Bike Damage from Wreck: Advice Needed

Well after 19 years of accident free street riding I dumped my bike on Saturday morning going about 35mph. The bike is 07' Anniversary Edition with 6k miles (still wiping tears from my eyes)

I was cruising down a winding mountain road that has a narrow gravel shoulder on either side. I would assume that some of the cars that previously traveled the road had veered off into the sholder and kicked some gravel back onto the road. I was taking a moderately tight left turn and hit a few rocks and felt the front tire slide out. I tried to straighten her out and was able to slow down a bit but ultimately ended up dumping her on the left side going about 20mph. I rolled a couple times and watched the bike skid onto the shoulder. My pants and jacket got torn up pretty good and my left gloves was badly shredded. Other than a very sore shoulder and a deep cut on the knuckle of my right thumb I am ok. The gear did it's job and I am very thankful that I had gloves on because the hard shell on top of the glove took a really abrassive hit. The fabric over the thumb of the glove was completely ripped open and I jammed and cut my thumb. The damage to the bike does not appear to be terrible and I do not really want to file a claim with insurance since I have a $500 deductable. I picked the bike up and the damage appeared to be cosmetic with no fluids leaking. I decided to ride the bike home 60 miles. After 15 miles I pulled over to check the bike again and there was no change from the previous inspection. I continued riding for another 15 miles or so but had to pull over to wrap my bleeding thumb with a bandage. I left the bike running while I bandaged my finger and the bike temp started to rise as expected since it was a hot day. At about 225 the cooling fan kicked on and it sounded really F--D up. Obviously the fan wasn't functioning properly and the bike climbed to about 230 before I cut it off and let it rest. I figured that as long as I kept the bike moving and temp below 220 I would be ok. About 3 miles from my house I ended up having to wait at a traffic light and the bike temp started to rise again. The temp never got above 230 but I soon smelled Coolant and notice that coolant was really starting to drip heavily from underneath the bike. It looked like the bike lost about a pint of coolant. Since I was so close to home I decided to continue home without pushing the bike too hard. I got home and put the bike on the centerstand and put a big plastic bowl underneath it. It continued to drip about about another pint of coolant and stopped. I haven't had a chance to get the fairing off since I can't bend my thumb so I'm not sure how much if any coolant is still left in the bike. I am pretty handy in general and have the service manual but don't have much experience working on bikes other than basic oil change and chain tightening. Basically I would like to know the following.


1) If the radiator and/or fan need to be replaced, how hard is this to do? Should I take to the stealership instead to avoid headache or hastle of trying to fix on my own?

2) Broken Left Mirror - Ordered replacement OEM part from HodaPartsDirect for $57. Are there any aftermarket mirrors that are better than the stock mirrors?

3) Scuffs and Scratches on plastic fairings. A few deep scratches that I can live with but can the smaller scratches be sanded with fine grit sandpaper and polished or should it be primed and repainted completely? Also since the red streak on the bike farings appears to be a decal I also need to know where to buy one. If paint is needed how can I verify that the paint codes I have for the bike are correct (Pearl Spencer Blue --- PB-308P, Pearl Fadeless White ---- Base Coat - NH-341P -- Top Coat - NH-341H )


Some people have suggested that I should just file the claim with my insurance company (Progressive)

Should I take the bike to the shop for an estimate first or just file the claim and go from there? Will Insurance pay for a new left side fairing or will they pay to repair the scratches on the old one? I just don't want to file a claim and pay $500 deductable if the total repair will be less than $1k. If I can eliminate the shop labor costs I am thinking I can do alot of the work myself but if the costs of parts are over $1000 I would probably file a claim.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Rollin

 

Let me be the first to say how sorry I am to hear this. That is frustrating to know you have gone so long without dumping a bike on the road. First, don't feel too bad...as you said, someone else pushed the gravel onto the road and you did the best you could.
I cannot really help you with your 3 questions but I would suggest rethinking not going for the insurance claim. Once plastic is damaged it goes beyond $500 very quickly and that coolant issue wants to have a complete checkout by a pro. Just my suggestion...
That is what you pay the Ins company for after all (for so many years). This is your first...they'll be reasonable gentle on you in the future with your track record (we hope).
Good luck!
(Oh, and it could have been worse as you know. Now be sure that thumb is cleaned out and kept clean since hand injuries can get infected very easily and are hard to get over on!)

 

Sorry to hear.
Regarding the claim...
Progressive will send someone to your house to assess the damage.
Most likely, they will write you a check, after you pay the deductible.
It is VERY likely they will low ball you. So, I suggest you have the bike inspected by a shop
and then compare the estimates. Go back to your Progressive as needed so they cover
ALL of the damage.

 

I am not sure if your bike is set up the same as my 5th gen but to me they look very similar in design. more than likely the fan on the back of the radiator is bentand was crushed betweenthe front cylinder head and the oil cooler. there is not much work to replace these parts however I would sugest searching ebay because parts are expensive new from honda. As far as the bodywork you can try to sand and buff to take out the scraches but if you hit the ground hard enough to bust the radiator and break the fan chances are you also broke the mounts and with the bike being such a late model the ins co will more than likely replace the fairing for you instead of repair it. body panels are extreemly expensive and chances are it will be much cheaper to let them take care of the entire wreck. I guess what I am tring to say is that your repairs will be more than1000 dollars easy from the sounds of things so you have to weigh if it is worth it to have your rates go up or deal with a new bike that is in not so new but driveable condition. Sorry to here about the wreck and your loss but at least there was no serious injury and that is what really matters. You know what they say... THERE ARE RIDERS THAT HAVE BEEN DOWN AND THOSE THAT ARE GOING TO GO DOWN... Best of luck, happy riding!

 

I decided to bite the bullet and get my insurance company involved. The fairing have some decent scratches on it and there is a small chip or two of paint missing from the tank. The bike was like brand new (6,000 miles) and I really want to get it back to the condition it was in before. I'm sure the insurance will likely replace the fairing completely and possibly paint the tank. Since there doesn't appear to be any cracks I'll have them give me the old fairing so I can tool around with it and sand and primer it with hopes to sell it or keep as extra.

I am going to have the bike towed to a shop that does repair and custom work. I was unable to find a website but they come recommended from Progressive as a preferred vendors for 4.5 years. So what do you think about custom paint over what was once a Anniversary Edition? When I first bought the bike I planned on painting it because I didn't like the anniversary scheme. The only reason I originally bought it was because I got it for a steal from a friend who manages a dealership and took it in on trade. Once I owned it a while it really grew on me and I realled came to like unique look. I think it is very unique but I have once or twice fantasize about a custom paint job. With the bike going to the shop maybe I could work out a deal on the side for custom paint and repair instead? Would it be inappropriate to hide the anniversary scheme? I am torn on that decision.


Regards,
Rollin

 

EDIT - Never mind, I just saw you called the insurance. +1 to what Reg said. If you want to change the color I'd buy a set off Ebay and keep the RWB set for later sale.

I had a guy run me off the road and my bike took a similar hit. To get both the nose and side faring delivered to the house was about $700. I ordered from Service Honda. Color was perfect since it was a Honda part. As for the fan. Once you have the faring off look at the metal support for the fan, they are probably bent. They are cheap pot metal and can be carefully bent back to original shape. If you don't want to go the insurance route it's not that bad to replace the parts you need.







Action

 

Rollin,
I feel your pain Bud................The bike can be fix, Take care of the Tumb and let the insurance take care of the bike and hope you can get back riding soon. The insurance company will rip you off no matter what.

 

Sorry brother, glad your ok. Since your going through insurance there's no reason that it shouldn't be fixed back to mint.

At least it didn't fall from space and land on mars like this poor fella's...