start with cheap jap or holdout for brit or harley

If budget is a problem, forget HD.

Forget about the breed, any mongrel can be a thoroughbred.
Join the gravy train with something you want not need.

go with a harley they aren't as much money as people are lead to believe take your time look for a deal go to alot of swap meets remember its a buyers market right now not a sellers

save up & go with a harley. I guarantee you'll wish you had if you build anything else.

Get what you want to get man.As far as reliability goes you really cannt beat a jap bike.Nothing wrong with Choppin one just take a look at the denvers bike thread.I got one sittin in my garage & I plan on building a digger out of it.Good luck which ever bike you choose,

Have you had a bike before?
Can you ride, if so safely?
Do you have a licence?

If so skip to the second paragragh, if not buy a cheap trail bike, find some vacanat land and start riding that bike, learning how to handle adverse situations. Do this BEFORE going anywhere near the road. Then....

The only parts you'll get cheaper for the jappa is the motor. If it was me, I'd save, get a 2nd job, sell your car, what ever. Buy a cheap evo sporty, start riding it as you collect parts. When you have enough, weld on rear end, oil tank, battery box etc etc pull it off the road and do it, selling off the parts you dont use. You may want to search DNA on here before you buy a springer. The short chopper you are describing doesnt neccessaily need a springer to have a great look. Just 2 cents...

Your in Misery rite. I live in the SF bay area and I'm seeing good looking sportsters go for $1000 to $2000. Weekly. If that aint cheap HD them nothing is. I'm betting there cheaper in Misery.

I didn't tell much about myself. I grew up riding dirtbikes and had a CB 750 in high-school dad had a 65 Norton scrambler. I haven't ridden in probably ten years or so. I won't be riding much on the highway til I get the rust off. I have heard that jap. Bikes are usually very dependable. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places but most running trumps I've found are around 2000 and up and most sportsters are between 3-6 grand. I've seen alot of Honda's for under a grand .

really sounds like you need to decide what it is exactly that you want. if what you are really wanting is an HD or a Triumph, then in my opinion you would be wasting your time trying to build a Japanese bike to try to be what you really wanted.

much more satisfying to me personally to do the extra work, do the extra wait, sacrifice and save the money, and have exactly what i wanted when i'm done.

so what do *you* want? do you just want a bobber style bike to ride? or is your dream really a Triumph? or an HD? have you ever been around/on any of the three? very different creatures, all three.

just some food for thought.

-dan

Budoka that is exactly what I'm trying to decide. I want a badass bobber dripping with attitude and style something i would be proud to say i built. And something that is fun to ride. I know I can get that out of a Honda but every time I think about it I see a HD or trump in my head. Just can't decide how much the breed matters.

There are boards that allow, or cater to, Jap chops.
The Powers that Be have decided they don't belong here.

Try Chopper Underground, Chop Cult, etc.

save up for a brit or HD. I started out with a jap cruiser, sold it two months later. Then, I bought a jap sport bike, mostly because it needed a lot of work and it was only a couple hundred bucks. I fixed it and rode it for about another two months. Then, I bought a rough, really rough ironhead, and rode it while i fixed it up, hardtailed it, and had something I never wanted to part with. Tough times and bad decisions forced me to sell it, but things worked out for me anyhow, and now I own a big twin. But, the moral of the story is, I broke even on the japs, but I wasted a bunch of time and effort on bikes that I really didn't want. Had i been putting that extra time, effort, and money into the sportster, I would have really had a sharp bike. Good things come to those that wait.......And, Harleys and Brit's have a greater return value as they age when compared to the japs, So go to hell for asking a questin like this on a Harley and brit forum! Just Kidding with you.

buy what you really want, otherwise you will was time effort and money building something that your heart is not really into

purchase price of bike is one thing, costs of modifying is another

it will cost about the same to modify what ever you buy

purchase price of hd or brit bike can be offset by reselling the bits you don't want on

usually overlooked but early evo electraglides are not popular and sell for sportster money

popelli said:

buy what you really want, otherwise you will was time effort and money building something that your heart is not really into

purchase price of bike is one thing, costs of modifying is another

it will cost about the same to modify what ever you buy

purchase price of hd or brit bike can be offset by reselling the bits you don't want on

usually overlooked but early evo electraglides are not popular and sell for sportster money

Click to expand...

and have a different frame and front end structure that is good for nothing but being an electraglide.

Sounds like everyone is saying what I didn't want to admit. I need to hold out for a trump or sporty. Haha oh well my wife will be happy that it'll take longer to get one. If she had her way I'd never have one. Thanks everyone for all the good advice. And opinions. I really appreciate it. Hopefully one of these days you'll see a Brit or HD build thread from me.

Haha no to decide between a triumph or a sporty...

i saved for almost 2 years to get a sportster(minimum wage job, no hours due to highschool), finally i had barely enough to buy one, (and with a small loan from a chill friend) i got one. spent another 500 on fixing the charging system. and when it was all said and done got my MC licsense (i was 17 at the time) and i took my first ride. BEST FUCKING THING EVER!!!! when you work long and hard for something and it pays off, theres no better feeling. so IMO do what you want no matter how long it takes, or how hard it is, cause every day when i go outside and see my bike that i put my blood sweat and tears into, it makes me feel invincible. so do what you want no matter what anyone says or how "impossible" the task looks.

Your best bet is getting some seat time,and go from there.Buy a cheap jap bike and flog the snot out of it.If you trash it,its only a jap bike,at least to the majority of this board.You may want to step up to a much heavier and cumbersome bike,some do and some dont.Have fun,but do it safely.