So uhm.... Please read if you have time

[DigitalArts]

Kind of am unfortunate series of events scewing me over.

Yesterday, I rode to work at Cycle Gear and a lady hit my vmax in her truck and took off, knocked it over and did some cosmetic damage, got a police report done with witnesses (no tag number on truck) and am waiting for the agent to call me about my insurance claim. I have uninsured motorist, 1k ded on collision, 100 ded on comprehensive, and the minimum insurance value for the bike is 3000 (agreed value at start of policy, before recent work and mods).

That's fine, I was waiting for the call from the guy today or tomorrow at some time.

Fast forward to 20ish minutes ago, the doorbell is ringing like crazy and lots of knocking.

Turns out my bike is on fire. The whole electrical system near where you put the key in is fried. I put the fire out and unhooked the battery.

Not even sure what to do now, anyone with an official shop think they can write me up a generous agreed value of the bike for insurance? It really was/is a nice clean 85 as you can see in the pics below (one is a bad pic of damage).

https://imgur.com/a/4Edv4

Recently had her dynoed at an event and she pushed 132 HP and 81 tq at the rear wheel. (Seems like BS to me as well, I think it was a happy dyno for happy customers)

- Front Thundercat 17x3.5 rim
- Rear 18 RC rim
- Still have OEM rims w/ new tires
- Saddlebags
- Gel seat covers
- Stage 7 needle
- Morley's muscle kit and the carb rack right off his personal bike
- $450 rear suspension with progressive/preload/rebound
- Dale Walker Holeshot exhaust (complete full exhaust)
- Progressive front suspension w/ gold emulators
- Fork brace
- Corbin seat
- LED headlight w/ High and Low
- Jetted to spec for mods
- Twist on oil filter adapter
- Oring mod
- Stainless steel brake lines
- Mosfett r/r
- Vboost
- Billet bar end mirrors
- Windscreen
- Possibly notched swingarm
- Other stuff, I'm sure

And recent maintenance includes (also probably forgetting some):

- Valves (back ones)
- Spark plugs
- Valve cover gaskets (rear on, front one is good and have part on hand)
- Two new tires on OEM rims, usable ME880s on radials
- Total strip and reseal/recoat of gas tank with KBS
- Fuel/air filter
- Totally rebuilt carbs (new slides as well, $300+ for them)
- Two oil changes
- Coolant
- Brake fluid
- Fuel lines cleaned
- Wiring gone over
- New mosfett r/r installed
- Charging system
- New 430 CCA sealed battery
- Fork seals
- New grips
- Steering head adjusted
- New oil filter
- Compression checked (perfect)
- LED turn signals (only one installed, resistor needed)
- Also other stuff


Anyway, any advice or anything? I need to make it out of this with at least 3.5k in hand or I'm going to be really screwed as the vehicle I was using has a bad leak on the master cyl and I have nothing else (including money since I just bought those rims)

 

[SpecOps13]

Wow :bang head: This sounds like it's gonna be tough. Especially since there's no direct tie to the lady that ran off. Hopefully they will catch her. Insurance Companies are not there to protect you or your property. They are there to make a profit. Stand strong and argue with any low offers.

I had to sue my insurance company for an accident in my Mustang in 1997. It took 6+ years to recover anything and it was in court. Allstate bribed the Judge but I was the only one who overheard it. My word against the Judge. He cut my settlement in half. All this trouble came about because an old man was underinsured and hit me head on while turning around to go back to his Dr.. They spent more than the top book value to fix the Mustang.

Be ready to fight, be tough and maybe things will work out. But be Prepared. Good Luck............

 

[marsmax85]

Yea that sux I hate parking my bike where I can't see it . ALTHOUGH it might not be bad to fix.

 

[sdt354]

Sorry to hear this. I hope it gets resolved quickly.
Steve-o

 

[DMAN999]

That definitely Sucks !
Good Luck with the insurance company.

 

[Traumahawk]

Good luck with the insurance company. Anything can be fixed.

 

[DigitalArts]

I wonder what Sean would price working harsesses for so it would work again. At the very least I want to buy it back when it's totaled and part it out assuming that's an option.

 

[davesax36]

I have an 85 harness on the shelf my wife can send you.

 

[Fire-medic]

Insurance companies usually want you to have a rider (an increased premium amount) for extras, and that is probably the only way you will have recovery for all the extras.

My suggestion is to buy it back because it doesn't take much to total out a motorcycle. Just be sure that you can rebuild it if they choose to total it, you will end up w/a 'rebuilt' title. If the say no to issuing a rebuildable title, then you will have to part it out if you choose to buy it back from the insurance co.
You wouldn't be able to sell the title and frame as it would have been labeled unrebuildable.

I think you're between a rock and a hard place when it comes to assigning who's liable for the bike after the electrical short/fire. Perhaps because it's not a high-value item, they may just say that you can buy it back, and they will give you some amount less than full value but you can keep the bike. I'm not an insurance adjuster, but I believe some outcome like that could be in the cards. Be polite, be persistent, and hardest of all, be patient. One of the plays in the insurance underwriters playbook is to deny the request, because a certain number of people are just willing to take what they are offered. Some just go away, and that is the payoff for the insurance company. They got the premium, and either deny you outright, or offer some amount which some people will accept.

If you didn't have a professional appraisal for a modified vehicle, which comes with a policy premium cost greater than the stock vehicle premium, your chances of recovery for your mods is poor. In this case, negotiate to get the greatest amount you can, and if it's going to be totaled, how much to buy it back, and if you aren't going to do anything but part it out, you don't really need a rebuildable title. Only if you were going to rebuild it to ride would you need a rebuildable title.

What do you want to do? Put it back on the road, or part it out? What is the claim going to generate from the stationary, non-running tip-over in the parking lot? Will they consider the electrical fire to be part of the sequential events affecting your bike after the tip-over? If the answer is 'yes,' then how-much will it cost to fix the bike? At that point, they may just say they are going to total it. See 'rebuildable title' vs. non-rebuildable status. (part-out time!); of course, you can part-out a bike w/a rebuildable title too, you just have one more thing to sell, a frame w/a title.

 

[eggohead]

Someone had a clean frame for sale recently also.. That might be a idea. I know you had been talking about changing it out for a fuel injected sport bike... If you can some how keep it or part it out you may find enough to help yourself with a good downpayment or another vmax...