Ducati Monster Forum

 [bang]  [bang] long story short, tagged the right rear corner of a bus bumper  while coming away from a stop light, lane splits to two, i was headed right and in mid switch when the bus braked.  smacked it and went down.  I'm fine. no issues at all. bike has a cracked radiator, broken rear brake lever, make the beast with two backsed up mirror and twisted master cylinder assembly, busted oberon bar end light, messed up speedymoto slider (did its job perfectly). and a nice dent on the crappy tank from the clutch master mount on the bar smacking it.

SOOOOOO. called insurance. adjuster should be out tomorrow ish to check it out.

at what point do they total a bike?  any experiences.  08 S4RS Tricolor....... 13995 miles.

In my experience, bikes usually total out at ~75% of market value.

here is a link to some pictures.   nothing super crazy

http://s575.photobucket.com/user/Ducman82/slideshow/Bike%20damage (http://s575.photobucket.com/user/Ducman82/slideshow/Bike%20damage)

I'm seeing a radiator, clutch master, clutch lever, headlight fairing, tank, brake lever, exhaust pipe, F. axle slider, R heel guard, R passenger peg bracket, R passenger peg, CF exhaust pipe heat shield, Rr brake lever, shift lever, bar-end signal, bar-end mirror, and lower triple clamp.

Considering the blue-book value of an 8 year old bike, the scarcity of parts, the COST associated with those parts (they *will* bill this out at full-pop-retail pricing) and the shop labor to replace all of those items (think steering stem bearings, clutch bleed labor, tank replacement, radiator replacement and I think the exhaust pipe CF bracket may only be available with the entire Termi exhaust system...)

I think it'll be very, very close to a total loss.

It's been my experience that sometimes (it's rare) you can work with an adjuster to help get a bike not to total, but even then it is completely up to them.

Best of luck and I hope that it doesn't total! 

Keep in mind that if there's so much as a scratch on the swingarm they will list it as needing to be replaced (ins co did that to my 2005 S2R800).
Also, the full price for a new tank is over $2500. I think as far as the ins co is concerned, it's likely going to be a total loss. But, that could give you an opportunity to buy it back, repair it yourself, and depending on your state's laws, retitle it so it isn't a salvage.

Also, check the steering stops.  If it is visibly bent/broken/scratched, they will consider the frame to need replacement.

I'm located in SoCal, so the following is based on that.
I don't know where you're located, so this info may or may not be relevant.

I have yet to see any insurance company personnel that were capable of writing an estimate for a Ducati.
They've always worked from my estimate.
Very seldom any push-back on any of it.

One insurance company went so far as to attempt to grind on me on parts prices from my estimate, while refusing to pay me for writing the estimate.
I politely (more or less) told them how make the beast with two backsed up that was.
They said Harley shops don't charge for an estimate.
I said I didn't care what the Harley shop business model was.

How the repair estimate gets written depends quite a bit on who's writing it.

I've seen a dealer repair estimate for ~$15k on a bike worth ~$6k prior to the crash.
Dealers routinely will write for a new tank, fender, swingarm, if it's scratched.
They'll write for a new frame on an SBK if the rearset mounts are bent.
They'll write for a complete fork leg if the lower has a small cosmetic scratch.

From my perspective:

For example, if the damage to the lower triple is just that mark, then I'd estimate a bit of labor to eliminate or vastly reduce that cosmetic defect.

The mark on the headlight fairing may buff out, or may need a bit of paintwork.
If the cost of repair is more than the cost of replacement, then I'd write for replacement.

Most likely that tank damage can be fixed with a spot repair, at a far lower cost than replacement.

Is it *your* insurance company adjuster that's coming out, or the bus company?

Do you own the bike outright, or is it financed?

Seems they are willing to work with me. the adjuster had me email in pics, then the will decide if it need to go to shop for a full inspection.

radiator is 2102 bucks, tank is about 1300 (quote from last summer).
i can do the work my self thankfully.   most of the damaged parts are bolt on bits.  if i dont pregnant dog about the Termi pipes and the little scuff on the CF guard that should be overlooked.    it all depends if they want to write it off.   

5-10mph if that.

fairing/clutch lever/master hit the bumper. i can't even tell were the rad hit, not a mark on it, but it is twisted.

should know more tomorrow......

rode great home, minus the coolant on my leg. (1.5 miles)

bike is financed (USAA, who is also the insurer). have not heard a peep from the bus people. that mark i left could buff out with a magic eraser.

only had a few K left on it. just had the Timing belts and everything done last fall.. erg.

Was it the coolant overflow or the radiator?

I'm not sure I would have ridden it with a cracked radiator.

bike was stone cold by the time left the scene. and it was not a ton of coolant that leaked out. just enough to piss on my boot. temp never got above 150. was just over a mile.

Buses are fairly easy to miss.  ;)

you would think right??? LOL.  its my fault for being to damn close in all honesty.

we shall see what happens tomorrow.

 :D [thumbsup]

Did he brake check you?

i dont think so.  I'm sure she did not even see me at all.  but no police, no report/ticket.... 

ah well. 

it was just be sad if they did total it. with the little things that are wrong being the cause.  buy it back if they do... :-)  or get a new bike

From my experience, it WILL be totaled. My wife's Monster had much less damage and it was totaled. The upside is they took in account all the mods and I ended up cashing out quite well then I bought it back for almost nothing.

how does that process work?

They pay you for the bike (minus deductible), then you tell them you're interested in buying it back.  They quote you the wholesale or scrap price they would sell it for, and you pay it if you want to buy it back.

For me, the tower picked my bike up and took it to their yard.  Adjuster visited a few days later and inspected the bike.  Insurance cut me a check.  I called and asked about buying it back, and delivered them a check a few hours later.  The next day the towing company delivered the bike to my driveway (I felt happy that I didn't have to go pick it up).

I tried to buy back my '10 848 when I lightly gave it a gravel bath and bent up a few things.

I guess the insurance company didn't really want me to have it back as they quoted me $5,000 to buy it back.  Eeeek!

The value is COMPLETELY up to them because at that point, they do own it.

Aaaaaand....

Not all insurance companies will let you buy it back.

As said before, if the adjuster can be persuaded to write up the bike as just a little less than total loss the bike will have clear title and you will not have to buy it back.  Turning salvage title into rebuilt or whatever terminology is used in your local can be quite a PITA and the bike will have diminished value. My old 750 would have been a total.  The adjuster wrote the bike for a couple of hundred short of total loss by writing diminished value for the tank dent instead of replacement. Keep in mind insurance and title laws do differ from state to state.  

$1200 for a gas tank (in tricolore scheme), $54 for the o-ring you need to replace at the fuel pump flange.

Looks like the prices have gone down. When I was hit on my S2R800, they quoted the tank replacement at $2500 or so. Hell, I had an S2R800 Dark and the damages listed including labor topped $12k. This for a bike that was $7499 new.

If they quoted you for tank+gas cap+fuel pump it would be around that much, but it would have to go preettyyyy awful for you to need to do all that.

ive had my S2R for about 6 years now and my invoice for the warranty replacement in 2011 has it at 1800$ for the dark tank.

I think the adjuster was just writing anything that has as much as a scratch on it for replacement. There was a minor blemish on the swingarm and they wrote it as needing to be replaced.

No news today.  I'm still doing damage control with the wife... "you asshole, you could have died!"  (not really) but you get my dilemma 

On my S4R with crushed tank during transport they cut me a check and let me repair it. They paid cost of new tank. I had it repaired for 25% of that. USAA.

adjuster called me for my parts list. that was nice of them.  well after i wiped some dirt off the neck i found this....

sigh......

(http://i575.photobucket.com/albums/ss197/Ducman82/Bike%20damage/IMG_5138_zpsghssshk1.jpg) (http://s575.photobucket.com/user/Ducman82/media/Bike%20damage/IMG_5138_zpsghssshk1.jpg.html)

That will total it for certain...

if you show it to them.

ya......... :-(

organ donor she might become i think.

Rat Tricolor!!  Chicks dig scars.

If the Oberon still lights up i bet you just broke the $8 bolt in it. Motowheels sells the replacement bolt.

bolt is broke, but she is chewed up good.  scars rock.

**IF** you show it to them.

Don't forget to mention the "Expensive" leathers and helmet you were wearing during the accident. My Adjuster compensated my wife a complete replacement down to the boots and gloves [thumbsup]

My experience with buying back a totaled vehicle is that if you tell them, prior to them buying the vehicle from you, you can just negotiate a settlement.

They estimate the repair costs and check against the value of the vehicle, tell you it's totalled. Then contact a salvage yard for the price they'll give them for the totaled vehicle. Then the settlement is the market price of your vehicle pre-accident, minus what they salvage yard would give them for the vehicle in current condition.

They write you a check for that amount,  and you go do whatever you wish with the money, and with the damaged vehicle. The title never changes hands, and it stays clean.

All that hinges upon you expressing an interest in retaining ownership of the vehicle if it's totalled, before they buy the vehicle from you. In my experience, I think it might've helped keep them from jacking up the salvage price by telling them that I was interested in keeping it *for parts* since I had another vehicle similar to it. No mention was ever made of doing repair work myself, or anything like that.

Good luck. I'm interested to see how everything works out.

And I would definitely show them.

If the frame has no value in their eyes, that drastically drives down the cost for you to retain the totaled vehicle.

UPDATE:

Today i talked to the rep at V-Spec (guys that handle motoctycle stuff for USAA) and he said that its more than likely a total loss.  He had me forward my parts list (everything not stock on the bike) and they will send their conclusions to the guys that look up bike values etc.    SOOOOOOOO, ya, she is done i think.  BUT that does mean i might be able to buy her up cheap and go from there. now i need to figure out salvage title stuff for WA state.... hmmmmm

Last UPDATE:

They are totaling the bike. pick it up tomorrow. Buy back was MORE that i owed on it, so i am letter her go. :-(   that being said, they are giving me a total value of 4 grand more than i paid for it.... so i can't pregnant dog to much.  Ill keep my eyes open for another bike soon.

Go and snag a small part off it for a keepsake.  ;)

doing that as we speak!  getting my added passenger pegs back... maybe the oil drain fill plug.  put the stock stuff back on. other than that, off she will go...... :-(

hope if they sell it as a whole, someone will replace/fix the radiator and ride the crap out of her like she needs.

When I was hit on my S2R800, I bought it back from the insurance company and sold it as a project to someone.