Repairing category C's for profit?

[ShellyTheShoc...]

Basically I was looking to get my first bike and ive decided to repair a cat C write-off, just to save myself a little cash

I did wonder if there is much profit in buying/selling repaired bikes as a hobby outside work?


Thanks

[Val]

based on my experience with one Cat D bike there is - I have changed the clutch lever, two indicators and gear lever and sold it 4 months later for modest £150 profit.

Probably you can do even more by bying more expensive newer bike with less miles on the clock. The key here is low miles.

Note Cat D and C sale value drops so you need to be extra careful when buying, means haggle a lot and buy cheap.
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Adrian Monk: Unless I'm wrong, which, you know, I'm not...
Yamaha Fazer FZS 600, MT09, XSR 900

[MC]

I think the profit comes from getting the bikes straight from the insurers and selling them on. For example this bike has almost identical damage to mine, but sold for 3 times the salvage value of my bike. At that price you would struggle to repair the damage and make any profit at all.
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Yamaha MT-03 '08 (crashed)
Honda XR-125L '04

[Nash GT]

There is more margin to be made on cat D than cat C as values tend to plummet on cat C.

That being said, I do that with cars, I stick to 2 make/models at the time, as a result I have a shed full of mx5 and SLK spares, so some times I don't need to part with any money on parts for a swift profit as I already have the parts indoors from previous donor cars and repairs.

Is an on and off hobby for me, I want to migrate to bikes as my bike repair experience builds up
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Suzuki GSF600N

[N cee thirty]

people won't touch written off bikes with a bargepole

just made 300 quid on a cg, probably making another 250 off another 2 bikes i have atm, only way you'll make money is buying them cheap with an easy to fix issue, and common models aswell, don't buy old rubbish noone wants cheap, as people won't want to buy it until it's cutting in to your profit/ the mot's out.
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

Jewlio Iglesias wrote: I actually did vote BNP once

[Rogerborg]

[G]

There is a very decent differential between the price they offer for salvage and the price the machine is worth.

After that, it generally seems pretty marginal - so if you can find someone happy to make a quick buck and give them a bit over said salvage value, then you can do well. Once you get to buying at auction, you're usually on to it being pretty risky.

[ShellyTheShoc...]

[Polarbear]

[ShellyTheShoc...]

[Pol Anorl]

can make a lot, i bought a cat b and made £600 profit on it after about £100 work.

[Polarbear]

[Alpha-9]

[Nash GT]

[Pol Anorl]

[evoboy]

I would also be a bit sceptical about how they categorise some write offs.

I had a Honda Crosstourer in that was a supposed Cat D. To me this would be cosmetic rather than structural.

It ended up needing a good £3000 in parts including a new front wheel, new forks, new yokes, new headrace bearings, new front tyre......
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Suzuki GT250 x7------- Fazer 600------CB250RS------Aprilia Rally 70----- Bandit 600

APT Motorcycles

[smegballs]

[Alpha-9]

Isn't it purely an in insurance thing until they're like class A which need retesting to put on the road
Pretty sure I looked into it and even class B wasn't really a thing and you could jsut MOT the bike and ride it, purely an insurance thing
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Fzr-600 1999

[G]

It's purely an insurance thing for bikes, whatever the category.

The guideline for people that sell Cat As/Bs is that they shouldn't go back on the road and they might get some internal issues if they sell them to someone that then puts it back on the road as opposed to stripping for parts. But no legal issues.

[Rogerborg]

[G]

[Alpha-9]

[Nobby the Bastard]

[stevo as b4]

Stupid idea in this day and age, that you can buy old crashed bikes and fix them up, then sell them on for profit IMO. It means two things:

1, You will only ever approach an motorcycle again with the aim of:
what does it absolutely essentially need fixing, to go back on the road, go and stop and pass an MOT. You will never put your mark on anything, or ever go the extra mile to replace things that if it were your own bike you might well do early, or because you'd like to look after it as well as you can.

2, All the time and effort and money spent fixing and selling on bikes, means your going to do it for the money, and like the money better than the bikes. This logically could mean you prefer working on bikes and or holding monies in your hand as opposed to riding them and paying out monies to be able to keep doing so.

There's nothing wrong with motorcycles to pay the bills/earn a living, but you can bet that the guy doing this is not doing it for the love of bikes, or has the interest in being around them or riding them much if at all outside of work.

There's a guy at a local bikeshop, that spanners and cleans and PDi's bikes, and it's all to pay his bills and pay for his other non bike related hobbies and leisure time. I don't want bikes to be about business instead of pleasure for me, so I'll never get involved with them at work.

[Aznom05V]

'Profit from repairing Cat B's' ??

Something needs clarifying here.

Cat Bs are NEVER supposed to go back on the road.

If you buy one from a reputable salvage auction or dealer they are supposed to cut the headstock (with the VIN numbers) off the frame (or alternatively you have to strip the bike at their premises within 7 days and leave the frame behind).

If they don't do this then the option to buy such bikes will be withdrawn if they get discovered.
It is taken pretty seriously.

If you buy a Cat B with the headstock chopped off then there is nothing stopping you buying another frame with a V5C from fleabay and reassembling a bike from your pile of bits but from then on the numbers on the V5C won't match ...