write off - buy back or buy new?

well i had a lil off the other day and the kind mr insurance peoples have pretty much decided that its gonna be written of due to frame damage. its only a lil groove where the brake leaver hit the frame, they have checked it and its still true.

other damage is pretty much cosmetic and i can buy all the bits at trade prices to get her back on the road

its an 05 S and im gonna get ?2800 or so for it

but the big question is do i buy her back and repair, or use this as a chance to go for a 1000cc bike?

anyone with any experience know how much they might offer to sell her back to me for? ive still got a garage full of stuff that i want to fit to her such as new top yoke and fork springs, the only expensive thing to replace would be the end can but i have the original for the mean time. the more i think about it i think that buying it back is the best thing but i just feel it might be tainted by this silly little accident. poor Tank (tank is the name of my bike )

well any experiences or advice welcome!

Paul

Well my dad bought a TL1000 (the proper on, not the toned down S) from an insurance write off for bugger all. The frame had a scratch on it...... Not much other damage (exhausts, few panels).

The scratch came out with some polish.
He went ahead and bought some carbon end cans.
Replaced the panels.

In total, cost him about ?1500. Had it for a year or two, got good use, loved the insane raw power. Engine blew a hole through the cans, got some more, sold the bike on, made about ?2k profit (was a new bike at the time).

So if you can buy it back for bugger all, i'd say go for it.

In all seriousness, ask if they will allow you to repair the bike yourself. Explain to the engineer that you can have frame paint touched in, then work out how much to repair with good quality used parts and some new where needed. I did this with my K5S and the insurance company were happy to write me a fat cheque and let me keep the bike, and also not write it off.

If you need more advice pm me because I've only just gone through this myself and ended up ?700 in pocket and still have my bike looking better than before the accident.

YEah actually he had that on an old GSXR600 (one of the Corona paintjobs when it was a limited edition).

Can't remember the issue, knocked off I think.

But basically, was written off, sat in the workshop for about a year awaiting the insurance company to pick it up, but they never did, so he fixed it (got full payout), rode it again all legally, sold it on a year or so later.

In fact, thinking about stuff like this, its suprising how much you forget what your parents do

My buy back on my 99 sv was about 250 quid i think after i wrote it off. I bought it back and made easily made that back and more by breaking it and selling the parts on here in the for sale section. In the end i manged to get almost an extra grand together from selling the parts (most of that from the engine). Personally if you have the space to do it then i would look into breaking it and selling the parts on.

I wouldnt bother with a buy back with the intention of repairing it as if it is written off then you need to reregister it with the dvla and im sure thats a stupidly long and suitably irritating process that i could never be bothered with.

Im not sure but even if you could repair it you may (big may) need to change the frame even if you can polish the damage out as the frame number might be registered as being damaged. I am not sure this is true but its a thought.

Originally Posted by fat_brstd

I wouldnt bother with a buy back with the intention of repairing it as if it is written off then you need to reregister it with the dvla and im sure thats a stupidly long and suitably irritating process that i could never be bothered with.

You're wrong, very wrong. You just MOT it and away you go. No need for any inspections on a bike, it only applies to cars. This only applies to Cat C and Cat D repaired bikes, you can't put a Cat B back on the road because the frame numbers are defaced by the insurance company's engineer, and a Cat A bike is dismantled and the headstock cut off the frame.

Originally Posted by fat_brstd

Im not sure but even if you could repair it you may (big may) need to change the frame even if you can polish the damage out as the frame number might be registered as being damaged. I am not sure this is true but its a thought.

Nope, not for a Cat C or Cat D, which is all this would be as there's only cosmetic and not structural damage. The K5 has a black frame, so you'd just touch it in with Halfords satin black paint because it's a perfect match.

It would help if you knew the facts before posting as some posters could easily be confused and lose out on a lot of money or a good cheap bike.

i did the same with my 1000 it now owes me nothing and i am biking for free.

Originally Posted by kwak zzr

i did the same with my 1000 it now owes me nothing and i am biking for free.

Apart from higher insurance premiums for the next few years.

Mine will rise by 20%, which is not a worry as it's only 235 quid for 5 bikes fully comp.

Originally Posted by ASM-Forever

Apart from higher insurance premiums for the next few years.

see my other post about bike team insurance.