You've heard us talk endlessly about the importance of planning out your entire bike before you start building it, usually from a design perspective so that the project goes smoothly and results in a happy chopper owner with a cool bike. But what about frugal planning? What if you don't have the mega-budget to walk into a bike shop and walk out with its latest and greatest creation? The budgetary part of the plan is a bit like setting up a military campaign. You're committing resources to achieve a set of objectives and are likely to encounter conflicts along the way that will force you to revise your battle plan as you go along. If you're working with a limited war chest, you have to decide where you want to commit your money, how much to commit, and what amount you'll hold in reserve to handle the surprises fate throws in your path. As the saying goes, no plan ever survived first contact with the enemy. Likewise, some of the parts you've chosen in the planning stage could very well need modification to fit properly.
Deciding where to invest your resources depends on the overall idea for the bike and generally, though not always, breaks down into three big areas depending on what you want: motor, frame, and sheetmetal. If it's big performance that you want, and money is an issue, obviously you'll want to focus more on a high-performance mill than trick metalwork or an expensive frame. Fit and overall profile are set by the frame, and although style is the sum of a bike's parts, its sheetmetal is of paramount importance for having a good-looking ride.
Of course, if you don't want to go through all the effort of making such a financial plan, you could always buy a bike kit. There are a fair number of these to choose from, in a variety of styles and they generally sell for well under 20 Gs. Once it arrives at the house, it's a matter of setting aside enough Saturday afternoons to build it, then getting it painted. Just make sure you have a comprehensive set of tools before you embark on putting it together.
If your budget is really thin, you may have to take more drastic measures to get a cool custom chopper, like building one that isn't a Big Twin. You can buy a new Twin Cam motor and trans from H-D at a total MSRP of about $6,000 or get an entire 883 for just a little bit more than that and have an entire bike to work with. Triumph's Bonneville American (like our project Triumph that Mike Maldonado is building - it's cool!) costs even less than a Sporty, and since there are fewer of them on the road, here's a real chance to build something different. Granted, you won't have nearly the same amount of power as you would with a Big Twin, but we're talking about frugal building here. The drawback is that there isn't as big an aftermarket for Triumphs as there is for Big Twins, so what you'll save in money on new parts you may spend in time and effort fabricating, tweaking, cutting, and welding the stock ones. One great benefit to modifying a stock bike is that you can take any of the stock parts you're not using and sell them on eBay or at a swap meet, and put the sale proceeds right back into your project fund. While stock Sportster sheetmetal may not fetch enough dough to buy that brand-new 12-over springer you've had your eye on, it can make buying it a smaller financial pill to swallow or go a long way toward buying tools or restocking your garage with disposable stuff like thread locker and lubricants. And while you're online or at the meet, you might be able to score a good deal on some parts that would go great with your chopper.
Regardless of the route you take with your chopper project, you may find yourself limited by your income, but sensible planning and resourceful thinking may allow you to overcome the cash hurdle. Or at least get a leg up on it.