Anyone buy back a bike from the insurance company?

Any one in insurance that knows how that works when a bike is totaled and the owner wants to buy it back?

I wrecked my ultra last weekend and the dealer thinks it will be a total loss. The damage is mostly cosmetic, but the web in the frame where the crash bar mounts is tweaked. And the dealer said that that will be a frame replacement. Me, I would fix it and put the bike together.

My question is, “how will the insurance CO calculate the buyback cost?”


Thanks for the help.

 

Ask the insurance adjuster for a second opinion wrt the frame replacement.

 

i work as a claims adjuster in north carolina. We base our buyback on the value of the bike and the amount of damage. We total all harleys with even a little bit of frame damage. I have seen a lot of bikes go to salvage that i wish i could buy, but that is a fast way to lose my job. Right now harleys are bring good money at the salvage sales, so unless your bike is in pretty bad shape, i would expect to pay anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of value to buy it back.

 

5400 to own an 08 ultra out right? not bad.

 

And the owner has first buy-back rights. They don't tell you that part.

I bought back a Heritage years ago.....came out way ahead. Sent it to The Frame Man in Sacramento and good as new. No handling issues, everything fit and bolted up and that bike rode straight as an arrow going down the road.

 

Im a manager for a major insurance company and the first thing we tell people is they have the right to buy it back. Any company that doesnt is stupid and is loosing money! Instant reimbursement for the value of a totaled bike is the best thing for a company. Waiting to send it to auction and paying auction fees all costs money and takes time.

Our company has partnered with a major salvage/auction company who provides us quotes based on year make model and type of damage since they have a complete database of similar cars/bikes that have sold at auction in the past. We try to figure out based on past auctions how much it will sell for. Whatever we think the bike will sell for is what we charge the owner to Retain Salvage. Most major companies use this same process even if they have their own internal salvage department. No sense in guessing at what the value might be if you have years of data of other bikes that have sold you can use as comparison.

I would use Extreme Caution making the decision to retain salvage. At the end of the day all Insurance Companies are a business and they are in it to make money. They would NEVER total your bike and pay you the full market value if they thought they could fix it for less. They, or I, am trained experts who are paid to make these decisions. 99% of the time you will not be able to fix your bike for the money they give you at least you will not be able to do it the Correct way. If the money they gave you was enough to repair it properly, i.e., to Industry Standards, they would be doing it themselves.

If you plan on cutting corners or doing the work yourself to save money than go for it. I always caution customers when making this decision because Many of them have regreted it and called saying they want to change their mind after it was too late.

Also remember registering and getting insurance on a salvage car/bike is a different process and requires passing a safety inspection in some states. And remember the value of a salvage bike is on average 50% less if you ever want to sell.

Hope this info helps.

.

 

I just bought my bike back from the insurance company.

I just went through the exact same thing- bent tab- insurance "total". Although member jasnusc is ultimatly correct, there were a few more factors involved in my claim. THese two factors, according to the Clams Unit were 1)insurance co. financial risk of paying to repair concealed damage and 2)financial obligation to guarantee the repair for life.

I bought my Road King back for $2500. Here is where it gets interesting- Missouri Law says Ins. can't "total" unless damage meets or exceeds 80% of retail. My ins. said they calculated my total loss at 75% so my title would not be salvage. THey recalculated the "retail" by allowing for documented accessories ($1000) that I provided reciepts for. The Claims Unit told me in simple language over the phone they would rather let me buy it back and arrange repairs myself as opposed to being exposed to risks #1 and #2 above, so I am replacing the frame right now- which I continually question.

Original repair estimate included new, factory matched/ painted body parts. I came out by buying repair parts from Ebay, repairing a small dent in Gas Tank and buying new parts at 20% from Lakeside HD etc. Also replaced a few OEM $$$parts with after market $custom parts (bag guards $650 vs front guard only for $150). Getting a custom paint job as well.

(RANT ------> )The bent tab is a bull$hit measure of frame damage. Certainly there is a more objective measure to determine the geometry of a frame. Bent tab is a lazy *** excuse from HD that certainly covers thier *** in more ways than one. WHat that says to me is that the frame geometry from the factory is not too tight, and the manufacturing acceptance critera is loosey goosey to start with. That is almost ALWAYS the reason that engineering/ manufacturing/ performance specifications dont exist- because they couldn't meet them, they are extremely variable to start with or they dont want specs published that point out design weakness.

troy.j PM me and we can discuss on the phone if you want.

 

i had my 08 flht totaled here in b.c with 100 miles on it, and because it was insured thru a private (not our government ins)company i was able to buy it back for about 25% of the payout..same deal a bent crash bar web...fixed that in no time and the rest was cosmetic..drives as good as new..ohh and now its pewter pearl..way easier to keep clean

 

I have bought back all my bikes that have been wrecked and fixed them with the money I got from the insurance settlement. I had plenty left to add all kinds of stuff. Hopefully this will never happen with the Harley.

Drew

 

I kinda hate to ask, but what is the "tab" part of the frame?

Thanx, RD.