[SantaFeTW200]

I have a customized 2008 TW200, with camera mount, tubes for tripods, golf clubs, riffles, any long objects, and a cargo container. Please search for TW200 on Ebay, to read more about it.

 

[Wheelie Nelson]

$7,500??? jeez! what do new ones sell for there? 10k?

 

[SantaFeTW200]

No they don't. It being clearly sold higher for the modifications. Yes, you could build it out like this, but it takes time and money. It's not a "stock" bike. It was built by a cinematographer, for specific uses, mainly transporting camera equipment and doing driving POV shots. It's also adept at carrying other items. This bike also has a huge "WOW" factor, unlike any other bike. A new bike plain, is less money, but it's not the same tool.

 

[catamount]

The link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yamaha-Yamaha-TW200-Custom-Motorcycle-Camera-mount-Canon-5D-7D-Arri-Sony-RED-ONE-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem3a5e4e0886QQitemZ250690275462QQptZUSQ5fmotorcycles



You know that there is another 2008 on eBay right now for $2500, right?



By my calculations, you're charging a $4500-5000 premium for that rack/tube combo. Wow!



I did like the fanciful descriptions though: "More fun and amazement then almost any other motorcycle!!!!!!!"

 

[Rohnsman]

I have had the occasion to work with film and video crews and know that they do not blink at paying large sums for equipment to pursue their craft. I'm not surprised at the price being asked for this "amazing"

Hollywood production bike. I will be interested however to see if he finds the right buyer. Might work for backcountry surveyors looking to transport their gear, astronomers wanting to haul telescopes to remote mountaintops for nighttime observations, or maybe you could rig the tubes to launch pyrotechnic displays and have a mobile fireworks launcher.

Perhaps the tubes could be inverted, packed with propellant, and you could have a new "SkyCycle" ready to jump the Snake River Canyon, doing what Evel Kneivel could not.

Anyone else have an interesting concept for this?? Surely we can have "more fun and amazement" with this post than the usual lame "how do I fix my broken kickstand" kind of thing..

 

[SantaFeTW200]

Thank you for your positive comments, it is so refreshing to get positive feedback in a discussion forum today. It seems many people just want to throw mud first.



Yes it's a production vehicle, and in the film production world, a tripod with a motor would cost far more. The bike is not intended to be up against every other TW out there, It was built with much love, design, function, and fabrication.



I know on the internet, many people want everything for free. But alas, the United States, is not China yet, we still believe people should be rewarded for innovation and work.



This bike has quite a number of applications it can be used for, even showing up at a golf course with all your clubs. I never thought about a telescope before, but that sounds fun too. I usually like to say when asked, "what are the tubes for"? I reply, "it runs on coal", people just stare and try and figure it out. And yes many people also think they are rocket packs.

 

[darnold87]

Do you get much wind resistance with the tubes?



Good luck selling your bike.

 

[Boret]

I am sorry (up front) SantaFeTW200 if you feel this is throwing mud first, but I concur with Wheelie Nelson and Catamount.

$5,000 for the rig seems a bit insane. You can buy a new TW200 for $4,000 and that will leave you $3,500 to add a plastic box, the front and rear racks, tubes and the versa hauler.

 

[SantaFeTW200]

Yes, then you can attach it all with duck tape, and the Camera you hold with your hands. All of this will take no time or thought, it will just happen like magic.



A breakdown please

Excellent condition babied low mileage 2008 TW200 $3000 (New Bike $4,300 plus tax, title, etc)

Arri dovetail camera plate $650 with custom aluminum plate between dovetail and rack (free, it's the internet)

Versa hauler with ramp and lights $600

2 sets of riding gear $250?

Stock racks front and rear $250 uninstalled

Cargo box $50 unmounted

tube, 10'ft uncut $100 plus caps $$$

raw aluminum stock to cut $50

Custom brackets to hold the tube and cargo box (again it's the internet...Free)

$4,950 all sitting right in front of you ready to go, oh and maybe you would want a roll of duct tape



Time to find and order all the material to be delivered, plus delivery cost to outside of a major city ( I guess this is where everything would start to be FREE)

Going to the hardware store and finding the right pieces to work with the modifications

Planning, designing, machining, tools to do the machining, cutting, trial, error, success



Yes please feel free to go through all of this and sell it for $2,500, I think you would be able to find a buyer. In the mean time feel free to judge what my time and effort is worth in having a finished product. Also please to be fair, tell me what you do, get paid, so myself and others can judge what your worth. Maybe we could find someone who can do it cheaper.

 

[darnold87]

Yes, then you can attach it all with duck tape, and the Camera you hold with your hands.

I think People are trying to help you have insight into the resale of these bikes and such. Granted you've done some large mods costing valuable time and money. But It's not uncommon for people to have thousands into a motorcycle, 4x4, hotrod, etc and only sell it for a fraction due to supply and demand. That's just reality. Maybe you'll get lucky and find a buyer who's looking for exactly what you have and is happy with the price...

 

[SantaFeTW200]

Thank you for your reply and interest, but if you do camera work, THIS BIKE CAN MAKE MONEY. It's more than glossy paint, stickers, and chrome.



By the way the listing does say "Best offer", I am open to offers. I think I need to post this bike on camera forums, this site is probably the wrong place for this tool.



Thank you all for your comments.

 

[Boret]

Rule of thumb is you might get 25-40% of the cost on any after market piece if you are lucky. Most of the time you get nothing.



I have installed waterproof contura switches in my VStrom to power the GPS, heated grips and fog lights, on top of that I have installed a blueseas fuse box. It probably took me a total of 10-15 hrs (you have to take the whole faring out to do anything on that bike!!) to put everything on the bike. If I sell the bike I wouldn't even be able to get back the cost of the parts ($100).



Based on your own prices the after market parts (new) come up to $1,550, plus $3,000 for the TW200 (you can find 2008 for less than that) for a grand total of $4,550.... and you are trying to sell it for $7,500.



I am guessing it might have taken you about 30 hrs of work to do everything (from what I have seen in can probably be done in half of that but I am being generous here), so you are charging $100/hr for your labor. Pretty expensive rate!



Look, if you sell it, more power to you.



But don't fool yourself.... your price is outrageous, nobody with internet access and google.com will pay that price.



Heck, if I need to haul stuff might as well do it in one of these: Polaris Ranger

 

[Rohnsman]

I have no doubt that all the items you name do indeed cost what you've quoted and that for the "right" person, this rig might be a great deal. The problem is, the buyer you're looking for is a needle in a haystack. Since you have outfitted this as a "production vehicle," that is the group to who you should be marketing, people with specialized needs who don't balk at paying specialized prices.



Here's a good example from one the the parts you have on the bike --



>>Arri dovetail camera plate $650 with custom aluminum plate between dovetail and rack <<



$650 for what is essentially a flat piece of metal cut to hold a camera??!! But wait... because it has that "Arri" name on it and is "professional film equipment" --ooooh, it commands a ridiculous price.



(Of course, I just went to my Yamaha dealer to see about getting a replacement muffler. The Yamaha OEM part was close to $500. Wasn't gonna pay that to fix my '93 $1,400 bike, no sir.)



People charging outrageous prices for stuff because there is no alternative in many cases (rather than charging what is fair, true, and right), really burns me.

I'm not insinuating that you are trying to gouge people with what you are asking for your "amazing one-of-a-kind" bike. As I said, you likely have that in it in specialized parts and labor. (I won't ask what you charged film clients when you used your gee-whiz-amazing-film-production-bike on a shoot). I do think however you are marketing in the wrong place. Find a nice film forum where folks are used to paying "hurt me" prices for things. Most of us here are just Joe-Sixpacks riding fun little dirtbikes.

BTW - anyplace on line where we can see some of the footage shot from this wonder-rig?

 

[darnold87]

...I think I need to post this bike on camera forums, this site is probably the wrong place for this tool...

That's actually the best idea yet. It's a purpose-built 'tool' for that sport / hobby / line-of-work or whatever...

 

[Rohnsman]

...so you are charging $100/hr for your labor. Pretty expensive rate!

Oh...you think so huh?? This guy runs with film production people. $100/hour expensive?? Not hardly. What I'd love to see is the hourly rate charged when this "amazing wonder-bike" is used on a shoot.

 

[srs713]

Yeah, bit of a harsh response from a few here, but hey... we're bikers, what'ya expect?



I really hate how this sounds disrespectful, but my honest opinion is that you will probably get more interest in a photography forum, where everyone will focus on the camera specific mods and the photos they can take out where it can go. People there will already have the equipment it's designed to haul, and might actually see themselves riding out to a photo shoot.



Around here it's just a bike with a bunch of stuff bolted on. Most of our photo equipment is digital cameras or cell phones with a few video cameras thrown in.



Boret is right about the finances involved. In the world of custom vehicles you cannot calculate the price of a finished vehicle by adding up the parts receipts. It will sell for what someone is willing to pay for it. Find the right person and you will get a good price. I just doubt you'll find him around here.

 

[Adam-n-nevada]

I'd imagine this rig having an auto-pilot feature so the rider can ride "hands-free" and use both hands for the camera - for this price anyway.





I'm not a fan of unreasonable price requests either

It does wonders to perpetuate greed and the expetations of others in the private-sales world. But, also helps to teach people reality from opinion...which, I'm not sure, is a benefit

 

[sakogu]

trying to find the right person could prove to be very hard indeed, you might have a better chance if you listed your bike as a filming/movie scene motorcycle as instead of custom tw200, it wont get the eyesight from the niche market and would likely enjoy better success with some carefully chosen words to help people interested find it, that being said people tend to price things not only on added value from bolt on's but also sentimental value, because really, you've spent time into building your "baby" and unfortunately the average person wont see or appreciate the little nuances of your work, its the same thing with items at yard sales, you may like this lamp/chair/whatever because you got it as a gift or whatever from a loved one, price it higher because of sentimental value or work you did to make it, but the other end will only see the items as a whole and cant be expected to feel as you feel because buying and selling is an emotional experience, and the average person will look at the whole and think your time is worthless and the parts aren't that expensive, and think they would rather do it themselves than pay a sizable markup based on your opinion and sentimental value and hard work/sweat. So if your really going to sell it, have a friend look at it, and tell you their opinion of its worth, outside opinions by friends are not bias like this forum might be (because lets face it we all want deals) and your friend wont likely be bias, nor price your sentimental value either.

 

[Rohnsman]

No bids??!! Time is running out gang!! -- Own not just any TW200, but an AMAZING TW200!

 

[ellwoodjake]

What we have here is a classic case of T.S.S. (teenager stereo syndrome) Each year in America, thousands of kids spend their entire allowance on unneeded equipment, only to realize when it's time to sell, that no one will give them more than $600 for a 1985 beat up Taurus. The only known cure for this affliction is to get your ass burned, every time it flares up. Some people are "cured" after one treatment, while others go on for years.

It looks like you've dropped the price some, even though it has over 2k miles, you can still buy a new one for less. It's like these other folks have said, you built this thing for a limited market. All these do-dads have no value for the average motorcycle rider. Finding someone who needs all this on a bike will be a tall order. After all, you built it just for yourself, and even you don't have a need for it ---- hence, the sale.