…
But have a look at the V1 rebuild page too, the English is great, and the philosophy… Here’s a sample:
“…….hehe, that’s the Advantage of drinking lot’s of beers before acting……… .
Ok, the Story behind : before I started with the Tailsection I sat some hrs side of the Bike and just thought. Thought how to bring out a nice shaped conlusive Tailsection reg. the precondions I have .
So ,the pain in my eyes : the lower spot where the OEM Subframe is fixed. Using that spot a Tailsection will look ugly anyway……does’nt matter, if I go for a Carbon-Subframe, or not. The Spot itself is the Problem . So after maybe 3 gallons of beer I got it :”Why should I go for that spot”,I thought ,”why don’t you do,what you want ” .And yes, this was the revolution……took a while to decide where and how to fix a 2nd spot at the main-frame to carry drivers load, but then I got it.
And now it’s done : A Monocoque. No Subframe at all. Conclusive design.Pics next year.”
Graham says
Interesting comments!
I decided to build my own bike because I simply couldn’t make up my mind what to buy next. In the end I built a totally one-off cafe racer in a tubular aluminium frame with a 900 cc Triple Triumph engine. It cost a fortune! eg. every fastener is in titanium and everything else is in carbon and machined aluminium. I love it to bits and so it seems does everyone who sees it. I would be very happy to build one of these for people but who is prepared to pay this kind of money I wonder? If anyone is interested I can send a picture of it. Only the truly passionate need apply!
But seriously, these are beautiful bikes and a custom chopper just doesn’t come close or am I biased being in the UK!?
mel mackinnon says
The problem with building your own bike is a lack of engine availaility. Your options are a HD clone, or buy a complete bike. I have noticed that Yamaha and Suzuki sell powertrains to specialty builders in Europe but never in Canada and probably not in the U.S.A.. I also find it odd that I can buy an aluminum, injected small block Chev thats ready to go for about half of the price of a v-twin. Maybe the answer to the problems the folks at Norton are having would be to sell drivelines to specialty builders. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to order up a new Triumph engine for your street tracker or chopper? I am an old guy, and over the years have owned custom framed Rickmans from 125cc to 750cc, Curtis and Champion framed Honda singles, Trackmaster 650 BSA, a Van Tech Honda 90 and an Egli framed CB750 as well as an Amen Honda Chopper that was fun to build but no fun at all to ride. What all of these rides had in common was tube frame technology that is available to anyone that wishes to learn and practise basic shop skills. Whats missing is the supply of reasonably inexpensive engines in a range of displacements. Work on that will you.
Mustard says
Duhrbahn is a genious. He also makes a living out of what he does. As for the original topic i beleive there are 2 major barriers for small company sports bikes. Reliability (including insurance) and responsability. A sportbike will be put through a lot more than a chopper, it will be thrown around, revved out braked hard etc. So reliability becomes a larger issue, and unfortunately without product mass such as the japs this is hard to provide either in initial product or in maintaining the bike. Also Jap companies have lawers. And big bucks. Someone kills themselves on your backyard built motorcycle it could ruin your life. “for race use only”
Thorsten Durbahn says
The most complex unit , which you cannot fab yourself easily or simple track down aftermarket , is the Engine . Especially the Crankcase . Britten has even made his own crankcase , a insane work must have been behind . From what I have seen, he has used some Ducati-Parts , Alternator and rectifier (which-as I’ve heard- gave up in Daytona ) , and maybe transmission . So he also has used Bits from others , which have benn available , and where it would have made no sense to design them and then to program the CMC-Machine . He took out the dough of the Pocket and simple bought the stuff .But he’s the exception, the real exception , being able to do this – as moreless one man show . Nower days it’s kinda stupid to construct your own Frame and Engine – concerning, that Frames and Engines today have a backround of a couple of decades of development from race-Participation of Makers behind .So there’s no real need to rack your brain about that , buy the stuff , re-arrange it .
Maybe the Frame , a steel-tube Frame has not a big Volume , which leads into more Opportunities to duct , to route , to place things, and ok, it’s not a superspecial deal to build it ( my favourite Material is 1.7734.4 ) .
In one : Building Motorcycles in a low Volume is extremely expensive , no comparison to the big makers here . The customership in Sportsbikes want efficiency , not necessary a unique look, and that’s hard to achieve , hard to beat the makers , especially for a reasonable amount of money.
hoyt says
Graham — I’d like to see your bike. Is it on a website somewhere?
thanks
Huggy says
Making one own’s bike is not that easy; we also are trying to do that with a new kind of chassis (see link). Off course the dream is to have one’s own engine but I asked a company how much that would cost and it starts with a minimum of 2 million euro’s…not for the faint hearted.
Britten was (and is) and example but nobody mentions the kind of money that is involved. I think nowadays with rapid prototytping and reverse engineering it should be easier to built ones own engine but it still would cost a lot; next step for use is building the bike ready so it can ride, then start fine tuning the chassis (which should be not easy).
A lot of companies started with good products (see Norton) but still couldn’t get it done, so it is not that easy.