Planning

this is the critical stage of the build, if you can sketch bikes go ahead and sketch out some of your ideas of what you like for parts or even a whole bike. This will help you when finding parts for your dream custom motorcycle. If you can't draw very well the next best thing is to take a look at books and magazines and save some of the articles. If this is your first build my advice is don't go to radical keep it simple. Also you will need to decide what engine you are looking for as this will determine some of the measurements for your frame.

Now you have an idea of what style of motorcycle you like it's time to sort out the parts you need. There are many ways of doing this but I think the easiest and most affordable way is to buy a complete or near as complete bike as you can. This way you should have all the major parts you need. It costs a lot more to buy the parts separately and takes a lot longer too. You will also need to buy other custom parts to get the look of your custom motorcycle. You could sell or swap parts you do not need from the motorcycle you have purchased to pay for the parts you do need helping to keep the cost down. And if you are using the standard frame as the basis to your custom motorcycle you already know some of the parts will fit.

There are various places to purchase motorcycles from, you could try local newspapers, scrap yards, internet advert sites and of course EBay. Before you part with your hard earned cash remember to go and inspect the bike first, make sure it has the parts you want and preferably a running motor. It will be up to you if you wish to get parts refurbished but if you are on a tight budget you may not be able to, so a good running engine is a must and will help you on your way.   Click here to go to Motorcycle parts
.

Here are a few images to give you some ideas.

In the first 2 images below are a couple of choppers from Excile cycles in America.

The pictures below are some I have found to illustrate what can be achieved.

This is one of the more radical custom motorcycles out there.