restoration costs

Agreed, loss of momentum is the great killer of restoration projects. Once you stop moving forward, hard to get the project going again.

We have a quote here in the States: It's better to beg forgiveness than to ask for permission.

Not just the states i use that one all the time.

I purchased this bike (430) in pieces as I found them. But from the prices I'm seeing the bike is worth double or more than my cost to build it. Frame $39, rear swing arm $39, rear tire with brake and axle $39, rear shocks $99. So I shopped smart. But I can't count on finding all the parts as we want them. I purchased one complete 82/430 engine and one '87 430 bottom end. I'm going to end up with three restored bikes.
I do all the boring and honing myself. I just purchased all new equipment.

My 84 250 AC wr running complete cost me $360 to buy it. I figure it's worth crank bearings, seals, gaskets, piston, New tires/tubes, paint and decals now. Grips, bark busters, wheel brgs. Plus what else it needs. The bike will be like new.

Then it's the 430's turn.

The 430 complete engine has the ignition too. It appears it will run but why take a chance. A refresh is the way to go.

The weather warm up is on the way. Time to clean, paint the frame, parts. I'm ready to get going. The 250 will get me riding quicker work wise.

Never, EVER, keep a running $ tally on your build.
If you do, you will start to second guess yourself.
Besides, you know how much it costs to play golf these days? How about skiing? Even fishing isn't cheap anymore. At least with my Husky's, I have the ACTUAL bikes in my garage, FOREVER!
Not just the "memories" of a great golf trip to Florida...

If you are in this to make money off the bike it's really tough to do a 10 point restoration and come out ahead. I see this all the time with the Honda CBX's I restore. I am always buried alive in restoration cost on those bikes which is why I have only sold one of them. The others sit covered in storage; my retirement option since they are appreciating faster than my 401!

I digress, I restore the CBX and now a Husky because they are the two bike I have never owned in my youth.
The CBX because I was in the Navy and trying to raise a family on piss poor pay. I volunteered for diving duty just to get the $50 a month hazard pay.

Another reason; They bring me peace of mind and allow me to escape from the constraints of my job.

I never had a job that did'nt try and constrict me down ... So I decided to work for my self. I am not wired to be a robot. lol
Lets see some pics Bill.

I love bass fishing. I wanted to fish tournaments but after two knee operations in the early 90's one on each knee side lined me. I have a tackle room that has more fishing equipment than most mom and pop bait shops. Plus I can sit and fish from shore too. I slammed my 401k for 20years before I retired. Here it's 12 years later. Your right fishing, working on the bikes, and my new hobby is slot cars and building those too keeps my mind off in another zone. I/we can have summer and winter hobbies.
In the past I refreshed the bikes make them look pretty then run them.

Once I clean and paint the parts the motivation will pick up.

you lot in the US can take comfort in the fact that not only do you have access to many more bikes, parts, quality business' that support your hobby etc.and your prices are at least reasonable! here in Oz there's not much in the way of resources to draw from, the falling dollar means a 25% premium as well as freight when ordering from the US so it gets expensive, fast!

I do it because i just love tinkering, i own my own business and i need an escape, something else to think about and focus on to save my sanity. I keep a tally of what i'm spending because when i'm done ( i've done road bikes before) if i sell it i want to know what's in it, the receipts validate my claims for what i've done too.

2premo, your comments on overhead are valid, the running around that gets done, long distance phone calls, paypal fees etc can get out of hand, these i ignore.

I subscribe to 84scrambler way of thinking, just jump in, keep doing something, anything, to move forward, progress is rewarding and when i run out of cash i assemble, clean, polish or sell unwanted stuff on e-bay or gumtree.
$1300? pah! i've spent twice that already and have nothing assembled yet, and i mean nothing, all my hardware is at the platers and my frame is being prepped for paint...

One more thing you can do in your down time, and save money loony, is do your own plating. I put this post up a while back, in regards to how a buddy and I built our own plater, and it works great! Post # 3 http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/plating.34596/

nice! the results look pretty good too! mine are all off being done at the moment but i have a few odds and ends i'm yet to find so i'm going to try that set up, i've got a sacrificial zinc anode from a boat even so no reason not to. thanks for the link.

There was also no mention of Wheels. Figure $ 500 each minimum. Its cheaper to buy new Rims than restore old ones. Paint was mentioned, but at that cost maybe a rattle can or two. Figure in another $500 for Hubs and Swing Arm and Frame to be powder Coated. The Bikes mentioned have Plastic Tanks, probably $300 to have it polished. If You have a Steel or Aluminum Tank plan on at least anpther $500 for paint.
One thing that is no different than Corvettes or Coke machines or any other restorable item. It is very rare that the cost of restoration is rewarded with a value that exceeds it. Unless You figure in the reward of doing it yourself.

The other thing to remember is that the last 10% of a resto takes 90% of the effort!!!

So, you need to be prepared to dig deep to get any re-build completely finished.

Don't be put off though, as the smug feeling of satisfaction is always well worth it.

Remember to take some pics along the way to enable you to reflect on just what you have managed to achieve.... You can be proud as restoration is not for everyone.

Andy.

I've restored many husqvarnas in the past. It's fun to start from a freshly painted bare frame. It's a satisfaction thing when that first kick happens and she comes to life again.
I can't wait for the first ride.

I been gathering the missing parts to build both bikes.

It has to look perfect too.

It's the memories of riding with my son in the past and seeing my 4yo grandson starting to ride too. That's keeps me going.

Kartwheel68, Your Husky's look good! Lets see you '83 175WR... Aren't those kind of rare?

Well being retired, time I have, I have some mad money so it's time to enjoy myself. I'm motivated.

I have seen a few "restored" bikes and cars and often it takes just seconds to see incorrect colours, flaws, rust or overly polished or whatever. I would say maybe 1 in 10 would actually be what I would call restored. I think restored is an easy word to say, and is overly used by any hack. It is not overly used by those that actually "restore".
Anyways, I have never restored a bike.
I get them as mechanically good as I can get so that I can ride them and experience the real character of these wonderful
vintage machines.
I have owned over 70 vintage bikes over the last 25 years or so and typically have at least 10 in my garage.

refresh my memory what are those forks with the piggyback reservoirs and are those others 49mm showas i have a set of those been thinking hmm what did that swap take?

Bottom picture forks look like WP Extreme?