Holy cr*p rebuilding a bike is expensive!

[Perazzimx14]

YEs, very to get 2,3,4, 5x more into it than its worth.

[Huzo]

Peter electrical bits are the easiest part, honestly, none of it is hard.

For me the difficulties lay in the fact that you can’t “see” where a problem is, only where a meter tells you it is..(or where the smoke and burning plastic smell is coming from..)
I do concur that charging systems are a little bit trickier, but only because what theoretical knowlege I may have once possessed is gone in a pile of mid seventies dust.
Anyway, I do have a good grasp on what I do understand and what I damn well better leave alone..
I guess that’s a bonus..
I can’t even SPELL, ECU OR Map..

[harry h]

I haven't kept a tally on what I have in my Eldorado, but it's worth every penny in the therapy I get out of it.  Bikes can get expensive but doesn't hold compare to restoring a car. 

[larrys]

It sure does add up. I got this for free and spent five years doing ALL of the work including building the engine, fabricating the Y pipe, and the SS sanitary tank. $20K just in parts...
Larry

[blackcat]

I haven't kept a tally on what I have in my Eldorado, but it's worth every penny in the therapy I get out of it.  Bikes can get expensive but doesn't hold compare to restoring a car. 

Yeah, restoring a classic car nowadays is frighteningly expensive. 

I wanted the headliner replaced in my el Camino, so I went to the local shop who will do any car for a few hundred bucks including the headliner. The guy quoted me $600 bucks not including the headliner which I had to provide. I did it myself, because I could have installed three headliners for what he was quoting. Fortunately, my first attempt was successful.

[Chuck in Indiana]

*Very* nice installation. Attaboy..

[Furbo]

There's two ways to go at that "expensive" thing.

1) Never add it up.   Just buy what you need as you can afford it.   That way you'll never know if it was "expensive" or not.   If you violate this rule you could be appalled and discouraged.
Lannis

I tried that years ago with a Kawasaki H2 750. However,  I married a school teacher who keeps track of receipts....

[Stevex]

I didn't count the cost when I did a wheels up on the LM2 a few years back, but the wife still reminds me of the approximate cost whenever she wants a new pair of shoes!
But hey, you can't take it with you.

[blackcat]

I didn't count the cost when I did a wheels up on the LM2 a few years back, but the wife still reminds me of the approximate cost whenever she wants a new pair of shoes!
But hey, you can't take it with you.

Yeah, I always here about her shoe collection costs compared to my motorcycle collection costs.

[pebra]

Do you really, really want it?
Have you made an estimate of what it will cost?
Do you still want it?
Then go ahead, don't count the cost, and don't look back!

[keener]

My rebuild has been taking place over the last 46 years, keeping a motorcycle from new and in shape is kind of an ongoing build with benefits, as time goes on you improve on stock, the motorcycle evolves and you end up with the same bike but with some additions that make it better and more reliable than showroom. The money spent over a long period of time is never an issue because it is affordable and the bike becomes part of you. I would guess the total cost is relevant to some but in reality, it is the joy of keeping something on the road and riding it as well.
My 74 Z1 is not a restoration of course, it is the ongoing creation of what it was, I would say that is a rebuild of some sort as parts from within and some that can be seen have been totally replaced.
The best part of it all is that it keeps you into the bike, and whatever has been done is your work and design.
So cheers to you all for keeping your hands into it and smiling when you ride.