Had my first low side over Christmas. What to do now?

[Capt.Clydescope]

Link to Crash Pics - FZ6 Carnage - Imgur

Anyways, in my haste to get on vacation and stop myself from worrying I went ahead claimed insurance on it. But this is my first go around with any thing motorcycle related concerning insurance, repair, etc. In hind sight I'm thinking i shouldn't have claimed it so my rates don't sky rocket and i have a relatively high deductible. on the other hand, adding up some of the parts so far makes it look like it might total and i still owe money on the note.

How have you gone about repairing your bike? What is your repair story?

I've thought about going naked to save money but i plan to pass the bike onto my fiancee and she(extremely petite) fits perfectly behind the fairings and i want to keep the wind off her as much as possible for winter riding.

 

[FinalImpact]

Lots of detail with all the little bits adding up. In spite of not having any heavy damage, all those little things could add up fast if bought outright (think insurance claim).

If done as a peace meal over time and with a little elbow grease on your part, its easily fixed for less than a 1k if you don't mind a torn up heels on your woman (sidestand)! With the bulk of your damage being: engine cover, fairing and stay, pod and grab rail. The rest is handful of $5 parts on fleebay.

You OK? Do you want a new bike knowing they may only give you $3500 for it?

 

[VEGASRIDER]

That sucks. If you're patient enough, you might be able to find a replacement fairing on the forum less than what your deductible cost is.

Who's your insurance company?

 

[FZSexy]

oh, sorry about that. hope you are ok. the pics seem to show mostly cosmetic damage, although somewhat severe cosmetic damage. some of the stuff i would think could be taken care of with touch up paint and some looking around on ebay and elsewhere. other things like the clutch cover and broke faring could be more involved

as a temp fix for safety sake when riding you can use a zip tie or three to shore up some of the front faring. i have two zip ties holding on each of my front turn signals and imo its a more secure method than the bolts / screws used. if you are going to ride it sometimes for whatever reason i suppose that is one small thing you can do

otherwise i am sure others will be more of help, here. bummer being the holidays and all. hope you get it all worked out, and are ok physically

here's to some better riding luck in the new year


edit: oh, and wanted to mention maybe now is a good time for a conversion to a "naked" FZ6. if it suits you, that is? thinking it could be cost effective in this case?

 

[Capt.Clydescope]

Lots of detail with all the little bits adding up. In spite of not having any heavy damage, all those little things could add up fast if bought outright (think insurance claim).

If done as a peace meal over time and with a little elbow grease on your part, its easily fixed for less than a 1k if you don't mind a torn up heels on your woman (sidestand)! With the bulk of your damage being: engine cover, fairing and stay, pod and grab rail. The rest is handful of $5 parts on fleebay.

You OK? Do you want a new bike knowing they may only give you $3500 for it?

Yeah im fine other than a few bruised bones and my pride spitting some teeth. thanks for asking.

i bought it used and the note is almost paid off, so im thinking i might go ahead and let them total it out so i dont have any more payments, but i am not sure how much my rates will rise. luckily i am already that golden age of 25 so my insurance is a bit nicer now-a-days....but i am not really worried about a salvaged titled bike as it seems like it will stay in the family till she has too many miles to care about keeping the value.

I am still waiting on the insurance guy to come give an estimate, which will ultimately decide what i do. i just wanted to get as much info as i could before making any rash decisions.

 

[Capt.Clydescope]

oh, sorry about that. hope you are ok. the pics seem to show mostly cosmetic damage, although somewhat severe cosmetic damage. some of the stuff i would think could be taken care of with touch up paint and some looking around on ebay and elsewhere. other things like the clutch cover and broke faring could be more involved

as a temp fix for safety sake when riding you can use a zip tie or three to shore up some of the front faring. i have two zip ties holding on each of my front turn signals and imo its a more secure method than the bolts / screws used. if you are going to ride it sometimes for whatever reason i suppose that is one small thing you can do

otherwise i am sure others will be more of help, here. bummer being the holidays and all. hope you get it all worked out, and are ok physically

here's to some better riding luck in the new year


edit: oh, and wanted to mention maybe now is a good time for a conversion to a "naked" FZ6. if it suits you, that is? thinking it could be cost effective in this case?

thanks, any input is extremely helpful at this point!

 

[fazil]

Sorry for the accident. I remember that oil filter, long ago

 

[MattR302]

Doesnt look too too bad. Do you want to get it back to 100%, or do you want a solid running bike with some "character"? If you want it 100%, going through insurance will probably end up costing them a ton to replace all the little bits with some rash.

Personally, I would leave the rash on the bar end, kickstand, passenger peg, fork leg, etc as-is - maybe sand them smooth and dab a little touchup paint. It looks like the main part of the front fairing is undamaged - you can get a new left side headlight "mole". At first I thought that was rash on your fork tube, but its just the plastic piece, sand that smooth again, same with the mirror and turn signal. If your forks are straight and undamaged, you really only need the stator cover, new peg, headlight mole, and whatever misc fairing parts to get it straight again. If you really wanted to, you could fill/sand/repaint the rashed fairing areas, but unless you're good at that stuff yourself, it'll end up costing you a several hundred bucks.

 

[Capt.Clydescope]

Doesnt look too too bad. Do you want to get it back to 100%, or do you want a solid running bike with some "character"? If you want it 100%, going through insurance will probably end up costing them a ton to replace all the little bits with some rash.

Personally, I would leave the rash on the bar end, kickstand, passenger peg, fork leg, etc as-is - maybe sand them smooth and dab a little touchup paint. It looks like the main part of the front fairing is undamaged - you can get a new left side headlight "mole". At first I thought that was rash on your fork tube, but its just the plastic piece, sand that smooth again, same with the mirror and turn signal. If your forks are straight and undamaged, you really only need the stator cover, new peg, headlight mole, and whatever misc fairing parts to get it straight again. If you really wanted to, you could fill/sand/repaint the rashed fairing areas, but unless you're good at that stuff yourself, it'll end up costing you a several hundred bucks.

I am on the fence still about getting it 100% or leaving some character on it. Its my first "nice-n-newish" bike so to me its a diamond. but i am ballin' on a budget so i will work with what i have. I think your patch it up best i can approach might be my only hope.

I dont think the forks are damaged or anything, the clutch lever wasnt even bent, just ground a bit. Whats the best way to tell if they are out of alignment?

 

[Capt.Clydescope]

Sorry for the accident. I remember that oil filter, long ago

it makes me happy to have happy on my bike. plus when people finally spy it - they giggle

 

[nuud]

I would leave the front fairing crooked. If its ride able as is,then leave it as is. the resale on these bikes is not great anyways. and honestly the ****ed head is really adorable.

 

[Capt.Clydescope]

looked like she took one in the eye

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

When I bought my bike, it had similar damage plus a fuel tank, less the side cover (and your possible generator damage).

My damage was NOT to the extent of yours (not nearly as bent), but all the same parts.

Parts alone (thru my local private shop, all new) we're about $1,400. If you buy on-line, should be a bit sheaper and as noted above, under $1,000 (fuel tank alone was about $600). I guarantee the headlight assembly is damaged. The plastic tabs that hold it break if you sneeze hard...

I did all the labor myself, maybe a day taking my time, including the tank, R&R the fuel pump, etc.

Should someone else do the labor, count on doubling the $ amount..


If your halfways mechanically inclined and have some decent tools, you can do the repairs.

I got a good deal on mine purchased from a friend, his sons first bike (2007, 4,500 miles, $2,000) but bought another $1,400 in parts.

With that said, most of the visable parts (tank, fairing, headlights, fairing stay, inside fairing) are brand new and looks it...

Before and after pic's;

 

[Nelly]

I'm glad your okay. Personally I would try and fix it. Like you say it depends on the insurance.

 

[Capt.Clydescope]

Finally totaled all the parts up and it is jsut around 2K to fix everything, but the great news is THE BIKE DIDNT TOTAL!! WOOT! so i have a check cut for the parts and am going to fix it meselfs

thanks for all the input!

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Please post some "after" pic's!:thumbup:

 

[Tailgate]

Uggh! Yeah, I would get one of those $50 color match sprays. Definitely a new faring stay is in order----that will probably make the biggest difference.