Do you detail bikes too?

90% of my business is cars, trucks, vans, etc., But With Sturgis only 3 weeks away, I'm doing a lot of bikes lately and will have even more the closer it gets. Did a 2002 Indian Chief today and have a 100th Anniv V-Rod tomorrow. I'll end up doing about 25 bikes headed to Sturgis.
Anyone else get this type of business? Anyone here actually GO to Sturgis?

RTexasF said:

I only detailed one and decided that it would be the last. Good money but SO tedious! It was a customized Honda V Twin that looked and sounded like a Harley.

Howdy coach & glen, been a while...........

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Hey there Rick and Glen. You're right, it has been a while.

The type of bikes I get are all custom (for the most part), American made behemoths with lots of chrome and always very flashy. And even with all the chrome, I can generally flip them fairly quickly due to the fact that the owners are all anal about the looks and condition of their respective bikes and don't allow them to get all that dirty between full details. Compared to car/truck owners, bike owners are waaaaaay more critical and picky when they come to pick up their bikes.
The bikes pictured below are each about a 4 hour job and I charged the same for both of them.
The V-Rod I'm doing today, however, has no painted surfaces. It's entirely chrome, polished aluminum and stainless steel. The tank is anodized aluminum. That translates to a HUGE amount of polishing. That bike will take me all day and then some. This bike also happens to belong to my most anal.critical. picky customer who knows it and pays the cost to be the boss, so to speak. I've done enough of his vehicles and other bikes that I know exactly how he expects things so his stuff is always perfect when he comes to get them.
The point I'm making here is there's the potential for a sizeable ROI if you know what you're doing, have the right tools and products for the job don't mind the intricacy and tedium that comes with this type of work. It took me a while to warm up to it. I'm a big guy, 6' and pushing 250 lbs so up and down, sitting Indian style (God, I hope that's not considered a racial slur now...:dunno: ) for extended periods of time weren't going to cut it.
The anal customer I just described above let me use his portable lift one day and I knew if I was going to do bikes, I had to have one. Picked one up at Harbor Freight it cuts my time by about 2/3 on any given bike.

Chopper280 said:

I try my best to avoid wet roads.

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That's one thing that makes cleaning a bike a lot easier and faster. Here in AZ, we only get about 7" of rain annually so wet roads are very rare which equates to no mud, sludge, etc. to have to deal with.
The only time a bike really eats up the time is when a customer brings me one they just bought that's never been properly detailed and the tank and fenders are scratched up and in need of correction.
The other big factor that adds to them being cleaner than dirty when I get them is none of them are the owner's DD.
One of the perks I like about the kinds of bikes I service is I get to pick up and deliver quite a few of them which allows me to ride some of these gorgeous monsters.