Thoughts on a bike with a salvage title

[gamadmex4502]

If you can get it for next to nothing AND you never hope to recoup any further investment knock yourself out. I'd never buy a salvage bike. They are cheap enough I don't need one with unknown repairs.
Now having said that.... my brother slid out on his Goldwing in a very slow (sub 5mph) turn in some gravel. The problem was he scratched about every piece of plastic on that side. Inexcplicably the insurance company TOTALED the bike. They wrote him a check for replacement. Then, they sold him the now 'totaled', but completely rideable as all damage was cosmetic, bike for next to nothing. He bought a new bike, fixed the old one, sold it with salvage title (and documented repairs) and pocketed SEVERAL thousand dollars. He ran the scenario over and over with them as it made no sense to him (and to be honest he was annoyed that they would waste money that way) but they insisted. Sorry for tanent but 'salvage' may not always mean what you think it means. Sounds like you have a different history.
Any crash hard enough to do frame damage would make me worried. Good luck.

That just seems crazy, but I'm sure it had to make monetary sense somehow.

 

[roundhouse]

Don't get confused between having a salvage title. Which means it can't get a liscense plate

And a salvage title History.

Which mans its been wrecked , repaired, inspected by the state and now has a normal title

Once it's repaired and inspected the star issues a normal title Carfax will show it being wrecked. But the title will not

About ten years ago we were at an auction where we bought a nice stolen recovered 96 Bronco fr $2000
Just missing the radio No damage at all

We watched a 6 month old BMW bike that cost $18K sell for $1700. And it had fallen over in a parking lot
Damaged all the plastic junk that all the bikes have plastered on em now , and bent the handlebars

Unless you want to part this bike out and / or are getting it for less than $100 I'd pass

There are tons of lightly damaged bikes with salvage titles for sale at auctions and at dealers that buy em at dealer only auctions and flip em to the public

Ridesafely.com or something like that I think used to be the largest site

 

[dcline9163]

Don't get confused between having a salvage title. Which means it can't get a liscense plate

And a salvage title History.

Which mans its been wrecked , repaired, inspected by the state and now has a normal title

Once it's repaired and inspected the star issues a normal title Carfax will show it being wrecked. But the title will not

About ten years ago we were at an auction where we bought a nice stolen recovered 96 Bronco fr $2000
Just missing the radio No damage at all

We watched a 6 month old BMW bike that cost $18K sell for $1700. And it had fallen over in a parking lot
Damaged all the plastic junk that all the bikes have plastered on em now , and bent the handlebars

Unless you want to part this bike out and / or are getting it for less than $100 I'd pass

There are tons of lightly damaged bikes with salvage titles for sale at auctions and at dealers that buy em at dealer only auctions and flip em to the public

Ridesafely.com or something like that I think used to be the largest site

Once a vehicle has a salvage title it will never be different, when fixed it will say salvage or rebuilt, it's best to find one the has a stolen history and recovered. One that is titled parts only, then you can never get it titled again.

 

[Nob0dy]

I was always told if the frame is bent steer clear due. I was told that the frame is now weak and can't handle high speed and will not perform as well and that you risk it becoming weaker over time and possible breaking. If it was a parts bike and I had another model like it at home I would maybe buy it.

To to me motorcycles are already pretty dangerous why risk it with your body. Also if your looking for a bike maybe you should check out mine.

 

[Reubenrn]

It depends of what kind of bike and price. Considering that motorcycles are viewed as a "toy", it would be difficult to resell later, unless you are willing to part it out.

Whenever I purchase a bike, I think about resale value as well. Properly cared for, with proper maintenance record most bikes retain a good resell value for many years, on average.

 

[Dbodt]

Some people who sell bikes with questionable titles will have pictures of the damage. If it is truly the subframe,which bolts to the main frame and basically holds the seat and rear fender, I would have no issues with the purchase. You of course must be getting it at the fraction of the value and realize it is going to hurt you on resale. I know a bunch of people who have purchased salvage title bikes and apply for rebuilt titles without an issue. The pictures of the prior damage are usefull to show the inspector the scope of the damage that was repaired when having the inspection done. Receipts from the repair would help also.

Just out of curiosity what is the year and make of bike and what can you get it for?
good luck.

 

[Dbodt]

I hope I am not violating any site rules. Here is a link from one of my other sites explaining how easy it really is. This young lady and her husband have rebuilt several bikes for there own use. They have picked up some great deals on salvage bikes. Hope this helps.




http://www.blokessportbike.com/showthread.php?t=35589

 

[roundhouse]

Once a vehicle has a salvage title it will never be different, when fixed it will say salvage or rebuilt, it's best to find one the has a stolen history and recovered. One that is titled parts only, then you can never get it titled again.

Not true.
A salvage title is issued any time an ins co declares a vehicle a total loss and buys it from the owner

The ins co is required by law to use brand new parts from the dealer

That makes it expensive to fix

A new air bag from a dealer runs about $3-4K

An airbag at a salvage yard is about $200

Same with the radiatior. Fender. All the plastic crap that's on cars now

Once the car is repaired and inspected at a GA state run facility and passes you then get a normal title that does not have the word "salvage" on it anywhere

If the vehicle requires extensive repairs the title will have "rebuilt" on it

I've repaired two vehicles with "salvage" titles and had them inspected and issued a normal title
Drive them for years

The last one was a 4 yr old luxury SUV that had been totalled by the ins co
KBB value was $17K Before the accident
$8,500 repair estimate
We paid $5500 for it at Wreck Connect, a place in fingers that bought cars at auctions and resold them
They would even repair em if you wanted

Some light front damage and blown airbags
The radiator was damaged but the car was driveable

We replaced the rad and support, hood, grill , one fender, windshield and both bags for $1600

Had it inspected and we put 250k on it in the following 10 years and sold it for $1800

Lots of vehicles get "totalled" that really don't have much damage

And other times the ins co will spend $8000 to fix a $10,000 car
We had that happen to us
Wife's 2 yr old car that cost $14k new got hit and ins co spent $7k repairing it

A few months later it got hit again and they spent another $8K on it. We pleaded with them to total it but they wouldn't
You just never know what the ins co is gonna do


The good part about having one with a salvage history is you don't have to worry about high miles, dents and dings lowering the value.

They can be a great value if you get it cheap and drive the wheels off

 

[roundhouse]

Some people who sell bikes with questionable titles will have pictures of the damage. If it is truly the subframe,which bolts to the main frame and basically holds the seat and rear fender, I would have no issues with the purchase. You of course must be getting it at the fraction of the value and realize it is going to hurt you on resale. I know a bunch of people who have purchased salvage title bikes and apply for rebuilt titles without an issue. The pictures of the prior damage are usefull to show the inspector the scope of the damage that was repaired when having the inspection done. Receipts from the repair would help also.

Just out of curiosity what is the year and make of bike and what can you get it for?
good luck.

The photos of the damage and receipts for parts used to repair Along with the VIN from the vehicle the repair parts were removed from used to be REQUIRED by the state to pass inspection

 

[Wallace's]

I use to work at an auction that sold salvage bikes to dealers. There is no way in hell I would buy one. Its way way too hard to go through one and tell if it way done properly and the frame it self is properly aligned. Plus you will never sell it for anything even close to what it would be worth with a clean title.

Its worth the extra cash to get a clean title bike that has NOT been laid down.

Just my $.02.