Oh No! My k4 has been written off!

[njemmett]

:( Unfortunately I was knocked off my SV650S by a car last month and the insurance are writing it off as there is about £4000 worth of repairs needed (although I do not think it looks that bad).

The main problem is that the forks which took the main impact with the side of the car are bent back so I am looking to see if it is worth me replacing the whole front end of the bike.

Does anyone have experience with doing this and what are the costs involved? (roughly). Am still trying to decide if it is worth trying to get it back on the road myself or scrap it and go for a new bike?......

[sprocket]

If they let you buy it back how much will they charge? And you could then put a GSXR front end on :D

Sorry to here about the accident though .. :(

[njemmett]

Due to the fact I only have TPFT cover they have subtracted a cost from the bike which they think i will get for salvage which they have estimated at 695.00 so they are offering me a check initially for 2745 (which I think is pretty poor) and I have the bike back in my possesion already.

It's sitting in the garage and I am deciding whether it's worth fixing up? Any idea what the GSXR front ends cost?

[Smiffy]

Always refuse the insurance company's first offer. You aren't going to get any less for arguing. Argue the toss in writing, about how well looked after the bike was, low miles, anything you can think of to try and get them to conceed that it was worth more than they say.

[tomjones2]

i have just had the quote to put my bike back to stock, the forks are £315 (ex vat) a side and the exhaust was an incredible £636 without vat or fitting

i think it a shame that perfectly fixable bike are writtern off due to the riddculous price of suzuki spare parts i mean how much do u reckon that exhaust is really worth maybe £150 delivered to the shops

good luck

[njemmett]

315 a side? so 630 for the lot? suppose that is OK. excuse my naivity (i am no mechanic!) but if the forks are bent back could that mean other parts need replacing that connect to the forks (apart from the wheel)?

(God bless crap drivers!)

[GDBD59]

nj you need advice from some of the guys who really know their stuff on here.
Was reading "Classic Bike" today & a frame expert said that most front-end prangs also damage the frame further back.........but that may be more relevant for older tube-frames.... :?:

Good luck.

[tigersaw]

Due to the fact I only have TPFT cover they have subtracted a cost from the bike which they think i will get for salvage which they have estimated at 695.00 so they are offering me a check initially for 2745 (which I think is pretty poor) and I have the bike back in my possesion already.



I'm assuming the car drivers insurance is accepting liability and making the offer? So in which case I don't understand what difference your class of insurance makes to their calculations.
Also, can you let them have the bike and claim the total £3440 ? This would mean you are only £600 or so of a new K5 - new warrentee, etc etc.

[wheelnut]

Do a search on this forum for category c and d write offs. do another search for bent frames.

And get a claim in for some new clothing, helmet, boots etc :P

You will be able to get a new bike out of this

[daddy_sperm]

i bent my forks... Do a search on MCN for fork repairs.

I got mine done by PLR suspensions which cost £440 all in.

That was replacing the bent stantions, resealing / bushing, new racetech emulator valve kit, ohlins springs and set up to suit my weight.


When I phoned Suzuki I was totaly gutted to find that they were looking £210 per stantion alone !!!! That is why the costing is so dear.

I tried a few places in England and most are looking at about £180 for putting new stantions in and replacing seals etc.. because I wanted the shock to race standards it cost the extra.

My bike would more than likely have been written of even though it was minimal damage - forks, plastics can etc etc so I never even told the ins company as I am TPFT and it was on diesel I bit tarmac.


cheers Darryl

almost 2.5k later its just about ready for the road.




Stantions bend on forks to help absorb impact. More so the case on the normal forks which the SV has.

[didge]

sorry to hear bout you bike :S

[njemmett]

i bent my forks... Do a search on MCN for fork repairs.

I got mine done by PLR suspensions which cost £440 all in.

That was replacing the bent stantions, resealing / bushing, new racetech emulator valve kit, ohlins springs and set up to suit my weight.


When I phoned Suzuki I was totaly gutted to find that they were looking £210 per stantion alone !!!! That is why the costing is so dear.

I tried a few places in England and most are looking at about £180 for putting new stantions in and replacing seals etc.. because I wanted the shock to race standards it cost the extra.

My bike would more than likely have been written of even though it was minimal damage - forks, plastics can etc etc so I never even told the ins company as I am TPFT and it was on diesel I bit tarmac.


cheers Darryl

almost 2.5k later its just about ready for the road.




Stantions bend on forks to help absorb impact. More so the case on the normal forks which the SV has.


---------------------------------------------------------

Hmmm.... this sounds a bit more hopefull! Where did you obtain all the parts from? If you could advise I would be most appreciative!

I do need to be carefull that I do cover all parts though as the last thing I want to be doing is putting an unroadworthy machine back on the road.....

Thanks for the pointer though

[daddy_sperm]

I used JHS,my local Suzuki dealer and ebay for my parts.

JHS strip 650's for racing so all the road parts are available, I got a "brand new" head light for £140 inc loom etc and delivery to Northern Ireland where Suzuki was looking £218 for the headlight alone.

Have a look on Ebay.co.uk and Ebay.com I got a lot of parts of the US. For example new seat and rhs wing mirror for £80 delivered once the exchange rate taken into account!!!

It takes patience with ebay though, i searched it everyday until i got all the parts I needed. Also some of the K4 & K5 gixer parts are same I have a gixer 1000 K4 front master cylinder now.

I got my bike checked, but there was no frame damage which gave me the green light to get her fixed.

Any dents, rub marks scratches etc on the frame or swing arm will write a bike of for road use.

Check for any white marks along aluminium welds or cracks as this means the end I am afraid. The white marks appear along welds if it has been weakened in any way.
Also check the head stock for roundness best way is to jack the engine up lifting the front wheel of the deck and shaking the forks back and forth any give and again its bad news :(
As the head use taper lock bearings it takes a very severe shunt to do this but it is worth checking all the same.

If the forks are bent I'd nearly be certain the front wheel spindle will also be bent. check that. about £30 of Suzuki.

Front disks could also have had a dink and could now be useless aswell aswell as front wheel. Both need checked.

Front yokes need close inspection also. Any cracks or white marks mean weakness = replace

cheers Darryl

[njemmett]

Nice One Thanks! I will keep this info handy.... will also speak to my bike shop who went through the right off with the insurers and see if i can get a list of what needs doing then i suppose it's shopping around time!

Cheers for everyones advice.

[Biker Biggles]

Re-read Wheelnut's post,get as much as you can out of them, and get a new bike out of it.My bet is your bike will never be the same again after an impact that bends the forks back, and as an ex write off it will always be worth a lot less too.

[daddy_sperm]

Re-read Wheelnut's post,get as much as you can out of them, and get a new bike out of it.My bet is your bike will never be the same again after an impact that bends the forks back, and as an ex write off it will always be worth a lot less too.



If repaired properly it can/will be the same!!

Provided care and diligence is taken whilst at it.

I guarantee you would be hard pressed to fault my bike and its been down the road. Its also repaired to a lot higher spec than the original.

[wheelnut]

I would still claim everything i could, If it was me I would have a new bike, buy the old one and repair iit with some breaker parts, then you could all come and watch me at the back in the minitwins series :P

Get a blue one with new matching leathers & helmet from the dingbat who knocked you off :D

[Mike1234]

As has already been said the fork stanchions are now useless, depending on how far they have been bent the internal spacers, etc. could be trashed.

There's also the possibility, although rare, that the fork lowers could be slightly bent also.

The yokes will be bent and I'd give good money that at least one of your disks will be also. The spindle will also be bent.

Do check under the front fo the engine. I bought a crash damaged bike where the calliper bolt (that connects the brake hose to the calliper) had punched a nice little hole in the front of the engine.

You are probably better off selling it me as it :D

[Stig]

Any dents, rub marks scratches etc on the frame or swing arm will write a bike of for road use.
cheers Darryl

That being wrote off in the financial meaning of the term "written off". The insurance will see a scratched frame or swingarm as a need for replacement or repair. To have the motorcycle completely stripped down in order to get the frame and swingarm repaired or replaced it would cost serious money in labour charges alone. This is what tends to get bikes written off that could be easily put back on the road.

If your frame or swingarm is scuffed or scratched it does not necessarily mean that it is not fit for use on the road.

[hutchy]

Sorry to hear about your accident.

If your thinking of buying the bike and repairing it get a price for having the frame jigged (checked out) - just letting a bike fall over stationary can twist the frame so a front end shunt will almost certainly have done something.