Some texting kid ran into me crashed into driver side of car, gauge cluster fairing are garbage, fender gone tank dented bag cover damaged other scratches pipe messed up but was able to be driven away it's banged up. Of course fixable.but it was mint. I inherited it from my dad he got a newer one, but it's age heard the dealer won't mess with it cause of its age and I don't wanna lose it to insurance company. I'm not an insurance guy don't know if they would total it but it has lots of Chrome extras I know it's worth more than a basic blue book

 

Sorry about your accident, and realize that your bike is special to you for sentimental reasons, however blue bike prices consider that most all bikes have extra chrome and options and price accordingly.

If the frame is not damaged, it might be a good project for you to take the insurance company settlement payment and fix the bike back up together with your dad.

 

Frame is good just curious if they give you blue book but I obviously want some settlement and still keep the bike j can fix it cheaper parts hunting

 

Maybe to you, but not to an insurance company..."blue book" on that bike is between $2940 and $6390 so it won't take much for them to total it... especially due to the lack of availability of parts for that model....good luck

 

If you have an accessories rider on your policy and you have receipts, your good for your mods. My strong hunch is theyre gonna total your bike as the repairs will be more than X-percentage of the soft retail value. BUT you can negotiate the repair value. The equation is (cost of the totaled value - salvage value = your check amount). THEN you can and should sue the kid who hit you for the actual difference in costs.. If you got a police report (I sure hope you did), I'd go to Timmys daddy and tell him either pay the diff or Im coming after you for punitives and pain and suffering.. Hopefully your well. This blows.... My kid was recently rearended by a texting kid in her Jeep..

In in the insurance biz so my info should be correct BUT each state has minor caveats. Good luck!

 

KBB.com is all you'll get unless you have the additional insurance that Uncle Kebo mentioned.

 

Insurance companies and dealers use the Galves book whick is drastically lower than KBB.

 

Well my local dealership I'm Milwaukee doesn't for on bike 1995 or later however they recommended me to a reliable bike shop they estimate using NADA has my bike prior crash value at 9600.00 I want to keep the bike and fix it my way. I can petty much do what I want for about 4-5 grand on the high end stretched tank cover, bags covers rear fender with led newer fairing with apes a cam bigger wheel I'll get used parts is the plan. Lawyer said I only need one estimate.

 

To any Insurance appraiser it is a total loss, you have a few options

First you need to document what the bike is worth, it is worth ACTUAL CASH VALUE, not "book" value.

Start looking online for similar bikes in your area, EBAY, CraigsList, want ads, cycletrader.com, etc.

find several examples that is your "comparable vehicle", and the average of a few of those is a reasonable ACV. Then tell the Insurance company you'll take ACV minus 400 bucks for "salvage value" and you get to keep the bike.

Insurance has nothing to do with damage, it is about dollars. When the Actual Cash Value less salvage value is less than the damage, the bike is a total loss.

They will write you a check for ACV, sell the bike at auction, and be out for less than if they had to fix it.

As for chrome making it worth more, that is subjective, a 20 dollar Kury part that replaced a 100 dollar factory part decreases the value of the vehicle, it does not add to it. Highly customized vehicles are a hard sell at auction and are worth less.

One problem with wrecked Harleys besides most appraisers can't properly appraise the damage, is they bring big money at auction. My Indy and I are pretty good friends, he had a customer bike, I want to say a 96 of some sort, the ACV on the bike came in just over 4 grand, and the auctions were getting an average salvage value of 3500 dollars, which meant 1000 dollars in damage would total it.

I proposed that the shop ask the insurance company for 3400 dollars and the Insured keep the bike, doing the repairs as an "agreed figure" repair which is allowed by law where I am a licensed appraiser and the vehicle would not be branded with a total loss title.

The Insurance company agreed, the shop found aftermarket tins and some take off parts and fixed the bike for short money.

If you are not at fault, and you are going through the other persons Insurance, chances are they just want to write you a check and have you go away. Just about every company I write for pays the claimant ACV less salvage and leaves the claimant to dispose of the car. If you are going to claim against the other person, you are a "third party" and you have a bit more leverage as you are not bound by a policy. The Insurance company has to "make you whole", pay for substitute transportation, etc etc etc.

I know the bike has value to you that can not be put into dollars, but remember some things get damaged beyond repair. Before you put yourself in a position where you take a reduced payout to keep the bike, make sure it can be repaired. If you have a tweaked frame or a set of cracked cases you may have to let it go or be prepared to spend a lot of money on it.

Good Luck

( full disclosure: I am a Licensed insurance appraiser in 3 states, I work for most of the major players in the Northeast on a contract basis. I do Motorcycles on a regular basis both Foreign and Domestic)

 

Let your lawyer handle it. You may give up 40 percent but his specialty is max dollars for you and him. Maybe teach the tested a lesson in person responsabilty.