Can I reject a bike that has been repaired following an accident?

I was involved in an incident 6 weeks ago whilst riding my 1250rs.
Stupid mistake for somebody that drives about 80k miles a year saw me rear ending a stationary car at 25-30 mph. Over the handlebars , rolled off the back of the car and landed next to the bike which was on its side. Sprained wrists, sore shoulders, bruised shins(feckin boxer engines) bruised back around the sides of the back protector, black and blue bollocks and surrounding area, pelvis was clicking and uncomfortable for a couple of weeks but seems to have sorted itself out. X-ray, cat scan and other tests show no lasting damage. Dodged a bullet I think.

Bike suffered bent forks and the suspension wouldn’t move up/down and the forks were weeping oil past the seals, the forks flexed sufficiently to smash the front fender extender on the engine but then flexed back into shape( almost), loose head bearings which are a concern because I can’t see how slack can be created unless something is out of shape or cracked,, damaged offside valve cover, pannier lid, smashed front mudguard, headlight lenses were intact but strangely the reflectors had holes in them (presumably on the rear mounting points) , screen smashed to shitrags as I launched through it, front panels around the headlights cracked. Tyre stayed inflated but who knows what damage was done to the carcass, wheel appears straight but again, who knows.

Anyway the bike was duly collected and taken away for inspection. I’ve spoken to the guy that was doing the inspection. The first time he just wanted to establish what had happened to gauge the likely areas to have been damaged.
Spoke to him again today and was told that the damage was slightly under the cost threshold for economical repair so they would be seeking permission from my insurance company to go ahead with repairs.
To say I was gobsmacked is an understatement— circa 350kgs of bike and me coming to a dead stop from 25-30 mph is a hell of a lot of energy to be transferred into the forks etc.

Although I’m sure they’ve had a bloody good look at the bike I’m really not happy about having it back. To my mind it should be written off completely. The decision to declare it repairable seems to have been based on the cost as much, if not more, than the mechanical side of things and whether it’s suitable to be used again.

A mate of mine buys Cat N bikes, tarts them up and sells them on again . Some of the bikes he has turned round have been written off for the sake of a few bodywork panels. A recent 850 gsa needed £800 spent on it for example. I just can’t square the two extremes of these examples — one written off for a few panels and mine having had such a serious impact. Ultimately they’re both back on the road but I can’t figure out why the 850 gsa for example would be written off( as far as the owner is concerned) yet mine will be returned to me.

Anyway, to get to the point of the thread:- assuming the insurance company authorise the repairs can anyone advise if I have any rights to reject the bike and receive an insurance settlement instead, based on my first hand experience of the crash and the severity of the impact? I really don’t want to ride it again knowing exactly what happened.
I own the bike outright, there is no finance company stake in the bike.
Your thought please chaps.
Mr Wapping are you there?
Thanks

steadysteve said:

... can anyone advise if I have any rights to reject the bike ( assuming the insurance company authorise the repairs) based on my first hand experience of the crash and the severity of the impact?

Click to expand...

Reject it to whom?

You own it!

Greg Masters said:

Reject it to whom?

You own it!

Click to expand...

Perhaps I should have phrased it differently. Try this version:- Can I argue the toss with them about its suitability to be repaired?

I quoted the example of the 850 gsa because on the one hand they (the assessors and insurance companies) seem very risk averse and write-off a bike for relatively minor damage yet on the other hand are happy to rebuild mine that has had a major impact.
My mate had another one, a KTM 1290adv. It needed less than £400 spending on panels to make it pristine again. Compare and contrast the two extremes.

steadysteve said:

Perhaps I should have phrased it differently. Try this version:- Can I argue the toss with them about its suitability to be repaired?

Click to expand...

Of course...

Four options as I see it, let nature take its course and if your insurance company authorise repairs and it’s repaired, sell it at a potentially loss, upon its return and put it down to experience.

Or that during the bikes repair something else is discovered which increases significantly the repair bill.

Alternatively find out what the shortfall is between cost of repairs and the lower limit which would have had to have been met to write the bike off and offer this to your insurance company.

Finally if you have any sort of legal cover included with the insurance see if they can fight your corner for you to argue a payout rather than the return of the bike.

I would think it difficult to argue with a qualified assessor. Perhaps you could reject the repaired bike if the repairs were not up to standard? I know what you mean about doubts about a damaged vehicle. I had a car which someone almost wrote off and never felt the same about it again. It was repaired well (you would never have known the front nearside had been hit SMIDSY in a car) but I traded it after 9 months as I never got my head round it. Good luck!

You should have the bike assessed (and/or repaired) by somebody of your own choosing.

Repair it and trade it on, seems a realistic outcome

Greg Masters said:

You should have the bike assessed (and/or repaired) by somebody of your own choosing.

Click to expand...

I don’t think it works like that.

Wes Tripp said:

I don’t think it works like that.

Click to expand...

It did when some twat rear-ended my car...

est, should be subject to inspection. loose head bearings would worry me . get them to inspect them before proceeding with ANY , other work.

voice your worry , to your insurance company.

Wes Tripp said:

I don’t think it works like that.

Click to expand...

yes it does.

Greg Masters said:

It did when some twat rear-ended my car...

Click to expand...

Fair enough, I was always under the impression that your insurance company worked with a select number of body shops and you were obligated to use one.

How old is the bike? Could you request that it be repaired at a motoradd dealer, ime sure they would be more expensive and potentially be beyond economic repair.

Wes Tripp said:

Fair enough, I was always under the impression that your insurance company worked with a select number of body shops and you were obligated to use one.

Click to expand...

a broker will try to tell you that is the case and push you towards someone they either own or have a financial agreement with. An underwriter will not specify such a thing in the policy and you can choose your own repair shop. You could even do some of the work yourself e.g. removing some panels to be resprayed by a body shop or replaced with bits off Ebay.

Wes Tripp said:

Fair enough, I was always under the impression that your insurance company worked with a select number of body shops and you were obligated to use one.

Click to expand...

Mine is NFU Mutual and I can choose any repairer

It all depends on who is doing the repairs , a trusted BMW Motorrad dealership or a trusted Independent , fine get it fixed .

If it is the normal shysters that do repairs for many of the larger Insurance Companies 9 *th Dimension) and who will take many months, try to force you to take a loan bike (at exorbitant prices ) screw everybody over regarding storage costs tell them to FRO .

I had it written on my Insurance file with CN that I would not authorise any vehicles belonging to me to be taken to that place for repairs

Greg Masters said:

You should have the bike assessed (and/or repaired) by somebody of your own choosing.

Click to expand...

With hindsight yes I should.
Had other stuff going on at home that overshadowed the whole thing. They said “we’ll collect the bike on xyz day” I said okay.

Wes Tripp said:

I don’t think it works like that.

Click to expand...

I think Greg is right. My local dealer said I could have taken it there to be assessed.

theoneandonly said:

est, should be subject to inspection. loose head bearings would worry me . get them to inspect them before proceeding with ANY , other work.

voice your worry , to your insurance company.

Click to expand...

Will do. I agree that should be the first question as it’s the main headstock that’s had all the impact force through it but crucially will not be replaced, unlike the forks. I think it’s safe to say the assessor guy was aware of that once we’d spoken initially about the accident.