[voodoo1]

I can't grasp some of the pirces people/business' are asking for aftermakermarket bike goodies. RCR is asking upwards of a 1,000 plus for front rims. Fenders are silly. I was actually looking at getting a skirt like fent on the dyna I don't have rake anymore the stock but I love the "bobbed" look or the fender that stretches all the way back on the tire. All in all alot of these mugs are asking for a arm/leg!!!! I really don't wanna use the shop "brake" and bending tools to fab one so I thought I'd just find one already done and paint. guess not. But the prices on some exhausts and other parts across the board were crazy high jmho. HeckI stopped off with a friend at a high end wing resturaunt/biker night( I use that term with sarcasm) out here last weekend and those people did not even bat an eyebrow at some of the beer prices lets alone their rides overall cost. Made me wanna hurl though.

[Tomflhrci98]

I guess that is the difference between the haves and the have nots.

Like today, I pull up in the parking lot at the local Stealership in my cheap Honda Accord that I get 30 mpg and I park right next to a decked out Corvette with a blower sticking out of the hood. Gas prices don't mean crap to this guy.

[Art_NJr]

What you're seeing often is the custom parts makers keeping the price in the range it cost to make the 1st part rather than spread the R&D and setup time costs out over the number of customers expected. Give you an example - a few guys on another forum saw some foot controls for a Sportster 1/2 way between stock & forwards - but they cost $835.

I took some photos over to a local fab shop I've dealt with & told the owner I know the 1st thing you're going to ask - "How many?" He looked @ the photos & said yeah, it'd cost about $800 to make those & you'd need to bring one of your bikes over so they could be fitted perfectly & you chould make sure the shifter & brake pedals work exactly right. But if there were enough orders, I'd just use that 1st set as a pattern for all the others & they'd be a lot easier to make.

The guys were hoping to see a price @ $500 or less & since that shop owner is strictly time & materials, if you had enough orders you could probably do that - one the pattern's made & the machine tools set up, he could make 10 sets in a day by himself. But it'd take 2-3 days to make that 1st set to be 100% right. 7 guys said they'd be interested, but that's not enough orders to lower the cost much - 50, yeah, 100 even better. But somebody is going to pay for the R&D and machine setup time, be it one person or 1000.

Really high part prices generally mean there's very little demand for that part, or it's very difficult to make & can't be mass-produced, or the seller is keeping the price up where it would be if he only made a few. There's one other thing too - the 3/4 forward controls were being sold by a custom shop that didn't make them & farmed the design out to a much larger co. that has the high-tech machine tools to do it.

[FlynDutchman]

Yea, I don't get the prices either....my Tank was $450...made from about $5 worth of metal....

[chucktx]

as long as yuppies will spend the money for the parts, they will keep them high...........once the fad fades, they will probably come down...............

[wvak47]

I turn to ebay to combat the high prices of new stuff and get used stuff that I can put to use or modify to fit my idea. If I had to go straight new parts, I would still be walking rather than riding. Simply could not afford to do it.

I think you are on to something Chuck. As long as lawyers, accountants, doctors, and those with crazy high incomes like to play baddazz on the weekend the cost of parts won't do anything but stretch to their limits and out of atleast my reach. Oh well screw them I have a little know how and no fear of screwing something up trying. Mine may not be the show queen but she keeps me in the wind.

[wvak47]

After posting to this I went poking around the net reading new stuff and ran across a fitting read for this.

Free Riders Press

Go to PAST ISSUES January 2004 Page two, bottom left corner starts:
To whom it may concern (and it concerns you all)
I hope you have enjoyed your recent

[Tomflhrci98]

W,
That's nice
I'm keeping that link.
And I'm keeping my EVO cause its cheap to fix.

[SPORSTERBOY]

I'VE ALWAYS SEEN IT RATHER SILLY SOME OF THESE PRICES, FOR EXAMPLE A ENGINE, 5,6,7,8,9 GRANDE FOR A MOTOR, COMPARE TO A CAR OR A TRUCK MOTOR. EVEN LOOKING IN SOME HOT ROD MAGS AND YOU CAN SEE FOR EXAMPLE A HOLE NICE CROME HEADERS AND EXHAUST IS MOST OF THE TIME CHEAPER THAN OUR LITTLE 8' ON A BIKE. I'M TOO CHEAP AND BROKE TO BE SPENDING THAT KINDA MONEY, SO I HAVE TO SHOP AROUND, AND IT'S OUT THERE IF YOU LOOK, EVERY NOW AND THEN YOU COME ACROSS SOMETHING. IN MY LINE OF WORK I TRY TO AT LEAST AN ATEMPT TO MAKE SOME OF MY STUFF. IF YOU WANT TO TALK SHOP HOURS, MY FRONT PEGS ARE WORTH ABOUT 500 BUCKS SHOP PROB. HAS AT LEAST 5,000 IN MY BIKE, SOONER OR LATER THEY WILL WANT TO BE ON THE TITLE I PROB. DID AT LEAST 200 IN NUTS AND BOLTS FROM THE WINTER BUILD, HAD TO GET SOME WASHERS ON THE WEEKEND AT 1 BUCK A PIECE

[cowboy]

Now that was worth reading & right to the truth of the matter

[charlieharley0057]

You guys should spare a thought for us over here. When they ship bikes and parts across the pond they don't change the price just the $ sign for a £ sign. and then the english add another 23% just to take the piss That makes everything twice as much. Now your going to tell me the sun is shining So stop blubbering, get the bike out of the mansion you call a garage and go ride. OVER.

[chucktx]

charley............................

[voodoo1]

anyways...a set of brake pads..43.00 a set from stealership.(front and back are the same)....86.00 TOTAL plus tax...wow... got my car (Impala)a lifetime set for the front for 30.00 bucks.(guess if it were a BMW over here it would be 186.00) I don't have a Mansion, nor do I blubber.. but hey I can't make brakes in the garage..can't even make 'em with green eggs and ham...mansion or not, So BRAKES must be bought.

[charlieharley0057]

Hi Guys
chucktx glad you could see the tounge in cheek from way over there.
But I was right about the price issue overhere!
voodoo1 I was not implying you lived in a mansion just that because of the size of your cars that your average garage is the size of a mansion over here!
And as for BMWs I would not have one because of what they did to my dad in 1943.








He was in the wilds of scotland and the Beemer broke down and he had to walk 20 miles home.