Best bikes to flip

Suzuki RM 250, flipping machine. Especially in Maryland

Stay away from four strokes.  RM 250, or a Honda CR 250 2000 to 2007 ish.  Or a good old steel frame YZ 250.

2004 CR125 apparently is the best bike ever according to one dude

These bikes above.

I have done this for years. As far as the dirt bikes go, I look for bikes that run and do not need major engine work or the rims replaced, so I mostly just need to clean the carb or replace the clutch and the rest is all detailing.

You can buy UFO plastic for 50% off and it is very good.

2000 and up seems to be the easiest 2 strokes to sell unless you get a smoking deal on a vintage bike, and Kawasaki's are on the bottom of the list, and around 2000 they had weak, klunky transmissions and the frames would crack. 

Thought you meant backflip.

No money to be made flipping bikes these days..

And if you do a proper restoration they are big money losers…

Stark

Yea I agree is going to be hard to make money unless you start with a good bike that you got cheap or have access to heavy discounts on parts. Honda cr250 would be my choice. 

Enron stock is a buy right now.

I was thinking the one Cary Hart used!

Just because you are incapable of making money flopping bikes it doesnt mean everyone is as incapsble as you are.

I average around $40,000 a year doing it part time.

Its efinitely not easy but its not supposed to be.

Start by sending low ball offers to every used motocross bike on facebook marketplace within 300 miles of your location. To save time it's acceptable to only send a number, ex. "1800".

If someone responds in the affirmative, then ask them their best cash price. 

If they pressure you by asking when you want to come see it, or any other questions, then AVOID and Do Not Respond as they are obviously trying too hard and will rip you off.

When you arrange to buy the bike, make sure to have a back story about how you used to race professionally or better yet, you were on a professional team but got hurt, that way there are no results to get in the way of your story.  This will allow you optimal leverage during negotiation.

While looking at the bike make sure to ask basic questions that either have an obvious answer or do not have a direct answer, "Is this a 2 stroke? " "How fast does it go?", This will keep the seller off balance, classic tactic used by the CIA as described in their de-classified Manual for Interrogation and Manipulation.

One final note, do not bring tie-downs or an obvious method for hauling a bike. This subliminally signals to the seller that they need to work for the sale, so it gives you more leverage.

 Also, you will need to recruit them to help lift the bike or maneuver into your ill suited vehicle, this teamwork and physical action causes a psychological phenomenon which distorts their memory of the event. If it feels too easy to sell the bike, then the seller is more likely to have remorse or a feeling of loss.   In the end, making sure the seller has a good experience is in your best interest as that poor schmuck will have more used bikes in the future that you can buy for cheap.

It's kind of hard to gauge right now. i feel like a lot of the people selling the later RM/CR 2strokes are wanting so much money, that unless you end up getting someone on a low-ball offer, then it'll be hard to justify the time/money spent into a flip project. I got my '98 YZ250 last year for $700 but that was from a friend and it was actually in good shape with low total hours on it. I still probably put over $1500 (closer to $2000) into it getting suspension all re-done, plastic, tires, chain and sprockets etc. And that doesn't count being able to go into my YZ parts that I've accumulated over the years and putting on stock levers, bars and pegs that were take-offs from my newer bikes. Granted I got custom graphics and seat cover and probably went a little overkill on the suspension. That being said, it's still not like a pristine build or anything and if I tried to sell it right now, I don't think I'd get $2500. So I just was sharing my experience to give you a bit of a metering stick. 

Does it kind of piss anyone else off when people buy BRAND NEW bikes, refuse to sell the bike whole, and part out the entire thing? It’s like damn, what a waste of a dirtbike

If you price out a a bike part by part from the manufacturer its crazy. We were bored one winter day at he shop and priced out a 2008 Yz250 nut by but bolt by bolt and it was something like 23,000 dollars retail even at that time.  Doesnt sound like a bad hustle for some. 

When you factor in the time to break the bike down and time to sell everything it’s a lot of time invested. And after suspension frame and major engine components I think your left with a lot of undesireables. 

That would be a good way to sell a stolen bike................

The good thing is, once you sell those desirable parts you have already recouped and surpassed your initial investment.

Yea people do it so it can work. it could depend how much you are breaking it down. Selling a complete engine or breaking it down fully to all its individual components.  Same with suspension and linkage/swing arm.

If 23000 is the cost of a yz250 with every part at retail what would it be on the secondary market 12k?

I can have fluids drained and bike stripped down to parts( complete forks, complete shock, complete engine, rest in individual parts) in about 40 minutes, but I am a moto mechanic. Cataloging and posting it will be where you invest some time. Im not saying its a great "get you rich" job, and there will be some undesirables no doubt, but buying a new leftover previous model year bike may be fairly feasible to make some bucks. 

I have had the best luck flipping 125s.  I don't do it often, but when I do I look for a few things.

First, it all start with the bike, I like finding something complete, stock, running, but neglected.  By neglected I mean its covered in dirt and grease and just needs a deep cleaning and good overhaul.  If its got serious issues I just walk away.  Also neglected bikes are great items to haggle on and get a good deal. 

Then its just elbow grease to teardown, clean, rebuild and make it look pretty.  Carb 125s are also so simple, easy and cheap to do a top end, new reed and a carb clean to get them running great again.  Then a set of plastics and a cheap set of graphics to make them look fresh for not much money either. 

I wonder how long it takes people to sell through?  The number of buyers looking for brand new engines/ forks etc is a pretty small market. 

There is a brand new yz250 engine on eBay for 4000. I doubt it will sell at that price or how long it’s been listed for that price. Many used ones for 2500-3500. 

I’m just thinking out loud and not criticizing anyone who does this just pondering. 

Best to stay away from four strokes. Aluminum frame yz125s are easy to sell. Otherwise Hondas have good resale. Stay away from Kawasaki and Suzuki unless it’s a RM125/250 as they have terrible resale (and questionable quality)

I would agree I am completely incapable of making money flipping bikes- Reason being I am too particular when I fix up a bike and spend too much.

But in today’s market- making $40k part time flipping bikes sounds a bit exaggerated..every listed bikes has the price reduced..

This is one of the most insane posts I've read on here recently.

I think you should probably deduct the cost of the bikes, parts and labor if that number isn't just a complete fabrication. 

My experience flipping bikes is you need to develop a bit of inventory of parts. This is done by buying bikes cheaply and parting out some and restoring others. I would say the cost of parts was rising sharply when I rebuilt my last bike - an 03 CR250. I don't think I made much money on it. It is certainly not worth the effort from a $ per hour perspective, unless you have a fully fledged workshop. I have a reasonable workshop, but still was a lot of work. Also, the days of cheap blown up bikes are gone. People seem to want a decent price unless you get really lucky.

I think the issue is that if you want top dollar for the final product, the bike needs to be perfect. And perfection is hard to do, especially on older bikes. The best deal I came across was a 03 CR125 for $900. I bought another for the same price a few months later. Those types of deals will never happen again. The next tranche of cheap bikes will be 2000s 4 strokes, and the work to go into them will be crazy - heads and bottom ends will be costly. Where I think there could be some money is creating electric bikes out of blown up 4 strokes, but battery prices are high for the value of the final product (I mean, how much is a custom electric dirt bike worth?). It is possible to make batteries though far cheaper than the bought ones.

Even though the 97-99 CR250s got a bad rap, they are pretty solid bikes with excellent motors. Plus, newer bodywork makes these look really good, and you can get them cheap cheap. This is not the greatest example but…

01+ Suzukis look better with original bodywork instead of the ‘18+ bodywork. Even the 96-00 RMs are excellent resellers.

$40,000.00 cash usd PROFIT a year part time. 

I just sold a street bike yesterday and made $1200.00 profit after 6 hours of work on it and sold one today and made $1100.00 after 3 hours of work on it.

I live where there are literally hundreds of bikes for sale which helps considerably, plus there are plenty of people with plenty of money to buy them which also helps considerably. I also used to do the same thing with muscle cars and made around $200,000.00 a year profit on those. 

For dirt bikes I just bought a decent all original low hour 1988 KX250 and only paid $900.00 for it. I put 2 good used tires on it and cleaned the carb and I will easily get $2200.00 for it. Bought a decent 2002 YZ250 for $1100.00 and a very nice low hour 2005 CR250 for $1600.00.

I have been doing this for for 40 years, which is why I know exactly what  am talking about. I also know that in other areas with less population, its impossible to make anywhere near as much money doing this as I do, but the op doesn't sound like he wants to do this on a big scale, and if he buys any bike at the right price in the first place, he should make some money on it. As far as full restos go, those are loosing deals on low value bikes.

Obviously one can't do a 100 point (perfect) resto on a 2002 CR250 or any year Ford Pinto etc and expect to make any money even if they got the bike (or the Pinto) for free. You make your money when you buy the bike.

40k a year is actually a little less than I made last year, and I have made around the same this year, part time.

You nailed it with your statement about "making your money when you buy the bike". You're very lucky to find those deals as we haven't seen those prices for years.

Not trying to be a douche (although it does come naturally to me way too often!), but what are the laws in your area regarding selling bikes (with respect to volume) per year? Here in Colorado, you would need a license to sell that many bikes (the limit here is 5 or 6). We also have cycle shops that target folks who sell lots of bikes on CL and FB and turn them into the state. I know of 2 guys that were taken to court for selling too many motorcycles without a Colorado used vehicle sales license.