[Mojoe]

I'd say go ahead and file it...and get several estimates so you get yourself the best deal. You may be able to make out better by shipping the parts off and getting them repaired..empiregp does fantastic work and very good to deal with. You can save yourself some of that claim money you get and pick up some more gear or whatever you like.

I just emailed them this afternoon for a quote.

How does this work with insurance? Last time I filed a claim (in december....) my insurance paid the body shop directly. By the way you are making this sound, I can get some gear that isn't a part of the bike (jacket, etc.) How do you do this, have the shop estimate out State Farm for time and materials including the gear?

The insurance makes the check payable to the shop who does the work. You are allowed to have your work done where you wish. Just find someone who is willing to sign the check over to you without doing the work. That is what I did. I gave the guy $100 for his trouble.

[Yellow2002Kat]

I'd say go ahead and file it...and get several estimates so you get yourself the best deal. You may be able to make out better by shipping the parts off and getting them repaired..empiregp does fantastic work and very good to deal with. You can save yourself some of that claim money you get and pick up some more gear or whatever you like.

I just emailed them this afternoon for a quote.

How does this work with insurance? Last time I filed a claim (in december....) my insurance paid the body shop directly. By the way you are making this sound, I can get some gear that isn't a part of the bike (jacket, etc.) How do you do this, have the shop estimate out State Farm for time and materials including the gear?

The insurance makes the check payable to the shop who does the work. You are allowed to have your work done where you wish. Just find someone who is willing to sign the check over to you without doing the work. That is what I did. I gave the guy $100 for his trouble.

It depends on your policy and your insurer - they don't always make the check out to the shop directly.

If they do make it out to the shop directly I say let them keep the entire amount and make the repairs they've been paid for. If it's a shop that does a lot of insurance business (i.e., a State Farm recommended / endorsed shop) they won't want to lose that affiliation by engaging in insurance fraud for a couple of bucks. You don't want to engage in insurance fraud either. It's a bad idea, against the law, and it makes all of our premiums higher. You'd also have to initiate the fraud proposal and that puts you in an even more precarious position - they may report your illegal proposal.

If you're working with the insurance company stay on the safe side and keep your transaction completely on the level. The risk / reward ratio is too low to take the chance IMO.

[The CyberPoet]

Hey CP, why is that? I've never made an insurance claim of any kind, but is it difficult to get bike insurance again if you make a claim in the first year? Do your premiums increase substantially? Just curious...

Since Florida is the only state (the only I know of) that has optional motorcycle insurance if you're not carrying a lien on the bike, that combined with first-year rates are usually astronomical. I know when I got my last MC quotes, it was cheaper for me to get a $1 mil health insurance policy with accidental medical coverage that included motorcycle accidents than to get a real MC policy (10k PIP + liability + comprehensive + uninsured motorist) -- and I've been riding for 22 years (but never in Florida with insurance on a bike, so the view me as a "newbie").

First those first-year coverage riders, the rates can shoot up as much as 70% on optional coverage with a claim...

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[Yellow2002Kat]

Hey CP, why is that? I've never made an insurance claim of any kind, but is it difficult to get bike insurance again if you make a claim in the first year? Do your premiums increase substantially? Just curious...

Since Florida is the only state (the only I know of) that has optional motorcycle insurance if you're not carrying a lien on the bike, that combined with first-year rates are usually astronomical. I know when I got my last MC quotes, it was cheaper for me to get a $1 mil health insurance policy with accidental medical coverage that included motorcycle accidents than to get a real MC policy (10k PIP + liability + comprehensive + uninsured motorist) -- and I've been riding for 22 years (but never in Florida with insurance on a bike, so the view me as a "newbie").

First those first-year coverage riders, the rates can shoot up as much as 70% on optional coverage with a claim...

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

Wow, that's very interesting. You would think the rates wouldn't shoot up since it's optional. If optional insurance shot up that much for me I would opt to cancel it...

I use State Farm for my life, auto and bike insurance. For the Kat, I have liability $100K, Bodily Injury $300K Property Damage $50K. $250 deductible no fault and comprehensive. Uninsured Motor Vehicle Bodily Injury $50K/$100K. My premium is $153.56 for 6 months (so $307.12 for the year). I had to get my most recent statement after reading your post. I've had a bike insured down here for 15 years on and off, but I never remember my rates being terribly high. SF also doesn't give a discount for taking MSF courses BTW.

I guess a lot changes as the years go by. Thanks for the info. Interesting and puzzling at the same time...

[Cheech]

Well, I just filed the claim. Have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out all the gritty details.

According to my research, the damage bill should be south of a grand, but not by much. Fairings are 400+paint and labor, starter cover is 90 + labor (hopefully I can get the NRC covers), handlebar ends, lower fairing cowl, etc.

[Mojoe]

If they do make it out to the shop directly I say let them keep the entire amount and make the repairs they've been paid for. If it's a shop that does a lot of insurance business (i.e., a State Farm recommended / endorsed shop) they won't want to lose that affiliation by engaging in insurance fraud for a couple of bucks. You don't want to engage in insurance fraud either. It's a bad idea, against the law, and it makes all of our premiums higher. You'd also have to initiate the fraud proposal and that puts you in an even more precarious position - they may report your illegal proposal.

If you're working with the insurance company stay on the safe side and keep your transaction completely on the level. The risk / reward ratio is too low to take the chance IMO.

see....I don't see it that way. the way I see it, I paid for insurance. If the bike gets wrecked for x amount of $ according to a legitimate estimate at the going rate, then how, where and who fixes my bike should be my choice. by rights, you should be able to just say, "forget fixing it and give me the cash and I will run the vehicle the way it is". the bottom line is you pay for insurance....so the money for damages is yours....and I do not consider it fraud if I choose to fix it myself. After all, I feel my time is worth as much as any shops. so I DO NOT consider this to be fraud.
If I damaged the bike myself, on purpose, just to make some money...then that could be called fraud.

[zenjim]

[quote="Cheech"]
Upper fairing is rashed pretty good. I am a little hesitant to have someone buff it out and repaint. Lower fairing does have some scratches, enough that I want it fixed.

Crankcase cover is totally screwed. Mirror, rear handle, stuff like that needs to be fixed.

I have a $89 Fieldsheer jacket that it basically a total loss, in that I wouldn't trust it to protect me again. I will, however, run right out and buy another one for the protection I received from it.

quote]

Replace the crankcase with an NRC. Replace the mirror, bar ends, etc. with carbon fiber, and leave the fairings the way they are. Chicks dig scars.

[The CyberPoet]

Well, I just filed the claim. Have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out all the gritty details.

According to my research, the damage bill should be south of a grand, but not by much. Fairings are 400+paint and labor, starter cover is 90 + labor (hopefully I can get the NRC covers), handlebar ends, lower fairing cowl, etc.

$400 sans paint?
If you order new pieces via any Suzuki authorized source (like RonAyers.com), they will come prepainted in the factory colors.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[Cheech]

Replace the crankcase with an NRC. Replace the mirror, bar ends, etc. with carbon fiber, and leave the fairings the way they are. Chicks dig scars.

I'm going to go ahead a disagree with you on that one. I wouldn't want to ride around on a bike that has scars all down the left fairing.

[Cheech]

Well, I just filed the claim. Have to wait until tomorrow morning to find out all the gritty details.

According to my research, the damage bill should be south of a grand, but not by much. Fairings are 400+paint and labor, starter cover is 90 + labor (hopefully I can get the NRC covers), handlebar ends, lower fairing cowl, etc.

$400 sans paint?
If you order new pieces via any Suzuki authorized source (like RonAyers.com), they will come prepainted in the factory colors.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

News to me. Thanks for the info!

[Yellow2002Kat]

If they do make it out to the shop directly I say let them keep the entire amount and make the repairs they've been paid for. If it's a shop that does a lot of insurance business (i.e., a State Farm recommended / endorsed shop) they won't want to lose that affiliation by engaging in insurance fraud for a couple of bucks. You don't want to engage in insurance fraud either. It's a bad idea, against the law, and it makes all of our premiums higher. You'd also have to initiate the fraud proposal and that puts you in an even more precarious position - they may report your illegal proposal.

If you're working with the insurance company stay on the safe side and keep your transaction completely on the level. The risk / reward ratio is too low to take the chance IMO.

see....I don't see it that way. the way I see it, I paid for insurance. If the bike gets wrecked for x amount of $ according to a legitimate estimate at the going rate, then how, where and who fixes my bike should be my choice. by rights, you should be able to just say, "forget fixing it and give me the cash and I will run the vehicle the way it is". the bottom line is you pay for insurance....so the money for damages is yours....and I do not consider it fraud if I choose to fix it myself. After all, I feel my time is worth as much as any shops. so I DO NOT consider this to be fraud.
If I damaged the bike myself, on purpose, just to make some money...then that could be called fraud.

I hear ya, but if your insurance poilcy stipulates that they pay the shop directly that's what you've agreed to when you purchased your insurance. If you didn't agree to that, you wouldn't have to make a deal on the side and give the repair guy a couple of bucks for his trouble. The mere fact that you have to make an outside agreement to actually get your hands on the $$$ is fraud, whether you consider it fraud or not. That's the bottom line.

Many insurance companies do pay the insured person directly, and that person either fixes their bike, or rides it like it is and pockets the money. The insurance company doesn't check to see how or if the repairs have been made. In this case you can take a trip to Hawaii with the $$$ and it's not fraud. You've followed the protocol of the insurance policy.

Take a careful look at your insurance policy and see how they pay out in case of an accident. If you can't make heads or tails of your policy, call your insurance agent and have him / her explain it to you. If you don't like the way they pay out (i.e., directly to the repair shop), go shop around for a different insurer who pays the insured (you) directly in case of accident. That way you'll get exactly what you want in terms of insurance and there will be no need for any "funny business".

Listen, my insurance agent knows me very well. Down here they're constantly changing my policies (particularly homeowners) by limiting liability, changing deductible percentages, charging more for stacked coverage (which is mandatory for them to provide in FL unless you waive it in writing - they send you the waiver to sign in the mail and most people don't read through the stack and just sign at the "X" - pretty sneaky), etc. However, I know all I need to know about every policy I have - what's covered and what's not. That's why my agent knows me so well - because I'm always calling for explanations when I get revisions to my policy in 50 pages of small print. If I'm not sure I'm getting the correct answer on the phone, I take the policy over to his office and have him go over it with me. It's a PITA, but it helps me sleep at night.

[Cheech]

a blog update

Due to the newness of my policy, SF does not have it on record. They will be calling my agent on Monday to investigate. I am not optimistic, no one bothered to take my money when I instituted the policy, and when I have my premiums auto-deducted, it wasn't in there either.

One might think this is bad news, but there is a silver lining. I cleaned off the dirt damage from the fairings and discovered to my surprise that the lower grey fairing sustained no damage at ALL. This means that all I would need to get this running and looking fine is a starter cover (NRC or otherwise) and a left upper fairing. $430 at ronayers.com for new stuff, and I haven't gotten an estimate from empiregp.com yet. Deductible is 500, so this works out.

[h382]

I recently cracked my crankcase cover.. The best deal around IMO(Kudos to BraadaJim) is the NRC "Factory Second" cover.. A LOT less than a new one, and there is nothing wrong with them! You can look at them here:

http://www.nrcracing.ca/hot_items.php?category_id=21

You need part 4513-301. I checked, doesn't look they they have it currently though, but keep checking, usually they do. If not, sorry, just want to pass on the good info.

[jmanor010780]

With that being said if it is less than 500 then dismiss your claim. Also if the insurance company pays the shop directly you will end up with OEM parts that is what the insurance will pay for. If you wanted to buy the covers yourself and give them to the shop maybe you guys could work something out. Is it fraud to not fix your bike of course not could you get the work done somplace else cheaper and pocket the money oh yes I would do that or maybe buy the stuff and put it on yourself saving some cash. At least you didn't get hurt and you know what wnet wrong and be careful. I have been in a accident a couple years ago and totaled out my bike I didn't get a new but got 4500 which is what my 01 YZF600R was worth I have mods but the insurance only counted OEM. Either way let us know what happens and possible pics .

[Cheech]

With that being said if it is less than 500 then dismiss your claim. Also if the insurance company pays the shop directly you will end up with OEM parts that is what the insurance will pay for. If you wanted to buy the covers yourself and give them to the shop maybe you guys could work something out. Is it fraud to not fix your bike of course not could you get the work done somplace else cheaper and pocket the money oh yes I would do that or maybe buy the stuff and put it on yourself saving some cash. At least you didn't get hurt and you know what wnet wrong and be careful. I have been in a accident a couple years ago and totaled out my bike I didn't get a new but got 4500 which is what my 01 YZF600R was worth I have mods but the insurance only counted OEM. Either way let us know what happens and possible pics .

Probably what I am going to do on Monday. I have the NRC cover ordered from ronayers.com, that should be here on the 9th I emailed Bob at empireGP.com with pictures so I can get a better estimate.

There is some smaller stuff that I can piecemeal later on, like the rear handle, left mirror, stuff like that. I found that all I needed to do was rotate the handlebar end a little bit and you can't even see the rash