Turn her in or get her fixed? Cracked up 990 S

Some things to think about;
1) See what the insurance company plans on doing. If they want to repair it you may not have much choice (have it repaired or take the money and repair it yourself). But you can oversee the work and force them (shop and insurance co.) to do it correctly. Takes a lot of pushing sometimes but necessary on a bike I think.
2) If they total it would you want it as it was before the crash (with the right talent it can be repaired 98% as good as it was) or would you rather update?
3) If they total it and you buy it back does your state put "Salvaged" on the title? Might affect the resale value.
4) If repairing, be assured (either from doing it yourself or that the shop that does the work) that everything will be checked and put to original specs - especially geometry (frame, forks, wheels, steering head bearings, etc.). That means putting the wheels (front at least) on a trueing stand, pulling the steering head off and checking the bearing races, stripping the frame as necessary to measure for alignment. Stuff like this needs to be measured, not eyeballed. Talk to the adjuster about all of this. If you feel that something might not be checked properly you might consider a new bike.
5) if you get it repaired do not release them (insurance company and/or shop) from responsibility until you are sure everyting is right. Any problems here and call your state insurance commisioner's office.

So many options! Good luck.
Don't mean to sound like a know-it-all. Just things I've learned from rebuilding a lot of wrecks.

You might already have this type of information, but: http://www.dmv.org/ca-california/salvaged-vehicles.php

It depends on your state. California brands its titles so that totaled vehicles are identified forever as prior salvage. If your bike is totaled, you might not want it back just for that reason. Based on what I can see from the photos, she doesn't look totaled to me. If the vehicle is close to being totaled -- either a little over or a little under totaled value, most insurance companies will work with you if you really want to keep the vehicle. They have some incentive to keep you happy in situations like this.

Minor damage sir.


I'd fix it. Send the forks off to be checked for straightness, buy some new side panels. These things are burly and can take a beating. If insurance totals it (doubtful), buy it back and spend the money on fixing it up.

Is the bike paid for or still being financed?
Kelly BB for 2008 Adventure = +/-6k Trade-in, +/-8.5k Retail
If I was faced with this delima I'd hope for "totaled". Only because it would eliminate me second guessing mysellf down the road. Like most of us, my first recation was "get money from insurance, fix it myself, end up improving my lot". But in reality what would most likely happen is that yes, the bike would be repaired, but every time something rattled or squirmed I would think there was a problem that was missed in the repair. Could you imagine the frustration, if while riding one fine afternoon that you noticed something, however so minor, that can never be tweaked back to normal...say like handle bar, fairing alighnment, or an odd feel in certain conditions (like rain). It would drive me nuts questioning if I did the right thing by keeping the crashed bike thinking I was saving money when in reality that was my best opportunity to upgrade.
I would rather have peace of mind over the long haul than saving a couple of grand for the present time.

Not sure of this, but will an insurance company just cut you a personal check or will it need to be addressed to a repair shop?

Good luck!
BTW...nice looking Shoei....good excuse for custom paint job :^)

So it doesn't leak anything? If the wheels are still round and the forks function then you're out a nav tower and shrouds.

Keep the thing.

Or better yet: I'll give you $1000 cash money. Yes...sell it to me instead.

Even if they did total it (and I don't think they will), a new frame can be had for $1,500.00, and that would get you a new clean VIN. See what the insurance company says and then crunch the numbers.

Hi Chris,

I have been through this process a couple of times and fixed it myself (had help the first time from Mike A).

I bashed my bike almost as bad as yours twice - replaced the plastics fairings, new engine crash bars, new front fender, new wind shield, new or straightened the headlight mount, new shift foot lever, new handlebar mount and bolts, loosened the forks and rotated them back into place.

Ordered new original KTM parts through KTM twins or the Motor Cafe in Sunnyvale. Most parts took a week to arrive - the only exception was the handlebar mount which took six weeks.

I am guessing the headlight not working is the connector popped out or the bulb got damaged. Easy to check.

This is easy bolt on repair - and can be fun to do yourself - give me a call tonite and I can help you.

Mike Z

I'd keep it if the forks and frame aren't bent.

Yes, they will.

My 525 was stolen and recovered with damage, insurance paid 100% of the parts/accessories/labor without any hassle. I had an itemized list with parts/labor with photographs of the bike (taken from ride reports).

No problem.

A very good friend of mine went this route and his insurance co would only pay him $10/hr labor if they were cutting him a personal check. If they paid the shop direct, they would cover the shop's labor rate (which was more like $65/hr iirc).

Insurance regs vary widely by state, so maybe this is the difference? You're in the same state as the OP.

Dunno. I expected a fight, but they paid up. I was straight with them, didn't inflate, treated them honestly, and they returned the favor.

I did have an itemized estimate from the shop- did your buddy?

Once Progressive assesses ill post up what they say. I can see both sides here for sure. It really depends on what is best long term. Can I trust it on a long ride? Can it take a beating still?

Mike .... Call me when you can.

I'm pretty sure you can buy totaled vehicles back from the insurance company in CA for around 10% of the pre-crash value. Think about that when you go shopping for a new one.

If they don't total it, plastics are just cosmetic. Stitch them up Frankenstein style with zip ties. (that idea will sound much better with a few thousand dollars in your pocket)

Recently had this happen to me. Bike was not as bad, one fairing cracked and scratches on other parts, nothing bent up besides the handlebars. Picked the bike up in the ditch and it fired right up and I rode it home. You are lucky to have Progressive, I can't say enough good things about them. When the guy showed up to look at my bike, he asked to see my riding gear. Boots, jacket, gloves, helmet, everything. Told him that I will do the work myself and they paid for the damage on the bike, $75 and hour for labor and gave me money for all my riding gear.

As one poster mentioned alreay, it was a great opportunity to upgrade to parts that I could not afford before. Guess what; add up the prices for OEM bar, handguards and mirror and it comes up less than a full HDB set up

Hopefully nothing is bent up bad enough to total the bike. It is just a matter of how much time you want to put back into the bike.

Before:


After:

From what you've told us and what I can see in the pictures, yes. I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to take it anywhere.

If the forks work then I would highly doubt there was enough impact to bend the frame at the headstock. Even then, ride the flipping thing there at Progressive's parking lot. It should still fire if the ECU isn't damaged and just take it around the parking lot to see if it even works.

I've seen way too many pictures of these things bouncing off boulders/trees/furry woodland creatures to think that just by nailing some dude on a rust bucket that you've been able to hurt it beyond repair.

You sure the right kind of person to own a big dirt bike?

ffs you crashed it at 35mph and it slid some and broke the plastics.

I don't know if this would apply to these bikes or not. The question that I've not seen asked is, Did the bike keep running for a period of time while on it's side? If so, how long?

A friend of mine crashed his crotch rocket at the track once. The insurance company asked the above two questions. He told them that it had in fact been running for a minute or two until he gathered himself up and got to the bike to shut it off. They told him they wanted to total the bike due to possible oil starvation issues and the possibility that the motor suffered while running when is was on it's side.

I didn't see this addressed anywhere above, and I just throw it out there for consideration.

Aside from this question, the rest looks totally repairable.

I never let the insurance company take my vehicle anywhere, they can come to my house to do the estimate.

Progressive held a buddy of mines car basically hostage. Kept moving it yard to yard. and promising to return it soon.

By the time they did the interior was ruined as well. Cops were no help since he had willingly gave it to them. Said it was a civil matter.

Turned out they wanted to lowball the offer and not pay for their clients carelessness. Took him forever to get his money out of them..


Also,, if you end up with it totalled, AFTER you get the first check,, file for a diminished value claim too... :)

Dave

Glad to hear everyone is OK- the guy could have been killed- nevermind you! California allows motor-vehicle citations while operating a bicycle on public highways- was he cited by the police? When I lived in San Francisco I knew bicycle messengers that couldn't get a drivers license as they had accumulated so many points- while pedaling!

Q: I see you have some LED lights- were they on at the time of the accident? Headlight on high beam as well? You gotta run this stuff all the time, especially in heavily urban areas! It was dangerous as hell before cell phones- with vehicular cell phone use at the dangerous level it is today we need all the attention we can create- but i'ts hard to prevent stupidity sometimes! With 110 watts of HID/110 watts halogen lighting my bike looks like a magnesium flare when viewed from the front- I'll risk a ticket any day if it means people will see me, and they don't pull out or turn left in front of me anymore!

It doesn't look totalled to me & I've done estimates to try & HELP riders get a new bike. You usually have to reach 80% of current value (Kelly's Blue Book or the insurance industry's own figures) for repair including all parts & labor. Most insurance companies have arrangements to sell totalled motorcycles to certain dealers or salvage yards, so you may not be able to get it. Further they don't sell vehicles at 10% of value after paying out to you- they know what motorcycles are worth & they are a for-profit business, and without a pending bodily injury claim (from you) you don't have much bargaining power. You SURE you're OK? Offer to sign a medical/bodily injury release (which is what they really want) if they'll work with you on the bike.

If the frame is damaged you (or a shop) will need to literally cut the VIN section of the frame & send it to KTM NA in Ohio where they will get a new VIN and apply it to the replacement frame. California (& other states) used to change the color of ink on Salvage Titles to brown to prevent resale to an unsuspecting buyer- now most states just print "Salvage" somewhere on the title.

Best bet is to have the shop in the area with the highest labor rate do the estimate. KTM does have service flat rates found on KTMDealer.net to break down repair times for the estimate. An enire frame & body replacement would be less than 10 hours (which would include removal & replacing all the broken bodywork/etc to get to the frame) and at (example) $85/hr that's only $850, so you're going to need a lot of parts replaced before you arrive at 80% of $8500

Good Luck

If the main frame is damaged at the steering neck/stops this will significantly increase the possibility of it being "totaled" as far as the insurance is concerned.

It doesn't mean that the bike could not be restored to safe operation.