Our resident expert mechanic Matt McLeod reveals how he plans a custom motorcycle build.
I?m not sure about you, but I hate wasting time and money. So I?ve learnt that planning is one way to minimize the waste, and good project management will help you to stay on track with your custom motorcycle build.
We?ve already covered the books you need, the skills you need, and how to buy a donor bike. Now it?s time to plan and execute your build. There are plenty of ways to do it, and this is one example. Take this ?template? and modify it to suit your situation.

I have a few other thoughts that might be best said at the start. Firstly, you might find it helpful to set a deadline for your build. Make it something significant, like a ride or a show that you want to attend. Nothing will focus you like a deadline. Secondly, plans are just that: plans. They always change. They are never right. They are not set in stone. They are just a tool. As the situation changes with your build, the plan may also have to change.

Thirdly, you can compress the time frame to build your bike if you apply more resources. Let’s say you were building a house. If you doubled the number of construction workers on the job, you would be able to reduce the time taken to complete the house. Your custom bike is no different.
However, most of us work on our custom bike projects alone. Adding resources to speed up the build might mean ?outsourcing? some of the work. Perhaps the engine needs rebuilding ...