Rear ended this evening

[Chicken_Satay]

It's official - people cannot drive safely at night when it's raining. This is the second time in such conditions that I've been knocked off two wheels of some description.

I was rear ended by a car while waiting to join a roundabout this evening. Luckily there were no cars coming when I was punted forward and landed in the road and I didn't sustain any injuries.

The bike, however, has a a lot of damage to the right hand side, mainly to every single one of the fairings from front to rear as well as a badly scuffed engine case. My insurance company has been notified. Since this is the first time I've been involved in a motor vehicle accident I'd like some advice on the following:

Once the engineer has been to inspect the bike, I want to get it back in order ASAP. What is the process here? E.g. engineer visits, assesses the damage, then I can go and get it fixed myself and then the insurance company pays out based on the assessment of damage from the engineer?

I thought it'd be worth asking in here for specific bike related experiences.

Also, does anybody have recommendations for where I can buy official Honda fairings online?

[Esceptico]

Sorry to hear that. That is one of the major downsides of riding in that once the bike goes down a lot of damage can be caused, even if the accident wasn’t that severe.

Presumably the other party’s insurance will be paying for the repairs?

I don’t have any recent experience of two wheeled accidents but in the 5 years in the UK (between Switzerland and NZD) I had three no fault accidents so can empathise about fkwits on U.K. roads.

The insurance company sorted out the repairs. I didn’t get a say where and who did it. Many use their own specialists. I got a hire car and just waited to get mine back. You might find it the same for bikes.

Are you sure the bike won’t be a write off? OEM parts cost a fortune so doesn’t take much for it to be a write off.

[poo at Paul's]

Glad you're ok, first off.
Regarding the claim, whoever is delaing with it, your insurance or the other parties, they will want to steer thing to be as cheap as possible for them! Ive not had a claim in quite a while, but about 10 years ago i did and the other part wanted to get it into their bodyshop / storage and do it their way. I wasnt entirely comfortable with that, and someone gave some good advice, remember it is your car / bike, not theirs.
And that is the point, until either fixed, written of and you have been paid out, it IS your bike, not theirs. So steer them the way you want to go.
Not sure what bike you have, but ther can be so many costs you cannot yet see. It may be worth getting it into your dealer and have it inspected there, just make sure any storage costs you may incur are cleared with the insurance co first.

Any engineer can assess at your home if needed, so if unsure, have it done there.

Hope you get it sorted.

[hiccy18]

I've not been in the situation with a bike but with the car my insurance company has taken it away to a repairer agreed with me and the inspection has been carried out there.

With damage to the engine case is this not likely to be a write-off?

[Chicken_Satay]

Esceptico said:

Are you sure the bike won’t be a write off? OEM parts cost a fortune so doesn’t take much for it to be a write off.

This is what I'm not sure about. The bike's worth around £7k if you were to buy one of a similar spec. Therefore, if you were to replace all of the fairings on the right hand side, right hand engine case, potentially a titanium Akrapovic exhaust, other smaller parts, plus labour, I'm not sure where we could end up!

[Krikkit]

Sounds like it'll be a write-off then.

As noted above, if you can keep it on your property and have someone out to assess it. Once it goes to their yard for assessment it can be a pain to get it back.

One thing I wouldn't do it touch any of it until you've agreed a settlement etc, if you start fixing it before they've finished it could be a nightmare.

[airsafari87]

Glad to hear you're ok.

When I was knocked off my bike 3 years ago, the bike was unrideable and had to be taken away from the scene on a truck.

The police remained with the bike until the truck turned up and I was picked up in the car by my Mrs.

The bike was taken straight to the BMW repair workshop without me needing to request that it be taken there. Iiir the damages totalled something like 6k, but this was on a bike that was only 10 weeks old and worth over 10k

Everything went really smoothly and I had the bike back about a month or so later. Not sure if the process was sped up due to the other driver admitting liability at the point of the accident to myself, the police that attended and the company he worked for?

Fingers crossed you get sorted quickly and painlessly.

[moanthebairns]

And a track bike is born. It'll be a write off.

When I was knocked off the other parties insurance came out, I had a part list printed off with a cost of what was needing replaced to get it back to A1 condition.

I was given funds for a replacement in the end and told to keep the bike.

Don't forget your gear, if that's damaged it'll need replacing.

[Starfighter]

I fully admit to not knowing bikes but on cars it is often the case that aftermarket mods are not covered so be careful about the zorst.

[joema]

In my experience just deal with your own insurance company. The third party may try to get in contact and try to sort it as they'll want to keep costs down. that may not be in your best interests

[Chicken_Satay]

Starfighter said:

I fully admit to not knowing bikes but on cars it is often the case that aftermarket mods are not covered so be careful about the zorst.

That's a factory fitted option so wouldn't be classed as aftermarket, thankfully.

[Pazuzu]

Won't matter as the TP is at fault. If it was your own fault and insurance then possibly aftermarket not covered depending if covered/agreed but because you were hit by someone else then they have to cover you for what you have.

[Starfighter]

Good.
I just recall a problem my uncle had when he dropped his R100 rather than hit a cyclist. The insurance company picked up on an aftermarket (pattern) can and refused to pay for it. They would supply the more expensive BMW can.

[darkyoung1000]

When my SV1000 was written off (albeit in a single vehicle accident) there was damage to the bars, switchgear, petrol tank, exhaust can and bikini screen.

It sounds like yours may be written off, but it remains your bike until you have accepted a payout. The insurance company has to quote for works based upon professional rates and new parts. If you’re happy to do the work yourself with second hand parts, you can end up with a serviceable bike and the money in lieu of it being fixed and save quite a lot. The payout is, the bike will always be worth less in the future.

I still have the SV and have put 20,000 miles on it since the incident 7 (?) years ago....

David Silver spares do second hand Honda panels, but you may be better off with eBay (internationally too, my fuel tank came from Germany).

Good luck with getting it sorted and glad you’re OK.

[JulianHJ]

Starfighter said:

I fully admit to not knowing bikes but on cars it is often the case that aftermarket mods are not covered so be careful about the zorst.

That might be applicable in a fault claim where the policy states aftermarket parts will be replaced with OEM, or the insured fails to declare a mod, however neither are applicable here as it’s a non-fault claim. The OP is entitled to be put back in the position he was before the collision, regardless of whether various parts were factory fitted, dealer fitted or aftermarket.

[J B L]

I had a non fault accident 4 years ago and the bike, a £2,000 1999 Triumph Sprint ST, was written off as cat C by the insurance. They were offering me £1500 cash or £1100 with buy back. I decided to take it back, fixed the hole in the LHS engine casing (new one from Fowlers was £60) and sold it as was on ebay. Sold it for £950 to a bloke who was going to modify it as a 955 Speed Triple on the cheap.

[Krikkit]

That's a good result JBL, £400 profit plus a bit of faffage. I'd always keep the salvage these days, as I've got time to strip a bike for parts if it didn't sell for good money.

JulianHJ said:

Starfighter said:

I fully admit to not knowing bikes but on cars it is often the case that aftermarket mods are not covered so be careful about the zorst.

That might be applicable in a fault claim where the policy states aftermarket parts will be replaced with OEM, or the insured fails to declare a mod, however neither are applicable here as it’s a non-fault claim. The OP is entitled to be put back in the position he was before the collision, regardless of whether various parts were factory fitted, dealer fitted or aftermarket.

Yes very true and often forgotten - OP it doesn't matter what your insurance company are covering, the 3rd party must get you back to condition.

[J B L]

Krikkit said:

That's a good result JBL, £400 profit plus a bit of faffage. I'd always keep the salvage these days, as I've got time to strip a bike for parts if it didn't sell for good money.

JulianHJ said:

Starfighter said:

I fully admit to not knowing bikes but on cars it is often the case that aftermarket mods are not covered so be careful about the zorst.

That might be applicable in a fault claim where the policy states aftermarket parts will be replaced with OEM, or the insured fails to declare a mod, however neither are applicable here as it’s a non-fault claim. The OP is entitled to be put back in the position he was before the collision, regardless of whether various parts were factory fitted, dealer fitted or aftermarket.

Yes very true and often forgotten - OP it doesn't matter what your insurance company are covering, the 3rd party must get you back to condition.

It works, I guess, if you start with a cheap enough bike. This was my Rugby - Frimley occasional commute bike. Not sure I'd have done so well with a £7k bike.
Fairing on the old big girl were something silly like close to £2k. I guess that's to be expected on the bike that's been out of production for over 10 years.

[wa16]

if you can, and liability is not in dispute, try and deal with the TP insurer

You have the right to have the bike fixed at your own repairer not the one your insurer chooses, it may disappear into the eighth dimension and take f' in weeks to come back

[Pothole]

Not victim blaming, but if nothing was coming when you got punted onto the roundabout, could you have moved off and not been there to punt?