Anyone have experience with insurance buybacks? Particularly with universal japanese motorcycles?
My brother's 2005 CBR600RR was damaged (bone stock, no changes at all, a little over 4000 miles since new), and the estimate is $9000 to repair because the finish on the frame got scratched. So yeah, it's "totaled". Realistically, it needs a little over a grand worth of stuff to get it runnin' again, so we're thinking buy it back, make it a trackbike.
You can see the bike here: http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=8921.0
Not looking for a riding technique discussion here, just wanna know how much is reasonable for an insurance buyback. I figure if I can get it for less than $2000, I'll have my bro buy it back, then fix it up as a relatively cheap track toy. But first... I'd like some idea of what's a reasonable price to pay.
Thanks in advance for any input! [beer]
Not sure that you'll have a choice on the price. When my 05 S2R800 Dark was "totalled", I asked about buyback. They said it would be 1900. When I asked if there was any wiggle room, they said no because that's what the salvage company offered them for it.
see how much they will let you buy it back for. when i wrecked mine they totaled it and offered me 6500 (800 more than i paid for it) or i could keep it and get a check for 4500. they said it had a little money for taxes and stuff like that, but i kept it. the only reason they totaled it was because i scratched the frame. i bought all the parts to fix it back up except for the tank for less than $300. and used the rest of the money for whatever i wanted.
When my 04 S4R got totaled, they offered me 9600. If i wanted to buy it from them, it would have cost me 3500. I didn't think it was worth it.
3500 is a lot for a buy back. Not sure where some of them come up with the number...
'06 S2R1000 Totaled out at about $13k (estimated repair). They gave me right around $9000 for the bike after a bit of pregnant doging. I bought it back for $2k put $500 into it and its back on the road. Most of the damage was cosmetic. The scratch on the frame pretty much totaled the bike.
I can live with a scratched tank, exhaust, rear cowl and some rim paint chips for $2500. I can always get a 999s if I can't live with the horror.
my $0.02
[thumbsup] agreed. I got my Moms old 695 for buy back of $1,113 it was bad though, frame needed replaced. I found some used parts, spent about the same on them as I did on the bike, and I got a bad ass lil 07 695 for under $2,500. I don't know enough about UJM's to give you any ideas, but I headed into my project about the same way, I knew how high I was willing to go, and I was pleasantly suprised.
In my case, the rear subframe was bent up a little, and the swingarm was dented, along with the rear wheel.
Whatever they say the price is you can try to get them down some, but it probably wont work. A salvage yard bought mine, then listed it on ebay. I couldn't get out of them how much the paid, but some one up north bought it and contacted me on how to license it. He was SOL since the title was labled 'junk'.
Make sure you can get it back on the road if you buy it, even if you just want to race it. It'll be worth more later.
If the buy back price is high see if you can find out where it's being sold (usually at auction).
They wanted $1900 from me to buy back my '99 M750 last year w/ a cracked frame which seems crazy high to me so I let them keep it. When Geico called to let me know everything was done and see how I thought it was handled I asked about it being sold and they say it went for $450 at auction. I would have bought it back in a second for $450. make the beast with two backsing estimator didn't have a clue on buy back value
3 fvcking K on buy back for 2005 S2R 800.
I am in the process of de-nice partying it to let them have it.
My assumption is the buy back was high because of the nice parts that they aren't going to get.
Maybe once I let them have it with nothing good I'll be able to get it back on the way cheap.
That $450 gives me some hope. Its not even going to have usable tires on it when salvage comes and gets it.
I took a ton of stuff off of mine. The knuckle heads that picked it up wouldn't have noticed the wheels missing if I had thought to take them off. As it was they didn't notice the seat and lots of odds and ends that I pulled off that were still straight
Maybe oughta go ahead and pop that oil cooler off as well.
Well, we'll see what the ins co says. Unfortunately (or fortunately, possibly), I'm not the one dealing with the ins. co. It was my brother's bike, and it's through his and my parents' insurance. All I did was let 'em know if the buyback is below $2k, get it, and I'll buy it from them.
Realistically, it needs a radiator, new rad hoses on that side, and all the controls/switchgear on the throttle side. Then it needs plastics.
To make it streetable, it also needs a new headlight cluster, turn signals, and mirrors. That d**n headlight is all one unit (both sides and the marker light), so breaking one side means the whole bloody thing would have to be replaced.
I was just gonna make it into a cheap track toy, simply because the opportunity presents itself. Throw some "race" (no lights) Sharkskinz on it, add frame sliders, fix/replace the mechanical stuff, spray it all flat black, then if I go really nuts I could mask off the giant Honda Wing logo down the sides like one of the factory paintschemes from that year and do the wing in gloss black.
Eventually, as money is available and/or good deals come up on Criagslist or Fleabay, I would put an exhaust on it, braided brake lines, steering damper, and other goodies. But these would be very low-priority. My SS is my baby.
Anyway, I wouldn't have gone out to buy a trackbike this year (or even in the forseeable future), this is just a possible opportunity following an unfortunate incident. Wanted to bounce it off the board to see if the price I was willing to pay was too high/low/whatever. Sounds like $2k would be reasonable (if not great), $1500 would be a steal, but $2500 or more would be unreasonable. We're talking abotu State Farm... Motorcycles aren't their primary thing, and their rates are great, so it's hard to predict what they'll do on the buyback front.
I'll let ya know what happens. [thumbsup]
Wankers!
They want to give him a paltry $5700 for the bike. I've seen 2005 CBR 600RRs with salvage titles go for $5700. A clean-title CBR600RR with 4000 miles easily goes for $6500.
It gets better... They're saying buyback is $2700. [bang] Fahdge.
Mom & Dad are fighting it. They're pulling up ads for resale values in a more acceptable range, and I'll talk to them further about haggling the buyback price down. That's fricken nuts.
Quote from: BibleBoy on August 14, 2008, 05:18:18 PM
Wankers!
They want to give him a paltry $5700 for the bike. I've seen 2005 CBR 600RRs with salvage titles go for $5700. A clean-title CBR600RR with 4000 miles easily goes for $6500.
It gets better... They're saying buyback is $2700. [bang] Fahdge.
Mom & Dad are fighting it. They're pulling up ads for resale values in a more acceptable range, and I'll talk to them further about haggling the buyback price down. That's fricken nuts.
I had a bunch of ads for similar bikes for the estimator when he showed up to look at my bike. It got me an extra $1000 over what he was originally going to give me and I never had to fight about it. I actually got $350 more from the insurance Co. then I paid for the bike.
Well, my bro is getting a decent price for the bike now. Not my place to say how much, but it was a reasonable market value.
Now for the part that affects me... they dropped the buyback to $1960.
It needs the following mechanical items:
--radiator
--coolant hoses to radiator
--radiator fan (maybe)
--throttle
--front brake lever + MC
--throttle-side switchgear
--rear brake lever
--clutch cable
To make it trackable it needs the mechanical list plus:
--track bodywork
--windscreen
--frame sliders
To return it to the street it needs the mechanical list plus:
--street bodywork (right side panel, front facia, rear seat surround, possibly bottom right side)
--windscreen ($30-$60 for aftermarket)
--headlight unit ($250 MSRP for just the housing, $300 real-world for complete assy)
--turn signals ($30 aftermarket will do)
--mirrors (cheap barend units will do)
I may be forgetting something in the Street finishing list, but you get the gist. The mechanical list is complete, to my knowledge.
So whaddya think? Is it worth $2k? I'm leaning toward having my bro buy it back, then I buy it from him, and make it a track toy when more money permits. If Dad, both my bros, and myself all go in together, they'll possibly want to make it streetable (but splitting up the costs makes it easier on all of us). All agree its primary mission in life will be as a track toy, but they might want street capability so that Dad can continue riding with us. [evil]
Honestly, I can't say. But what I do know is the buyback on my S2R800 was less and needed less work...
How much does the mechanical parts go for like the radiator etc.? I dont have experience with buying back however i would think you could find a trackable equivalent for about the same amount of $ you are using to buy this back and fix it up. And the one you buy would be ready togo right off the bat. I would browse ebay a bit first and see what you find or checkout craigslist then go from there.
There might be a site that lists just track bikes but i don't know of any.
Bodywork alone is minimum $500
Frame Sliders $150+
Might want to consider barend and axle sliders as well.
Windscreen $80?
Of course since the CBR is an 05 its probably going to be a lot newer than anything else you find. If you are doing the installs yourself that will save you a ton too. I say do the math and make your decisions from there.
I would price the needed parts to get a total figure for the rebuild, but it sounds reasonable to me.
Well, I told 'em I'm buying ti back, and my brother doesn't care what the rest of us do with it, since he'll get a new (leftover) 2007 CBR 600RR.
Buyback was $1960.
Dad and I went shopping for all the mechanical stuff it needs (radiator, throttle-side switchgear, etc), and if we buy new OEM stuff we're looking at around $900. The radiator is almost half of that ($445 retail OEM).
The remaining stuff needed to make it track-specific (body + sliders) will run around another $900, and that's getting halfway decent bodywork (not the cheap $250 sets from fleaBay). I can get a complete set of Armour Bodies for $850. Or I can get just the peices I need (race upper, AMA lower, race tail) in Sharkskins for about $750 (which retains the stock tank cover since it's only lightly rashed, and the stock front fender). I'd prolly leave 'em primer grey, to be painted eventually.
So... we're looking at around $3800 to make a track-only bike in primer grey. To make it street worthy would run closer to $4k (depending on what plastics I went with).
Based on what I've found, that's a pretty good price. I could find an SV650 setup ready-to-roll for that much, easily. But... this is a 2005 CBR 600RR. [evil] If I don't like it, can't afford it, whatever... it looks like I could sell it pretty easily for around $4500. Add halfway decent paint and a handful of goodies, it's worth an easy $5k. In street trim, a cleaned-up '05 600RR with a salvage title is worth $5k-$5500.
The other thing a friend pointed out... a lot of salvage title trackbikes you don't know the history on. I know this CBR's history since new, I know how it was ridden, how it was damaged, etc.
Plus,. as someone said, I'll be doing my own labor.
It's an opportunity. It's not a steal of a deal, but it's not in the red ink either, so I'm taking this opportunity. I'll be taking my time, shopping for deals. My focus now will be cutting the cost of that mechanical repair list as much as possible. I'll be out at the track in September, and while I'm there I'll be asking around about leftover CBR takeoffs. Then I'll watch eBay over winter and look for deals. If I can cut the mechanical repair cost by a couple hundy, that'd be great (and I think it's possible, because a lot of the parts we looked up Dad wanted the OEM new prices on because of the possibility of riding it on the street... for my purposes on the track, I want stuff that works, it doesn't need to be pretty).
Sounds like a good price to me best of luck with it!!
Wow... some parts hunting today resulted in a couple hundred in cost savings! [thumbsup]
That spendy radiator? I found the same OEM new one at another supplier for over a hundred less. At that same place (www.mrcycles.com) I found lower prices on several other ancillaries I'll need. My total cost estimate for a track bike has gone from $3780 to $3560. That still includes the bike buyback and complete Armour Bodies bodywork set.
Now, if I can find bodywork that's less expensive than Sharkskinz or Armour Bodies, but that's better than the crappy $250 sets on eBay, I'll be able to cut that cost even more. :)
Of course, I'm still on the lookout for used parts for pretty much everything except the radiator. If I can save money, I will. The objective is to see how inexpensively I can build a decent CBR 600RR track toy (better than a fleabay blue-light-special, but only splurging in areas where it's worth it).
Does anyone else have any more numbers for their buy back values? I am duking it out with Dairyland right now. My 2007 695 buy back was $1113. My 2008 695, they are wanting $3200. They said 35% of the value at the date of the total is customary. After reading this thread, the percentage has ranged between 22% up to 41%. I need more data points so I can feel better about the decision. I already have the bike up and running and hate the idea of stripping parts back off if they are going to stay on their high number.
Good luck with Dairyland. That's who I had when I had my accident and they were a pregnant dog to deal with. They were unwilling to budge on the buy back because "That's what the salvage yard will pay us for your bike"...
Yup, I just finished with them and they said they had an offer for $5500 from a salvage yard on my retail $7995 695. I asked if there was any way for me to verify that. They generously offered to let me pay the $3215 they originally quoted me. >:( Somebody's making money here and it ain't us stuck with the salvage title anymore.
Yeah, they suck bad. Tried to tell me they believed the other guys story before they even got mine. make the beast with two backs them, never deal with them again. I'm with Foremost now and paying about 40% less....
I'm calling my agent tomorrow (not the Dairyland guy) and telling her to put me with someone else, as well. I'll ask about Foremost. I talked to Kingbaby today though who has seen a lot of the insurance scenarios because he managed PJ's in Albuquerque for awhile. He said over the last year, the buy back value has been going up dramatically. The salvage yard's must have links to rebuild shops or are parting them out at a huge profit. Thanks for the input, Nakid.
Quote from: bonfy on December 15, 2008, 04:21:06 PM
The salvage yard's must have links to rebuild shops or are parting them out at a huge profit.
there's a lot of money to be made parting a bike out.