My friend Paul recently was given a life sentence. He asked me to get his Harley's and sell them to pay legal fees for his appeal. I got a trailer, 2 frames, one rolling, and ten boxes full of parts he collected over his lifetime. There are cases, cylinders, heads and what seems like a million assorted parts. My question is should I try to assemble one bike or should I sell the parts. I have been an auto mechanic 40 years but never worked on a Harley. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

 

Maybe so but if nothing else he needs money on his books and all this stuff ain't doing him no good sitting in my living room

 

He will be calling me in the next day or so and I will ask him how he wants to proceed and what the parts are worth as a whole. From casual observation there seems to be parts for 4 motors and like I said what seems like a million parts. I counted six speedometer/tach assemblies and four different seats. One frame is for a 58 panhead, the other one seems a lot newer and I think it goes with the evo motor.

 

I hope you can communicate easily with your friend. This could take a while.

It is all supply and demand. You might have junk or yard sale items. the 58 frame could be worth a lot.
that frame, is it modified? bent? just thinking out loud. pictures will help but you need someone who knows the market.
either take time to learn more or find someone you trust.

independent bike shops, motor builders, friends of your friend. just find someone and do what you can.

 

Right now, you've got a bunch of loose parts. As is, they are worth something. The real question is if you can make them worth more by putting your time into them. My guess is the answer is "no". If nothing else, odds are you'd end up having to buy a bunch of missing stuff to actually get a running bike (or two) out of this. By the time it's all said and done, between your time and the money spent on missing stuff, you'll be in the hole.

Since the goal is to maximize the amount of money available for your friend's defense, my $0.02 is to try to figure out if you have anything with real value. Frames/cases/cylinders/heads/gauges/tins/etc. You might have some stuff that is worth the effort to sell. Post pics here and let's have a look.

If you're willing to donate your time for free, your friend will end up with more money if you take the time you would have spent trying to put a bike together and spend it working a part time job somewhere instead.

 

Hopefully the '58 frame has a title.
Or is this when engine cases were titled?

 

Agree with others that seeing some photos could help us help you. Perhaps lay everything out on a tarp on the ground and organize by part type and photograph it that way. Tachs/speedos in one shot...cylinder heads in another, etc. This way you have record of all of it as well as inventory.

If you sell it all as one-offs, prepare to invest A LOT of time in to this project. However, that route will probably net you the most $$$. The other way to go would be to sell it off in one lot or maybe a few. You could hit up a few indys and/or bike shops to gauge interest and also glean some info as to value and if you find the right person, you may just be able to offload it pretty quickly. Another route is swap meets - you take it in the shorts a bit financially, but I've done them several times when my parts start to pile up and I get rid of everything in one go which is most efficient for me. You have to weigh your time vs. what you may or may not ultimately generate and go from there. Post those pics - folks here are extremely knowledgable and helpful. And good luck.

 

parting out bikes is a lot lot parting out cars man, you will quickly sell a few good pieces then you will sit on the rest for years. It is also a full time job so you need to ask yourself, exactly how good of a friend this guy is. Are you willing to work full work weeks to get HIM money???

Advice from someone who has parted out bikes. First determine what era parts you have, knucklehead, panhead parts go for a lot of money, shovelhead goes for less , evo for way less. Then sell the frames and engines individually and sell everything else in one lot.... to the first person with cash in hand.