I did the same, bought my wrecked bike back at auction and stripped it to have the frame evaluated. Frame checked out OK so it will be a winter project. So far as storing the parts, they are in several plastic storage bins organized by section. For the engine and trans I secured a piece of plywood to a furniture dolly, mounted an engine stand to it and put the engine on the stand, with enough room left over to put the trans on there as well. The frame is on another dolly so I can move them around the garage as needed. My engine hoist made the whole process of removing and mounting the engine a lot easier.
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I would not consider $3,800 for a new frame. Back when i was racing motorcycles, I took a tumble on a BSA Gold Star competition machine. The frame was clearly bent so I disassembled the entire machine and took the frame to a place in Los Angeles that specialized in frame straightening. They put it on their frame table and corrected it to factory specifications. IIRC, it cost less than $300.
That's the way I'd go. Good luck, sorry about your accident.

 

That little tweak where the engine guard meets the frame did in my 06 RKC when a lady pulled out in front of me. It wasn't the cost of the frame that totaled the bike, it was the cost of switching everything over that sent it over the edge.

I obsessed over the loss of that bike for a while, as I had it EXACTLY like I wanted. Wondered what would ever fill that same spot, in such a perfect way. Then, I found my 05 Softail Springer. It's amazing how that has now become my favorite bike. Hope you get it sorted and get back on two wheels soon. Good luck!

 

Is the only frame damage a bolt hole? I use USAA for salvage bike insurance in NC. Liability only, no collision. Projects were for joy, not money as I probably made $2/hour for my time. As someone mentioned, matching OEM paint jobs can be a showstopper.

 

Now we get new information from you, Oregon DMV. The choice is yours jump into the Money Pit or give it up.

 

I'm only going off the info you provided but if I had a frame that the only damage was a stripped engine guard bolt hole I sure as hell wouldn't replace the entire frame, I'd fix it. Drill it out, tap it, and install a Helicoil, Worst case weld it up, drill it, and tap it. Even if you had to pay someone to repair it, it would be a tiny fraction of the cost of replacing the frame.

 

I was in a H&R accident back in June.
My bike was NOT totaled, but only because I told the adjuster that I would address the paint.
Your bike being black may not have this same issue.
They paid me out for the repair estimate and I immediately started ordering parts and disassembling the bike as best I could w/ similar injuries.

All told, I spent nearly $4k on various parts & upgrades with many hours of my time invested.
I'm finally healed up and I just dropped the tins off for paint yesterday.
Price for paint is another $3500 (it's a bagger w/ 18 pieces to be painted).

This will exceed the amount insurance paid me by about $1200-$1500, but I'll have MY bike back w/ several upgrades & a COMPLETE new paint job.
In retrospect, I probably should have let them total it and taken the $$... I could have bought a newer bike and been riding again by now.

The moral of my story is it depends on what YOU are willing/able put into it.

 

That's my first instinct even with bent frames, couple problems now. Some states have gotten real silly about regulations concerning declared totaled machines and getting them legal again, the other is the insurance issue as been mentioned a few times already. Bike hasn't gone through the insurance company and inspection declaration games I would repair it. It has you really need to do the homework for your state's laws and regulations then do some real world thinking about things before making leap.

 

I hit a deer years ago on my 98 RKC that I had at the time. Insurance said total but I could keep and they paid me the value minus the deductible and did not issue a salvage title. I took the money, took off the tins, had them custom painted, bought a ton of things to make it a custom bike. Rode it for about 2 more years and sold it for more than I had in it.

 

I get that it could lead to potential registration and insurance problems but the he'll end up with nearly identical problems if he replaces the frame. The safe thing to do is let the insurance company buy the totaled bike and use the money to replace it with a different bike but the OP wants to keep it because it's his bike, I can respect that so if that's the plan just fix the minor frame damage and move on.