Buying a Salvage Motorcycle

PRICE: How else can you afford a $15,000 motorcycle for $8,000.

The first great incentive to buying a Salvaged (damaged) motorcycle, is the cost savings. You can easily Save 1000's of dollars, and fix the bike for less than the difference if you bought a new or used undamaged bike.

But before you jump the gun, and buy a bike, you must know a few things.

#1.. Do you plan to register and ride the bike in your state?

Does this seem like too simple a question? It is, but a very important one. Some people simply want to fix the bike, and run it on a race track, which is great, since you don't need to worry about Titling and registering the bike for track use, but should you want to register and ride the bike legally, you must find out YOUR STATE QUALIFICATIONS FOR SALVAGE MOTORCYCLES. Most states require a bike to pass a safety inspection to qualify as rebuilt. In order to pass a salvage inspection, you must have a State issued Title, a damage appraisal, as well as any receipts and documentation of what was fixed. Your paperwork is key.

Please learn from our mistakes. We spend over $11,000 on a 2005 MV Agusta, which if you do your homework, you'll see is a $30,000 bike. The title came back as a VA Non-repairable. OUCH!! After fixing the bike, we had $11,000 worth of parts, as no state will issue a rebuilt title which another state has previously issued as non-repairable. So make sure the paperwork is in order.

#2 Where do Salvage bikes come from?.

Most states issue a Title stamped Salvage, typically this happens when an insurance company deems the bike a total loss, issues a damage appraisal, has the title drawn up in their name, and sells the bike through an Auction. This is where scrap dealers, salvage bike dealers, and rebuilding shops are bidding on all these bikes.

#3 Should I buy a Salvage bike if I don't know how to fix it?

Sure, all it takes is a little time to research where to get your parts, and hire someone to do the repairs for you. Depending on your skill level, you should look for a bike with the least amount of damage. A few scratches on the fairings, a broken clip on for example just takes some time to buy replacement parts. With so many sites like Ebay and Craiglist around today, parts are easy to come by, and usually very cheap compared to buying them new from a dealer.

#4 Be prepared and you can't lose

Know the value of the bike your interested in, in an undamaged state, and work from there. Don't buy a bike to save money, if it's going to cost your more in parts and your time to fix it than buying a clean bike. Most importantly SHOP AROUND. There are many dealers out there, and most bikes are a dime a dozen, so don't jump at the first one you see either. Take your time and shop Wisely. Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, and Kawasaki bikes are always around, and parts are easy to find. Don't buy a custom bike, if the parts are not easy to come by, as in the case of my brother who damaged a custom fairing to a 2002 Ducati 998s Ben Bostrom replica bike. The Carbon Fiber fairing was on back order from the dealer for two years, and cost over $1000.

My personal rebuilt motorcycle story. ....just so you know, I am an accountnat, and have no mechanical ability whatsoever.

I bought a 1998 Honda CBR 600 smokin joe edition motorcycle Salvaged from the State of PA. The bike cost me $2800 at an auction. I had to ship it for $400, and after inspecting it, realized there was a crack in the mid fairing which cost a total of $40 for the part shipped through Ebay. After changing some plugs which cost $8, and having the bike inspected in the State of NH $50, a rebuilt title was issued. For the total cost of $3,298, I had a rebuilt 98 smokin joe bike, which ran great. I was only able to put on about 500 miles before winter set in, and when spring time rolled around I had an offer to buy my bike for $3800, so I took it.

More to be added soon..