Originally Posted by six out 6
.. tearing down a road-worthy bike and building it? I'd like to find a beat Harley and do some work on it.. kind of a pride in making some thing rather than buying it.
Even a "beat" Harley is gonna be pretty damn expensive. And then rebuilding it is gonna be almost outrageous imho.
It depends on the bike. Are there a ton of used/new stock aftermarket parts for it? Is it a fairly common model? If not be prepared for some hefty prices.
A bike is not that hard to work on if you have some common sense, access to all the tools you'll need and a good manual with great pictures.
Good luck with your efforts!