How to become A Custom Motorcycle Builder

• Custom Bike Builder
• Custom Motorcycle Maker

What do Custom Motorcycle Builders do?

A Custom Motorcycle Builder would typically need to:

• Hold consultations with the client and understand their expectations to personalize the bike by bringing together a viable blend of functionality, safety, style, aesthetics, trends, fun, and fashion
• Create a build sheet of all the parts needed while differentiating between the ones they will need to make/have made by someone else
• Use a sensible mix of knowledge of geometry and ergonomics to ensure the bike suits the client to a T
• Order parts such as wheels, gears, saddles, and saddlebags from different suppliers before assembling them on site
• Customize motorcycles by building the frame from the ground up, welding it together, adding the accessories and sending the finished bike to be painted
• Take a stock bike, alter it or ingeniously retain/remove/rework signature parts to forge a motorcycle that leaves the customer completely satisfied
• Build their brand by knowing motorcycles and their parts inside out; build a lot of the pieces by hand; find older and rarer parts
• Supercharging an entire engine, tinkering with the bike until it passes the test, and delivering the goods on schedule

A Custom Motorcycle Builder may spend the major part of their workday inside the workshop. They may travel to scout for custom pieces and to attend professional events. A casual dress code appropriate for working around bikes, and the weather is the norm.

Irregular and erratic working hours may be the norm for most Custom Motorcycle Builders. The schedule would depend on the demand for their product and the well-being of the economy. There would be periods of working at maximum capacity, followed by times when there is little or no work.

Most Custom Motorcycle Builders are self-employed. 

Custom Motorcycle Builders are generally employed by:

• Companies that Specialize in Customizing Vehicles

It does not matter if you create custom Harleys, restore antiques, build motocross bikes, design drag bikes, or just service motorcycles. The International Master Bike Builders Association (IMBBA) has points criteria for all varieties of work experience that are credited to members seeking certification.

The IMBBA's responsibility is to document and maintain the points record that led to certification. An IMBBA certification provides proof of your commitment to and achievement within the international custom motorcycle industry.

The annual membership fee provides a quarterly newsletter informing you of industry developments, announcements, course information, and IMBBA sanctioned events. Membership also allows access to the complete site, enrollment in courses, and entry in an international members-only database.

• Willing to make a significant time investment upfront and picking the right vendors and the right people to work with
• Designing parts that have to function and be installed back onto the bike
• Facing off attempts by the big manufacturers like Harley-Davidson, Yamaha, and Honda to create their custom-looking motorcycles
• Believing in yourself, staying humble, working hard, maintaining your integrity, and remembering that your most valuable product is customer satisfaction

Building a motorcycle kit is the best way to get real hands-on experience. Motorcycle maintenance courses allow a Custom Motorcycle Builder to get up to speed as fast as possible.

There is no set educational path and no formal requirements to become a Custom Motorcycle Builder. many top bike builders have more than one degree in fields ranging from mechanical engineering to business and marketing management. Others have gained success with a high school diploma to their credit.

What is essential is knowledge in the following areas: mechanics, customer and personal service, computers and electronics, mathematics, public safety and security, physics, production and processing, engineering and technology, design, administration, and management. Videos, books, websites all help to flatten the learning curve for a novice Custom Motorcycle Builder.

Certification for a Custom Motorcycle Builder can demonstrate competence and bring in more clients. Certification from any association for qualified technicians is a recognized industry credential for Motorcycle Mechanics. Some manufacturers offer certification in specific repair methods or equipment.

Successful certification programs serve and protect the public welfare by investigating individuals that practice outside of the program’s Code of Ethics. They help a profession secure its future by earning trust and respect.

In sync with the rest of their life, a Custom Motorcycle Builder does not have access to a standard or precise career plan. Vision, passion, and action centered on Motorcycles are their driving forces.

You could begin your career on a racing track or in the garage attached to your home or in a bonafide shop with equipment and licenses to sell certain products. You could have a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering or begin with a high school diploma. Promotion is huge, and media coverage is a must to make it big in the field of Custom Motorcycle Building.

Customizing Motorcycles for a living can be tough. Business savvy and mechanical skills are important but a custom shop will never be successful without an owner who is passionate about the trade and understands it is not an easy road while taking pride in going the extra mile.

Individuals with creativity, a passion for building customized motorcycles, and a stomach for risk-taking will have the best job prospects.

Having a strong brand is the difference between staying in “hobby” mode and turning what you love into a career. It attracts customers and creates a buzz and gets the cash registers ringing.

Building your brand is not just a logo design; it requires a lot of knowledge and intuitive feel for stuff you might not want anything to do with. It forces you to see your work from the public’s perspective. It has to convince the masses and a few well-heeled clients that your bikes fulfill a unique demand.

Once you figure out your style, partner with people who can showcase you in the best light. Pay them/trade with them, but get them onboard. Word of mouth is an effective way to advertise a new business.

The internet also offers a great way to advertise. Most Custom Builders now have websites showcasing pictures of the bikes they have created. Attendance at events such as motorcycle shows, races, and conventions also helps to generate publicity.

A Custom Motorcycle Builder needs to keep track of all related expenses and time spent on the project to charge them to the client. Demand will determine the charge. If demand is low, rethink your product offering. You cannot price yourself out of a profit; you have to make a living.

Unconventional objectives call for unconventional means; listen to your inner voice of dissent/gut feeling once it can be trusted consistently. Listen to advice from people who know more than you; be vigilant with matters to do with money; stick to the rules and goals you make yourself. But be prepared to be flexible and change the rules at a moment’s notice. Professional growth comes in the form of genuine, hands-on, early morning/late night kind of mechanical, metalworking, and painting experience.

A Custom Motorcycle Builder is an entrepreneur who builds their motorcycles or may do what they know best and delegate the rest to specialists who can do it better. A Custom Motorcycle Builder may specialize in either a cruiser such as Harley-Davidson or a Sport Bike such as Ducati. Location and weather play a huge role in the success of a custom motorcycle shop.

Harley-Davidson’s special, tricked-out police issue Sportster XL883L comes in Vivid Black and Birch White with a detachable windshield, front emergency lights, small police saddlebags, and a mini Tour-Pak.

Motorcycles are works of art that turn heads while they grace the streets after countless hours locked up in tucked-away shops you would not otherwise recognize.

Remain employed in a day job and enjoy the security it affords, while working every night and weekend to further your two-wheeled dreams. To put together a shop like the ones seen on television costs a fortune; basic tools of good quality will serve the purpose.