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Message started by Drey on 01/08/17 at 11:41:31

Title: Repairs?
Post by Drey on 01/08/17 at 11:41:31

My bike had a traumatic week... Wednesday morning when I was heading to work I was sitting at a red light behind an ambulance when suddenly the ambulance went into reverse and started to back up on me. My frantic horn blowing and scramble to back up the bike to avoid a collision were unsuccessful. The back end of the ambulance came up over the front tire and fender, at which point I abandoned the bike to avoid injury. Bike fell on the right side, mirror snapped off, fender is bent and dented and touching front tire, rear brake seems stuck, a few scratches.

I'm pretty bummed, not to mention currently without a vehicle now. Most troubling, I'm finding myself in my mid-thirties with no idea how to deal with insurance or where to get repairs made. Anyone have any experience? Odds of the bike being totaled? Should I have it towed to a dealer for repairs? (Seems you have to go like 40 minutes outside of Seattle for such services) Are there non-cosmetic damages I should be concerned about that might affect rideability?

Pictures if you're interested: https://1drv.ms/f/s!Anr2pqESKRkBho4rT8qrYO2yIhJy8w

I feel like this will hurt the resale value if I decide to move to a different bike too...

Sorry if this is off topic!

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by norm92de on 01/08/17 at 11:52:58

The big factor is that you are ok. The bike can be fixed and the damage doesn't seem too bad.

I'm sure there are plenty of motorcycle repair facilities in Seattle. I have driven around to some of them-my son lives there- also some of the people on this site live in Seattle. I think you will get a lot of help from the great people here. :)

Good luck.

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by verslagen1 on 01/08/17 at 12:20:16

You're in luck... totally his fault, contact your insurance agent.
You won't have to pay your deductible and they're 100% responsible for the costs.

Depending on year, look up your retail value.
get a quote for repairs. if that exceeds value then they'll total it.
Don't hesitate to include anything added to the bike, windshield bags and such.
They won't include it in the value unless you state you have them.
don't hesitate to buy the bike as salvage and part it out whole or not.

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by hotrod on 01/08/17 at 13:22:02

Glad you're ok Drey.

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by jcstokes on 01/08/17 at 14:03:55

Drey, did you buy the bike new or second hand? Did you buy it off a dealer or private owner? At the risk of offending many on this site, they hate Suzuki dealers, I would sort out your valuation with a Suzuki dealer, who will probably give you a worst case scenario. You can then decide whether to rebuild or total it.

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by Drey on 01/08/17 at 15:04:38

Thanks, guys. Yeah, I'm fine and the ambulance driver was super apologetic and said she used to ride too so she felt extra bad. KBB says, $2,665 for a 2009. I suppose we'll see.

JC, I bought it used, from a private owner.

But yeah, if anyone in Seattle has suggestions for shops be they dealers or not I'd be happy to hear suggestions.

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 01/08/17 at 16:00:08

Get a police report. Surely they were called.
Get your insurance company to send an adjuster and give you an estimate.
Post pictures, study the bike, twisted in the triple tree is not the same as bent. Check spokes. Check rim.

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by Dave on 01/09/17 at 05:36:43

Drey:

Sorry for the accident....hopefully the Insurance Companies can get this worked out for you. If you contact your insurance agent and let them know what happened, often the insurance companies can get the details worked out for you.....and they might even include a rental car for you if you need one. Most companies will send an "adjuster" to look at the damage - or refer you to a repair facility that does the estimates.

So that this doesn't happen to you again - when you are behind a big vehicle that can't see directly behind them....always pull to the side so they can see you when they look into their driver side mirror (if you can't see their mirror - they can't see you). By doing this you also have an escape route....you can quickly "lane split" and pull beside them if you have to.

Most likely if the bike is repaired, there will be little or no drop in vehicle value....as a used Savage doesn't have a collector value. If the bike it totaled and gets a "salvage" or "rebuilt" title, that can have an effect on the value. With new parts prices and labor being very high - the bike can be deemed to be a "total" with very little damage. Often owners will opt to receive a settlement from the insurance company and keep the bike - then install used parts themselves and end up with a serviceable motorcycle that cost them very little money. It really depends on how comfortable you are with doing the repairs yourself, or finding a good repair facility to help you. New parts will be quoted in the repair estimates - but used parts for the Savage are much cheaper.

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by 1st2know on 01/09/17 at 17:52:14

Glad you're OK. You did the smart thing when you dropped the bike to get out of the way. These bikes are easy to replace.

I've used Ride Motorsports, an authorized Suzuki dealer, in Woodinville for dealer work (like recalls). They are expensive (dealer prices), but they do have good customer service AND they are near a bus line (Sound Transit route 522).

Considering the nature of the accident, if it were me, I'd get an authorized Suzuki dealer to draw up a quote of the repairs, this will help you build a solid paper trail for the insurance claim.

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by Drey on 01/10/17 at 05:56:06

Dave, good tip... it's generally what I do. This was literally right after pulling out of my parking spot at 6am... I guess it's always the one time you don't do everything right that things go wrong.

1st2know, I'll give Ride a call today. I've been there before for a part or two. Kinda seems like letting the insurance pay dealer prices isn't the worst thing in the world.

You guys are always the best! Hopefully I'm back on the road soon.

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by norm92de on 01/10/17 at 12:40:18

Drey,
My son and daughter in law live in Woodinville and bought a scooter from them. They seem to be reasonable people to deal with. Good luck. :)

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by ero4444 on 01/11/17 at 15:35:12

Man that sucks - at least you were not hurt.

Replace the toy horn and maybe they will hear you.
Put on two horns, one high-note and one low-note and it sounds like a proper car/truck horn:

FIAMM 72102 12 V High Note One & Two Term. / Universal Bracket
FIAMM 72012 12 V Low Note / One & Two Term / Universal Bracket
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FKKOK6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

HELLA H84709001 Iso Weatherproof Relay Connector with 12" Leads
HELLA 007794311 12V 20/40 Amp SPDT RES Relay with Weatherproof Bracket
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KEKYWQ/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is not too hard to do. If you take off the side reflectors then you have space and screw holes for the the relay and both horns. Not sure what wire is really necessary but I think I used 16ga - seems ok for 20amps or so, enough for these horns anyway.

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by Jessechop on 01/11/17 at 17:35:16

On a plus side the damage is not severe. With basic hand tools and mechanical knowledge you could do the repairs yourself. If they cut you a check and leave you on your own to get the repairs done that would be a good way for you to pocket some money.

If you need a turn signal to get back on the rd let me know, actually I might have all of the parts you need

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by Drey on 01/16/17 at 19:19:44

Well, it sounds like they're going to total it. The insurance guy said he will likely have dollar amounts for me tomorrow. Pretty bummed, I love that bike.

Considering fixing it but I'm worried about having a bike with a salvage title as I did hope to step up to something else eventually. (Like something I can have heated grips with as I ride year round) Maybe that time is now.

I'd consider parting it out too but worry that'll be more hassle than it's worth as well.

Sigh. :-/

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by jcstokes on 01/16/17 at 19:42:43

You may find you can fit heated grips to a Savage/S40 and if you like them, you can always get another.

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by Dave on 01/17/17 at 04:42:50

3A3323243F3B3523500 wrote:

You may find you can fit heated grips to a Savage/S40 and if you like them, you can always get another.

I really don't think the Savage has any extra electrical powers to run heated grips....the charging circuit is only 100 Watts total. And that has to power a a 45/55 watt headlight, 6 watts of running lights up front, a 3 watt tail light, a couple of watts of instrument lights......that only leaves 34 watts for the brake light, turn signals, horn and charging circuit.

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by Kenny G on 01/17/17 at 06:59:27

Dave,

I ride 49 weeks out of the year and there are days I would like to have a heated vest and grips. Would it be possible to have a second battery mounted in a saddlebag and charge it on a Battery Tender after riding?

I am not planning any major trips during cold weather just a couple hour ride now and then.

Kenny G

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by Dave on 01/17/17 at 07:14:53

Kenny:

Sure it would be possible to use a storage battery for heat - just don't tie it into the electrical system on the bike.

I looked and a Gerbing vest uses 6.4 amps (90 watts), gloves use 2.2 amps (31 watts), heated grips use about 3 amps (42 watts). A battery for a Savage is 14 amp hours - so technically you could run the vest for a couple of hours, the gloves for 6 hours....the grips for 4.6 hours - however lead acid batteries don't like to be deep cycled and the battery may not last very long.

You might be better off buying heated gear that is made to run off batteries that are included with the gear.

The Honda ST1100 can run heated gear easily....as it has a 40 amp (576 watt) alternator! Most big bikes have similar electric capacity to power electric add-on stuff!

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by Kenny G on 01/17/17 at 07:47:29

Dave,

I didn't know there was heated gear with self contained batteries I will look into that.

Kenny G

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by verslagen1 on 01/17/17 at 08:01:25

Kenny, the savage does have some surplus power and more so once the battery been fully recharged after starting. How quickly this occurs depends upon your travel habits. If you got up to 60 mph or 4500 rpm and kept it there for 1/2 hour, most likely the bat will be fully charged. I don't think the rectifier has any regulation functions that cars do at least no one has talked about any. So I don't think there's an easy way to determine if the bat is fully charged like monitoring the voltage and seeing it drop. One of these days I'll have a VM attached to the bike and I'll be able to monitor it.

Converting the lights to LED would help, charging the bat between rides would help, even warming up the accessories prior to the ride would help.

My estimate is the savage is capable of running 2 55 watt headlights while running at least 60 after the bat has recovered.

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by Kenny G on 01/17/17 at 11:40:07

Verslagen,

I am not very well versed on the electric availability and consumption on our bikes. I notice on the European sites, and mostly the German sites, that a lot of the Savage/S40 bikes have driving lights/ and or fog lights in addition to the factory head light. Possibly they only turn on the driving and/or fog lights when they need them. I was thinking that if I only turned on the heated hand grips when I need them I may get away with it.

I am not sure what the laws in Texas have to say about having a switch on the headlight to turn it off while riding, I have considered that. I rode for a half century without a headlight in the daytime so a few more years are possible without the headlight in the daytime.....I hope....

Kenny G

Title: Re: Repairs?
Post by verslagen1 on 01/17/17 at 11:59:59

There were a few here that added the driving lights and drained their bats flat in no time.
Some are 50w, so you end up with 155w on all the time. Ain't gonna do.
Yet swap out those Halogen bulbs at 4.5 amps each for LEDs at less than 2 amps each and you're fine.

Been using 1 for a couple years, cheapy. Only complaint is the fan's busted, still ticking though. Some use copper braid for heat dissipation. Get a metal bucket so the heat will go thru.