Is this a write off?
 

Guys - need some help here. See pics. Just went to get the blue flame can and scott oiler from my cbr from the salvage yard.

Insurance are saying this is a Cat b write off. IMO it's absolute feckin boll.ocks.

The damage is front noe cone, lhs faring, clutch cover. Some wee bits like the gear lever and bent clutch lever.

It looks like a burst couch but the bodywork seems to be the only thing wrong.

Cat B means spares only. Cat C means more to repair than the pre sale value. Bought the bike at £4600. From rining around there's no way there's more than 4.6 k woth of damage there.

The insurance company (Zenith) are not even offering me salvage.

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/6...age018avd1.jpg
Shot at 2007-07-18

http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/4...age019afo8.jpg
Shot at 2007-07-18

http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/1091/image020cn7.jpg
Shot at 2007-07-18

Re: Is this a write off?
 

Did you get a report?I'd guess there is some frame damage which is not obvious.

Re: Is this a write off?
 

that looks pretty bad!

u would need to check forks and around headstock too m8......u never know, doesnt look like a big shunt tho (front mudguard still in place!)

does look all cosmetic tho
is tank dented?
what did it hit?....if dont mind me askin!!

Re: Is this a write off?
 

It looks bad because I unscrewed the farings and nose cone to look at the frame, head shocks etc. Can't see any sign of structural damage anywhere. The clocks and switchgear all work.

The lhs mushroom slider snapped off causing the scrapes on the fairing.

It was a lowside. A car in front had no brake lights, he hit the verge then he hit the anchors. I braked hard but as I was coming to a stop the front wheel hit the gravel the car knocked onto the road and the front end went. The bike never hit the car. Just a slide along the road

As for a report - there is no report. The insurance company said their engineer only looked at it.

There were a couple of mechanics at the yard today who looked at it with me and they were completely puzzled why it was cat b. They agreed it would not even be cat c if it were body work alone.

I can't understand why an insurance company would do this.

Re: Is this a write off?
 

looks cosmetic to me get another check done no obvious structural damage

Re: Is this a write off?
 

my sv was a cat c and your cbr looks worse, the assessors only give it a glancing eye tho, i dont think they look at them properly and usually over estimate things.

Re: Is this a write off?
 

I think the insurance assessor would be guaranteeing there is no frame damage if he graded it any less. IMO this would take a jig to be absolutely sure. So while it may be a p*ss poor job done by a professional assessor, it looks like the easy way out for him.
Real shame it's not C => you get salvage to put back on the road for peanuts.

Re: Is this a write off?
 

thats what i did for £800.

Re: Is this a write off?
 

Anyone know if this can be reclassified?

I agree stu. P*ss poor job by the assessor. I know for a fact he has not checked the bike over. Everything you see there is a result of me unbolting everything to look at the headstock the frame etc. On the lhs the bolt that houses the mushroom is still in place beneath the fairing so it did it's job ok. The rhs mushroom hasn't been touched.

My guess is he saw the plastic part of the mushroom missing and said "feck it"

Really infuriated me all this nonsense

Re: Is this a write off?
 

Yeh get an independent assesor to take a look if you are convinced they are wrong....will prob cost quite a lot though...my insurance sorted mine out.

Re: Is this a write off?
 

my assessor walked around my bike for about 2 minuets with a clip board just saying " yep £300 x2 yep wheel £300 exhaust £300 bars £100 disks £150 x 2 fairing £300 lights £150 " and so on i think you get the picture, he got my light frontal damage to £5200 inc labour!!!!!!! truth is i dont think he really knew the real price of any of the parts.

Re: Is this a write off?
 

My TT was classed as a CAT C even though the assessor knew that the sidestand mount had been broken off the frame. So frame damage itself does not always make it a CAT B unless it a handling issue possably.

Re: Is this a write off?
 

It's a fine balancing line. A little light damage means a bike can be written off (you buy it back & make a huge profit) A little more damage then it gets written off Cat B (no chance to buy it back - then there's only a downside & no chance of profit).

Re: Is this a write off?
 

it looks to me like the forks have bent in the first pic. it may just be the lowers hanging off but they are way to close to the wheel. My sv got cat C'd 6months ago and that looked a hell of a lot better than you cbr does. How old is your bike and realisticaly what do you think its worth cause it maybe its not even worth anything as salvage.

You say you lost a crash bung, was that mounted to the engine support bolt as it goes through the frame cause if that snapped then you could have done some serious damage to the frame. You can always get it done by an independant assessor but if you dont get a significantly different result from what the insurance guy says then your stuck with the bill.

I hope for your sake its not a cat b but i wouldnt hold much hope. at the end of the day the only way to change an insurance companies mind is in court and they have there own team and they aint gonna give you your legal protection (assuming you got it) inorder to fight them, they may as well shoot themselves in the foot

Re: Is this a write off?
 

As above.

Any frame damage - even a scratch - will almost certainly cause it to be a write off.

Cat B very puzzling though

Re: Is this a write off?
 

I would have thought Cat B would be reserved for those where it could not safely by repaired at any cost? Don't know what would be the point of a Cat A then though...as I think the only extra requirement there is that the shell (frame on a bike?) is crushed...

Re: Is this a write off?
 

Guys thanks for the input. I think maybe a couple of you have not read my initial description. It was me that dismantled the fairings apart to get a look at the frame etc to take photographs. Hence why it looks so bad from the photos. Prior to this is just looked like scratched fairings and a broken light at the front.

Anyways....just had a word with the insurers who *now* tell me it's a category D write off. i.e. cosmetic. They don't know their **** from their elbow.

Cat D is when they reckon it will be more than 60% of the pre sale value. So... the bike was bought at £4600. That would mean repairs of £2760+ would class it as cat D

My mate is manager at Weir honda Perth. Reckons there's £1500 of damage

A word for anyone dealing with Zenith insurance - They were recently bought over and from what I was told at the salvage yard loads of people have been complaining about them. From my dealings they have been a complete shower of *******s.

Re: Is this a write off?
 

£150 ebay :-dd :D

Re: Is this a write off?
 

This is probably because the plastics are unbolted and slid forward to check the frame...

Re: Is this a write off?
 

this is what i'm thinking:)