Bike declared a write-off, should I let Claim company salvage it or do it myself?

Sacred

Sacred

Sacred

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8 Oct 2005
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Hi there

About a month ago I got into a little accident where a car pulled across a lane in-front of my bike and I wasn't able to stop in time. His fault. Claim done.

Problem is, it's been declared as Cat C damage.
I have been given the value of my bike in the form of a cheque minus the 'salvage value' until a salvager comes to have a look at it. They expect to give me about £500 to take my bike away.

Now I know that salvager's will most likely take the bike apart and sell its parts to get a lot more for it overall, I have been talking to a guy at work who reckons I should just cut out the middle man and sell bit of the bike on online.

I know it's simply more convenient to have my bike taken away but am I being ripped off?

It's a 2006 Kawasaki ER6-F, good condition.
Everything is in-tact except the front fork, front light and fairings surrounding the light.

Would it make more sense to just cut out the middle man and auction bits of the bike off? Engine still runs perfectly and some of the fairings are still good, as are the wheels, handlebar, pedals, etc.


Would appreciate any help on this. Don't want to get duped.
 
If you have the space and gumption to either repair and VIC check or strip down and sell then it'll probably be worth keeping, would you consider repairing and riding a 'free' bike?

How have they valued it? what if the salvage guy reckons it's worth £300?

When I bought back my Prelude they wanted 5% of £1,650 agreed value for the car, I then sold the whole car on eBay as a Cat C for £600
 
As above, if you have the space, time and knowledge then I don't see why you shouldn't.

Have a look on eBay for similar parts to the good ones you have left and see if the total is more than £500, that would be the obvious thing to do first I guess.
 
Hey guys thanks for the replies.

I have looked on ebay, and even a 5 minute gander at different parts (minus the engine) come to more than £500, I'm thinking I get between £1000-£1500 if I did take things apart.

Problem is, I have no issue getting my hands dirty, and I do have the space, I'm just not a mechanic and don't really know enough about bikes to feel confident in it.

Technically I could even get my local garage who are very good with me because I always go there to see how much it will cost to repair and sell the bike on as a whole for a proper price afterwards (registering it as a cat-c of course).
In theory it's only the front fork and the front fairings around the light that will need replacing. The rest of the bike is good as and it would be worth about £2000 if it was working fine.

So I guess that's another option, see what my garage says about a full fix-up back to new...

Now I think about it I not even sure why I'm considering letting the salvage man at it.
If he said any less than £500 to me I would laugh at him now. £750 for the convenience would be a little more reasonable, but still feel like I'm being ripped off...
 
to be fair, you don't need to be overly mechanically minded to just take the parts off, it's not like you're putting it back together again.

I removed and stripped the engine from my old CBR600 and I'm by no means a mechanic.
 
If doing a stsip down, simple rule is don't force anything, use penetrating oil on tight bolts/nuts & heat if you have it.

If a part won't come free after you have removed all visible fasteners, look more deeply into where it is snagged, likely some hidden fastener (just like a car interior).

You will make more money doing it this way but it will be longer and harder for you, but worth the effort IMHO and it will make you a better mechanic, something which bikers have mostly forgotten these days.

:)
 
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