Remember. Restore. Relive.
New consignment Norton just in - check out available bikes.
CBE may be closed on some Saturdays this winter...call ahead please.
Essex , VT
ph: 802-878-5383
Restoration Assessments - how much will it cost?
FIRST THINGS FIRST - GET SOME FACTS For a flat rate of $300, CBE will inspect your bike system by system and give you an assessment of what is needed and, importantly, a budgetary estimate on parts and labor. First and foremost, this estimate is based on 1) the condition of your bike and 2) what your restoration objectives are (eg Condition 5 to a Condition 3). From there, you can pick and choose how to proceed, including how much work you might want to do yourself or what you can defer or maybe rethink the level of restoration you want to attempt. But, the key is, you will have a documented set of facts and figures in front of you to make those decisions. And, while we look forward to doing all or part of your project, you are under no obligation once the assessment is done.
For $300 you will get yourself headed in the right direction before spending anything on parts or services (or wondering if that Buy-It-Now used seat on eBay will really fit your 1969 BSA). The bottom line is we help take the guesswork, and risk, out of your project.
1966 Triumph 500 Tiger/Daytona Case Study
Our customer CB from New Hampshire was kind enough to let us post excerpts from her restoration project documents. The project is a Condition 5 bike and CB indicated she would really like it restored to a good, reliable, Sunday rider and daily commuter in good weather. She did not have an unlimited budget. The bike was pretty much all there, but was missing things like speedo and tach and the motor was stuck from sitting around. Tin was good, but the paint job was out of a rattle can. So, we wrote the spec to get her to a Condition 3 bike with some safety and reliability upgrades like solid state electronics, halogen headlight, directionals (even though they were not stock for the year). Things like a nice paint job would have to wait. We worked with her until we could get a project profile in the under $5000 range. Because she was a distant customer, we set up a Shutterfly website for her to see progress on her bike (see below).Written Specification and Recommendations
Hey, we're aerospace engineers and software programmers by trade. We LOVE specs. Why? Because it is customer requirements and performance commitments that are WRITTEN DOWN.
Click here to download the PDF of 500 Restoration Assessment & Recommendations
Excel Spreadsheet Cost Estimate
From the written spec and recommendations, we can then populate a spreadsheet with parts and labor hours. At the bottom we add another 20% contingency and voila! We have an estimate of the project. Just to be clear, this is an estimate, not a firm quote. Why? There are always surprises (hence the 20% contingency) when you are not dealing with a running bike. So, the next step is to break the project down into affordable chunks that reduce the risk. In CBs case, the first phase was to repair the top end, sort out the wiring and fuel systems, and get it running. Once that is done, we'll agree to the next step(s) including any work she may want to take on herself. Click on the PDF link to see the cost estimate
Click here to download the PDF of 500 Restoration Cost Estimate from Condition 5 to 3
The Shutterfly Website - keeping tabs from afar
For our customers who live "away", we can provide a Shutterfly website to help them see the progress on their bike, add comments and so on. We can limit access to whomever you desire to have in the loop. Updates are automatically sent when the site is changed (eg photos added).
How much will it cost? That is the question we hear the most. And, as you can imagine, the stock answer is "It all depends". It depends on the condition of your bike now and where you want to end up. Going from a Condition 4 to Condition 3 is a lot less expensive than going from a 5 to a 2 and so on.
At Classic Bike, we appreciate you need some facts and figures to make informed decisions about how to take a restoration forward.
We have standardized an assessment and cost template to use with bikes of all conditions. It is an evolving template that we will be updating as we do more bikes, but one of our customers, CB from New Hampshire, was kind enough to let us post hers as an example. Thanks CB!
Essex , VT
ph: 802-878-5383
