Insurance "Totaled" bike, best options

[Roger55]

I posted "first dump" about my riding off the road last Sunday on a group ride. A real "Brain Fart" on my part. Just heard back from the insurance company today (Geico). Damage to bike was: broken Cee Baily windsheild, broken left mirror, broken left side bag, broken left running light/turn signal, slight ding to left muffler, scratched left cowling. The insurance company puts the total repairs at $6500 (WOW). They are giving me two options: 1. they keep the bike and give me $1300 more than I paid for it two years ago, 2. I keep the bike and they give me over $6500 (more than I paid two years ago). After running off the road, and clearing my head of several well deserved cuss words, I bungeed the side bag on and continued on the ride (about another 150 miles) a lot more cautious in the twisties, and a lot more wind in my face.

Here's my question: I am in unfamiliar ground. I figured I keep the bike, take their $6000+ do my own repairs and keep on riding. Is there any problem with registering the bike after the insurance company considered it "totaled" and is there any problem insuring it again? Any help would greatly appreciated. The bike is a 2005 with about 24,000 miles (just getting broken in). Except for the cosmetics, nothing wrong with the bike.

 

[ahchiu]

I would keep the bike and take the money, you can fix it yourself for a lot less you just have to shop around, or live with some damage parts.

 

[Fontanaman]

Did you get an estimate from a dealer on the cost to fix the damaged items? Or was Geico estimate a dealer based estimate.

Based on your description it is hard to imagine a $6k bill.

Perhaps the answer to this is if you sold the bike today as is then add the $6500 the insurance company is offering you will know which way to go.

 

[Fairlaner]

I am with Marcus, you will have a salvage title on the bike now but who cars.....not sure that you will be able to the full coverage on it anymore though...

R

 

[SLK50]

Keep the bike, take the money, do the repairs yourself, keep on riding.

End of story.

No need to re- title bike. Shouldn't be a problem insuring, either.

Is Geico asking you to surrender title if you take the money? Likely not.

Typically, when a bike is "totalled" the insurance co will take possession.

Otherwise, they're just paying you for repairs.

If in doubt, call your agent/Geico.

 

[Oakdave]

Keep the bike, take the money, do the repairs yourself, keep on riding.End of story.

No need to re- title bike. Shouldn't be a problem insuring, either.

Is Geico asking you to surrender title if you take the money? Likely not.

Typically, when a bike is "totalled" the insurance co will take possession.

Otherwise, they're just paying you for repairs.

If in doubt, call your agent/Geico.

Ditto. I did this with my last bike - a Honda ST1100A that had 105K miles at time of crash. Honda dealer gave a $4500 cost estimate to the insurance company (State Farm) who determined that it was a 'total loss'. I bought the bike with salvage title and still had over $5K left from the insurance payout to me. It cost me about $900 to get 'er back to the way she was before the crash...and I put another 90K miles on her before another crash that was not salvageable (that was about 3 years after the initial salvage job).

 

[extrememarine]

I just went through a similar situation from a wreck in October. My bike was totaled by the insurance, and it was going to be borderline on whether or not I could fix it and come out ahead. I bought the bike from the insurance as part of the settlement for the salvage value.

Where I ran into problems is the title law in Michigan. Here, there are normal "green" titles, salvage titles, and scrap titles. A salvage titled vehicle can be registered after passing an inspection. If a vehicle sustains damage which repair costs exceed 90% of the value of the bike, Michigan issues a scrap title. With a scrap title, the VIN can not be re-registered ever, period, in Michigan. I'm not sure how other states would handle the title I have for the frame. I think it is just a paper weight now that I will probably take to a recycler and sell it for scrap aluminum. If I had decided to repair the bike, I would have been a long way down the road in repairs before I found this out.

I have come out in front of it because I found a deal locally on another '09, and have managed to sell a good chunk of the old bike's parts (thank you to the PNW crew for snagging the motor, swing arm, final drive, & forks). many parts (farkles) moved to the new bike.

My suggestions is to speak to the title or total loss department of your insurance company, and to the California DMV and get the rules and regulations spelled out clearly - make them provide the reference in writing for everything they tell you. I got mixed & wrong information throughout the process; I didn't start getting consistent answers until I asked to see it in writing. Amazing how much more accurate information becomes when someone has to look it up instead of just talking out the side of their face...

Good luck,

Wayne

 

[RedPorscheKilla]

I second, extreme marine, even if this all sounds great. I'd check your DMV out and see what their stance is in CALI. Washington has similar rules than Michigan does, so I'd shy away from a bike with a salvage title.... yet what I would do if you've got plenty of farkles on your bike, do it like extrememarine did it. Take the bike buy yourself a new one and switch everything from the old bike to the new bike, you can still make money of the remaining parts.

Best of luck for yer and your bruised pride, been there done it and it sucks!!!

V

RPK

 

[Canadian FJR]

Take the money, fix the bike. You may need to provide pics (maybe receipts) to the insurance company after the repairs are made but as long as the bike operates and handles fine then you should be good to go.

"Is there any problem with registering the bike after the insurance company considered it "totaled" and is there any problem insuring it again?"

If they are willing to allow you to do the repairs then they are not listing it as totaled, simply damaged. If they are claiming that it is "Totaled" then follow Wayne's advise and start getting things on paper.

Good luck.

Canadian FJR

 

[Geezer]

First, make sure you understand all of the repairs the estimate is going to cover. For $6500 I would expect a lot more damage than what you can see. If you are satisfied that you can fix the bike and it will be safe to ride then keep it and do whatever repairs you feel are necessary for you to enjoy your ride.

The answer to title related questions vary from state to state. The guys from your state seem to agree that you can either use the title you already have (best solution if the insurance company allows this) or a salvage title. Either way it looks like the way to go.

 

[extrememarine]

I would think that if the insurance company totals the bike, the title would have to be changed, but again - it's going to be different for each state. In Michigan, a salvage title is issued if the repair estimate is something like 60% of the vehicle value or more. It should be clearly defined in CA as well.

Standing where I am now with my case, and this only applies to my situation - I'm glad I did not roll the dice. Once I got the bike home and started digging in, there were many more parts damaged beyond "re-useable" state than I imagined. That was the kicker, I had to give the insurance an answer as to which route I wanted to take (total loss and take the check, they keep bike, or total loss, buy bike, take a check for the difference and repair). I could not take the bike home and tear it down, then give them an answer.

I don't mean to say you shouldn't buy the bike back and repair it, just that you need to be prepared for hidden damage. You will be surprised if not shocked at what some of these pieces sell for.

 

[BikerGeek99]

One thing for sure - if anyone knows about wrecking FJRs, it's extrememarine.

 

[extrememarine]

Subject matter expert. https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//public/style_emoticons/default/****.gif

One thing for sure - if anyone knows about wrecking FJRs, it's extrememarine.

 

[BullCBX]

Only issue I had after doing the same was trying to get the state of Georgia to perform the necessary inspection so I could have a new tag issued. Because of budget cuts and back logs, this process took over 10 months. I finally checked with Progressive and they agreed to issue me a new insurance policy without the new title and I installed a “tag applied for” plate and started riding. I kept a copy of all the paperwork I had filed with the state just in case, but never got stopped. Finally got it all straightened out, but it sure took a LONG time. Have no idea what the state of California will require to get the new title, just keep in mind it could be a lot of fun.

 

[extrememarine]

This is exactly what I am talking about - everyone says, "no problem" until it comes time for them to actually do their job.

Extending the drama of my insurance claim - For Allstate to issue me the settlement check, they needed to see & confirm the title had been changed to a scrap title. Allstate provided a letter with the claim information specifying it was to be converted to a scrap title and was purchased by me. I went to DMV. 3 times.

The state of Michigan would not allow me to walk in with the green (normal) title & insurance letter to apply for the scrap title. It had to come from the insurance company via mail. WTF. I even tried, "Hi, my name is Wayne from Allstate". No dice. Had to be mailed.

Allstate sent it to thier title company. Who promptly sat on it for 32 days until I called asking for the tracking number of the envelope (which they said they would provide from the begining). We found out the scrap title application had not even been sent out yet. WTF again. At this point, we're 60+ days post accident. I pulled the "this is the kind of service that makes a person shop elsewhere when it's time to renew" card, and had the check the day.

Nothing ever goes as easy as it's supposed to...

Back on track here - Roger55 - I'd just ensure you needle the people telling you the rules / regulations / policies provide documentation of the steps. Even better, has anyone on the forum gone through this in CA??

Only issue I had after doing the same was trying to get the state of Georgia to perform the necessary inspection so I could have a new tag issued. Because of budget cuts and back logs, this process took over 10 months. I finally checked with Progressive and they agreed to issue me a new insurance policy without the new title and I installed a “tag applied for” plate and started riding. I kept a copy of all the paperwork I had filed with the state just in case, but never got stopped. Finally got it all straightened out, but it sure took a LONG time. Have no idea what the state of California will require to get the new title, just keep in mind it could be a lot of fun.

 

[Bugnatr]

My suggestions is to speak to the title or total loss department of your insurance company, and to the California DMV and get the rules and regulations spelled out clearly - make them provide the reference in writing for everything they tell you. I got mixed & wrong information throughout the process; I didn't start getting consistent answers until I asked to see it in writing. Amazing how much more accurate information becomes when someone has to look it up instead of just talking out the side of their face...
Good luck,

Wayne

Here's your start, get answers in writing. Both insurance companies and mostly CA DMV will make your life hell if you keep the bike and don't get this title stuff right.

 

[beachy]

You just need to be sure with dmv and ins. co. before dumping $$ into it and like Wayne said get it in writing.Here in NC it was pretty painless took it to the Troopers to do the inspection took the paper he gave me back to dmv it was over. It just veries so much state to state.

 

[TripperMike]

Hmmmm maybe this is a dumb question, but is it possible to talk to your insurer and ask them if you can take less money and NOT have it totalled? I recently had a similar get off as you did, but from your description, my body work was worse. Again sometimes you never know what real damage was done until you dig into the bike a bit. I got lucky in several regards. One, I was standing right next to the appraiser (who was a biker himself) and explained to him that I could not have the bike "totalled" and together we kept track of the escalating costs. Once it got to a certain point, I said enough was enough, as I was figuring on doing the work myself. And quite frankly, with the help of many members of this fine establishment, I accomplished it.

I guess what I am saying is if you are comfortable doing your own work, and granted the damage isn't too severe, perhaps you could get your ride back on the road for a bit less. And like me, have enough left over for a new helmet and riding gear. In my case, I was able to upgrade quite a bit on those items.

Oh yeah the second thing that worked in my favor, once I got into tearing the bike apart, I found no hidden surprises. The kind of surprises that make you turn around and try to sell all the crap you just bought to fix your bike.

Mike