Manadatory insurance = government sanctioned extortion. I hate paying those bastards!

 

Holy crap , Honda dealer says $3500 to fix everything, keep in mind they will replace every little thing. The local bodyshop will repaint the whole bike for $800, I will still have to buy a new screen and handlebars. Not sure if I should submit both estimates or both and one of my own using used parts. ?? george

 

In my experience (wrecked Sept. '09) the insurance will only take the quote from a dealership. I'm assuming this is motorcycle specific as most body shops wouldn't be able to get factory prices on replacement fairings. The service manager at the shop I went to walked through the process with me and told me what items we would want to leave off to avoid having it totalled (mostly cosmetic stuff, things slightly scuffed). I would suggest asking the dealership if that's an option for you before it's submitted.

 

Why not just buy a second VTR, trade everything over, and let them total it?

 

Insurance companies will accept quotes from places other than a dealership. I know this because I work at a small independent bike shop and I have done many estimates and fixed a few bikes under insurance. I've always worked with customers and the insurance reps on keeping the bikes on the road.

Good luck
Ryan B.

 

+1

Not sure if it's applicable in the US but here in the UK, on top of the garage estimate quote, insurance companies also send an appointed engineer to check the bike in person. They can be amenable to keeping the damage estimate below the write-off threshold.

 

Pretty much the same in the states. The dealership submits the estimate to the insurance and they in turn send a claims adjustor to check the validity of the claim. I assume the adjustors don't have much experience with bikes, in most cases, and will agree with whatever the dealership says.

 

I am getting $1600 more than enough to fix my bike and Andrew gets his helmet replaced. No totaling of the bike, no salvage title. g