Complete motorcycle kits are just what they sound like – kits with all the parts you would need to build a motorcycle. A few extra bits and pieces in case you lose a screw or two may also be included, but basically everything inside the box will be used to make one single vehicle – wheels, engine, drive belts and chains, frame, seat, fork, handlebars, and electrical parts, they are all in there. The question that needs asking is, therefore, why offer motorcycles in kit form? Isn’t it better to just sell the vehicles pre-built. Well, there are practical reasons behind this, as well as historical ones.
The motorcycle of course, evolved from the bicycle. The idea of attaching an engine to a bicycle to make a light, cheap, and personal mode of transport was the result of people wanting more speed out of and less effort into their vehicles. The motorized bicycle concept was refined, and so we have the motorcycle today. When mass production came along and revolutionized everything, it introduced parallel manufacturing. At that time, motorcycle parts were shipped to dealers and other points-of-sale, since parts consumed less space than the whole vehicles. Perhaps one day someone thought, why not sell the motorcycles as kits, since it would make them easier to transport and also trim a little off of the price as labor and warehousing would be reduced. Regardless of the actual sequence of events, motorcycle kits have become a popular offering amongst small manufacturing companies, a phenomenon to be discussed next.
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