Can I Make Money Fixing Dirt Bikes

"What about a piece on flipping used bikes for fun and a little profit? Sort of a how-to. What pitfalls to avoid."

That's what Lance texted to me as we were discussing possible story ideas.

"Sure," I thought. "I can do that. Hell, I'm an expert at this." And after I sat down and started writing, I realized though I can't turn a profit reliably, I'm like the world champion of having fun.

So maybe this isn't quite the practical guide Lance had in mind. Instead, here are my essential tips to having a good time while becoming a terrible businessman through flipping used motorcycles.

Don't need space

My shop has one service bay and one storage bay. At present, coming into winter, I've got seven motorcycles and two minibikes in inventory. I've got another motorcycle in a relative's garage and I've also got another unit showing up in a week. Of those, four motorcycles and one minibike are probably keepers. Everything else is for sale, and none of it will likely move until spring (unless someone tries to turn my own advice against me).

crowded garage — My garage isn't *near* as bad as this one, but it's easy to build up a stash of parts and bikes waiting for work that create a space crunch. Photo by Bill Andrews.

I've also got enough parts to ship and swap in person to open my own salvage yard, and paying repair work walks in the door occasionally. I also will happily build motorcycles from pieces for myself or for a customer. Step One in the service manual may be "Disconnect the negative battery cable," but in my shop that comes only after many machines get shuffled out the door first.

Unless you've got a huge garage or don't need much space for yourself, be advised the first thing a motorcycle salesman needs is some real estate.

Don't need money, either

Perhaps unsurprisingly, those motorcycles (and the other three in parts) I'm carrying are dead financial weight until the sun starts shining. Yeah, I'll get my money out of all that crap eventually, but holding inventory over the holidays has made for some lean Christmases over the years. However, not holding that inventory means I'm competing with every other jamoke in April to get myself some product to sell.

working on restoring motorcycle parts — The more labor you put into the job, the more profit you can potentially make. Photo by Spurgeon Dunbar.

Oh, and if you want to be the known guy to pick up a bike for a song when somebody's in money trouble? You gotta have a wad of cheddar ready to go morning, noon and night. That doesn't mean "liquid" like the financial planners mean it. I'm not talking a money market account or an ETF. You need cold, hard cash in the safe at all times. Cash you can't spend or earn any money on. I keep a grand in my wallet just in case I find parts or to lock up a deal I spy in some old-timer's shed. I've been beaten out too many times as a younger fella because I had to leave to go get some cash.

Titles and tax eat up money, too. Repair parts like tires and batteries burn through dough. Sellers who have hidden a problem from me have cost me oodles. Gas and brakes for the truck and wheel bearings and hubs for the trailer ain't free, either.

There's money in flipping motorcycles. Getting the money out is the tricky part.

Don't need time

Actually, scratch that. Learn to actually despise free time. Value your free time at a negative number just to be safe. I spend time fielding calls, writing ads, networking and canvassing for bikes, and shooting sale photos. I spend time loading bikes and transporting them to and from my good friend at the dealer, and I spend time sorting out their paperwork, insuring, registering, and fixing title errors when they occur.

motorcycle battery — I change a lot of old batteries. Photo by Lemmy.

And that's just what I do to acquire them and sell 'em. In the flip game, the real investment of time comes in the form of making the bike substantially better than it is when purchased. Look, anyone selling a really nice, rideable motorcycle ain't giving it away. Instead, you've got to find something where the delta between what it can be acquired for and what it's worth to someone with less time to pour into it is huge. Needs a motor? No problem. Hasn't run in a few years? I can fix that. Total basket case? I can break it down and sell it.

Building a motor, swapping crashed forks, beating the bushes for parts, or learning how to repair things all take time. (It does get easier as you go, though.) Stripping a bike for parts, searching eBay completed listings for values on the parts, and then figuring out what bikes each part fits also takes up time. Boxing and shipping take time. Heading to in-person swap meets takes time. Even straightforward wrenching is measured in (surprise!) labor hours. When I think of all the tires I've mounted, carburetors I've built, batteries I've swapped or tanks I've cleaned, hoo boy, do I regret it now.

carburetors being worked on — I rebuild a lot of carbs, too. Photo by Lemmy.

Don't like bikes

I, like most people who do this, have what is probably a slightly unholy penchant for motorcycles. And because I'm a snob of the highest order, I want Those Which Must Not Be Coveted. I do have some very, very fine machines. I've been able to wheel and deal and horse trade my way into some motorcycles that are unobtainable to all but the very rich, simply because I cycle (ha!) more motorcycles in and out of the shop in a year than most people will in a lifetime of riding.

If you have this same affliction, you will likely eschew profits in lieu of machinery, at least sometimes, and that is a Bad Financial Idea according to my financial guru.

I know a guy who is a full-time drug mule; that's how he makes his bread. He's never done drugs in his life. Consider why that may be.

Don't have a family

"The ramp and tools are already in the bed of the pickup, just get it over here. Huh? Don't worry about it, the inspection stickers expired a few months ago, you're fine."

"The swap meet is only four days, which is just three nights. Cold?! It's only supposed to get down to 40, it won't even be freezing!"

"No.. no no no! Just tip that end of the motor up. Up! Up a little higher! OK, there, there we go. Good. Yeah, perfect. Thanks."

I've said things like those umpteen times over the years to my wife and son. That takes a toll on them. You burn emotional capital with your roomies if you ain't hiring help, but you burn real capital if you do. In fairness, I've also cleared four or five grand on a bike flip every now and then. Forking over a percentage soothes a lot of hurt feelings. Did we cover not liking money?

motorcycle in the back of a pickup truck in a snowstorm — Hauling them home is one of the expenses you have to factor in to the bottom line. At least when the weather's like this, you won't be tempted to go out riding instead of working on your next project in the garage. Photo by Lemmy.

Don't listen to a word I've said

I know, I know. It all sounds like complaining, and it is. But flipping a bike is fantastically rewarding. Yes, it's a gamble, but it's breathing life back into something old and neglected. It's also profitable if you play your cards right, and it's just fun to do — you can make one little corner of the world a little brighter and fatten your wallet at the same time.

You don't need a huge shop or fancy tools if you know what to look for, what to pay, and what the finished product is worth. The more of 'em you do (and the more you do at one time), the better you get and the faster you make dough, but even one good score is pretty dang exciting for me still.