does anyone build bikes as a living?

[Buck Masterson]

My suggestion, would go along with just about every upstart business. If you want to sell custom bikes that you produce, that is fine, but supplement that with another aspect of bikes. Open up a full bike shop, offer repairs, new bikes, parts and accessories, and work on carving out your niche. Don't forget service with a smile!

 

[Granth]

Building bikes for a living could be done very easily if you've truely got the talent and one monster checkbook! The liability insurance and all the govenment licensings and requirements would be your biggest factors if you've got the talent. Getting all the government paperwork, doing it and getting your bikes in compliance will pretty much take a couple of years (most likely longer). Then you've got all the other stuff to make yourself a "legal' manufacturer of bikes. There's soo much more that I can't even begin to imagine what I don't know or haven't heard.
As Spincycle said,You should look into and talk to Sam at Firebikes, Rob at RHL. Also get in touch with Eric Hannan of Hannan Customs. Most of the old CBNers will remember Eric's horror stories along the way to his own company. Felt was heavily involved with motorcycle racing long before the bikes took off so he probably had the means to adapt easily into the bicycle industry. Also check with Brad from Atomic Zombies. He could easily start his own bike company but I think he's done his homework and felt that selling bike plans was the better way to go. Sometime check out the Basman's and how much time, effort and headache was involved for it to become a Legend among bikes, only to have Marcagi suck up the design!
I'm all for you or anyone else starting a legitimate bike company, but don't build inferior quality bike and sell them off to the unsuspecting public. And get the proper reqirements, licenses and insurance to protect everyone's butt that your bikes will come in contact with. Otherwise you and your bikes will eventually cripple the custom bike hobby and industry!
Good luck but be smart,
Chainsaw

Or you could just sell them as art. :wink: :mrgreen:

Or as almost EVERY custom car accessory dealer sells their product....OFF ROAD USE ONLY! This, in my limited knowledge, negates any and all insurance questions as it is build for "show use only".

 

[Korporal]

As others have said, what will be your bread and butter?

 

[Chainsaw]

Johnny, I'm not trying to rain on your parade or anyone elses. I'm just trying to give a true perspective as to what you may or may not run into.

Building bikes as art is fine as long as you build in very limited quantities and you stipulate that the bikes are strictly a work of art and are not to be ridden. At least that's what I've been told. But you still run into the problem of someone riding it and getting hurt, then looking for a lawsuit against you.

As Grath was saying, many custom car builders do sell the vehicle as "Off road use Only". But you also are required to carry auto insurance and license it to make it legal while driving those vehicles and if the car doesn't have the required safety equipment ... you shouldn't jeopardize your life or the lives of others. Also unless you're building BMXs or Mountain bikes, I wouldn't label any custom bike as "Offroad Use Only"! People have a tendency to take things too literal. Little Tommy Joe Billy Bob doesn't need to take your stretched out chopper and find out that it won't clear the meteor crater at the end of his cul de sac! Again Lawsuit!

Even something that's as simple as buying a Walmart bike and putting apehangers on it then selling it off to someone else could open you up to some lawsuits. At the point of you changing handlebars, you've modified the ride and handling characteristics of the bike's intended use and therefore possibly made it unsafe. Sounds stupid but so does losing everything you own because you made a couple of extra bucks on a bike sale.

All of the above words are only what could possibly happen. Good luck to you on whatever you do.

I honestly think you should talk to everyone and anyone that is really making a living out of this great hobby. Talk to the guys that Spincycle and I mentioned earlier. If you're interested in just producing parts, Allen from Choppers U.S. maybe able to give you some good sound info on the manufacturing process and how to find buyers of your product.
Chainsaw

 

[Philphine]

i've considered trying to sell some of the stretch cruisers i play with, but i'm really not sure i want to do it. i built a few for family who just don't seem interested in them so i have about 3-4 made already.

i know it couldn't be a living no matter what though. for one thing, i don't think they're that hard to make, so if there was even a little taste of profit, other people would jump right on it and be making them too. this new competition whould also be hunting down the old cruiser frames like i do, so the sourse material would start to dry up faster or cost more.

i also have trouble coming up with those nice big cruiser handlebars that make them comfortable for a decent price so that would notch the price up and make it less profitable for me or an arguement for the buyer as to why it cost more than they think it should.

plus i'm just not much of a people person. if i did sell it would have to be on my own time just building when i feel like it and putting one up for sale when i'm ready, not because someone wanted some deal with a certain thing and when will it be done and yadda yadda yadda.

but like i said, it is a back of my mind type thing, and since i got a truck i can drag home nearly every frame i find if the deal is good, so i have a small head start on frames already. you never know...

 

[outskirtscustoms]

I'm a mechanic by trade but many times they cut my hours so much I make more money selling bikes in the summer months.

 

[8ball]

I ordered a seat from this site and later met Tyler Stans when I was doing the Denver Cruiser Ride last summer. The post office misplaced my seat and Tyler actually found me on the Cruiser ride (600 or more riders) and offered me a new seat and a tour of his place up in Golden Co where he rebuilds bikes some ratrod bikes some full restores and does custom choppers. This is his full time gig. Really nice guy awesome builder http://luxlow.com/

This is a great example of a builder making it. I bought some tires from him, which got me to visiting his web site often. But I haven't bought a bike.

He has really nice bikes and gets top dollar. Seems his prices equal what would be needed to survive (I can't get 1/2 of what he does but his product is better and I bet he gets to the right buyers) . He sells parts online too.

If you read his bio, he has a business sense.

XC204... More info if possible. Does he have a "relaxed" lifestyle or is he always having to hustle? Any idea of how many bikes he sells a month/year? Any employees or solo? Big operation? Where does he get the bikes (there's some reference to traveling)? Details please... since this is the gig we're talking here!

If posters here haven't seen his stuff, its worth a visit.

 

[XC204]

8ball I never got the time to make the visit to his place so I can't comment on how much he has to hustle but I saw him 2 times the week I was in Denver on the Cruiser ride he had one of his custom choppers and it was auto show quality paint fit and finish. The second time I saw him I was on a sunday ride with the Kickstand Mag guys they are also an excellent bunch of guys and gals Tyler is friends with them. That day he had ridren in from golden on his bike to ride around in denver.A true craftsman be it mild rats full resto's or custom work. He must do some travel to get raw materials. Thats all the info I have.
Relaxed? maybe...Tyler


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Some of the Kickstand guys.


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[MIGZ]

My suggestion if you want to press forward with this you really have to take some time to evaluate your area and market. Buy market analysis for the area you plan to open shop to see if the spending demographics would match your target retail costs.

Bike shops are now a lot more difficult to own/run than they were 10 years ago. The bike shop that did well ended up buying the other bike shops and now have significant volume discounts making it even harder for start up bike shops.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

I'd say just get a small business permit so you can work out of your garage and see how things go, if you get enough clientele then move forward, if not have fun working on bikes anyway.

 

[X-RAY]

i think the coolest job in the world would still have bad days. doing something you love may not be fun anymore when its a job.im sure even porn stars and taste testers at budweiser have days they wish they were doing something else. then theres the legal stuff some have mentioned. lawyers and sue-happy people havereally made it hard for the little guy, insuranse costs are rediculous. look at all the warning labels on anything you buy theese days. mostly mean hey stupid, if you hurt yourself because you have the common sense of a dead frog, you cant take my familys house. theres always that one person who will cut themselves on a bowling ball and think they should be compensated for there stupidity.
Nothing against lawers, my mom works in a law office. but shes told me some scary stories.
in the end, i think i speak for everyone who answered your post when i say were not trying to discourage you or bring you down. everybody should follow there dreams. we just want to make sure youre fully aware of everything beforehand. i wish you the best of luck if you choose to go on with this.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

i think the coolest job in the world would still have bad days. doing something you love may not be fun anymore when its a job. I'm sure even porn stars and taste testers at Budweiser have days they wish they were doing something else. then there's the legal stuff some have mentioned. lawyers and sue-happy people have really made it hard for the little guy, insurance costs are ridiculous. look at all the warning labels on anything you buy these days. mostly mean hey stupid, if you hurt yourself because you have the common sense of a dead frog, you cant take my family's house. there's always that one person who will cut themselves on a bowling ball and think they should be compensated for there stupidity.
Nothing against lawyers, my mom works in a law office. but shes told me some scary stories.
in the end, i think i speak for everyone who answered your post when i say were not trying to discourage you or bring you down. everybody should follow there dreams. we just want to make sure you're fully aware of everything beforehand. i wish you the best of luck if you choose to go on with this.

Yeah most sue happy people are retarded, like the guy who sued McDonald's over hot coffee......... :roll: IT'S HOT DIPSTICK !!!
Maybe that's how they got the idea for iced coffee.....lol. But there's lots of more dangerous things than
selling used bikes that businesses are doing, look at skate parks.....How do they get insurance or do they
just put up signs Enter at own risk? I guess you could put up a good sign in the window that says
"If you don't know how to ride a bike continue window shopping, and don't eat the lead paint off my windowsill." :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[bigredddaddy]

I personaly am working tward starting my own custom bicycle company and it realy is scaaaary to learn about all that you have to do to get going. All the legal non-sence alone makes you think "Dang! :? Forget it!!!" but the creative part in me see's all that crap as nessesary evils that we'll get done. I've also talked to a couple of people who do/have they're own buissness including one guy who did start his own bike company so I have direction and inside info.My wife is totaly behind me and she has great ideas and does help with research, my logo is inspired by her too. My biggest hurdle at this time is tools and materials as they're exspensive, one issue is the parts I want to use and how the rims and tires alone drive the price of the final product up a lot! I want my bicycles to be of high quality and while I don't exspect to quit my day job anytime soon, it's something to work at and build up for the next few years or longer. We also have other irons in the fire so as to not have all the eggs in one basket. The way I see it, there's a lot to get a bicycle company going but if you don't try you may regret it later. I'm 37 so it's do or die! :shock: :!:

 

[subadrew]

8ball I never got the time to make the visit to his place so I can't comment on how much he has to hustle but I saw him 2 times the week I was in Denver on the Cruiser ride he had one of his custom choppers and it was auto show quality paint fit and finish. The second time I saw him I was on a sunday ride with the Kickstand Mag guys they are also an excellent bunch of guys and gals Tyler is friends with them. That day he had ridren in from golden on his bike to ride around in denver.A true craftsman be it mild rats full resto's or custom work. He must do some travel to get raw materials. Thats all the info I have.
Relaxed? maybe...Tyler


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Some of the Kickstand guys.


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Haha sunday funday =)!

His place is stuffed with bikes. pretty sure every inch of the cieling of his garage has a bike or frame hanging from it. He has a ton of fully built cruiser bikes too. I have no idea how he get's them, but he has a ton. Does a lot of vintage fixie stuff too. All his craigslist stuff has "Think Green Ride a Bike! Golden Colorado".

I bought my skull bike frame from him for a great price, but that was mostly cause the rear wheel was stuck in it. He's very relaxed and knows his sh*t!