Sadly after a no fault collision a few weeks ago the gorgeous Thruxton has been declared a total loss Cat B write off. Classic SMIDSY, car turned across in front of me without warning, couldn't avoid the collision and despite the final impact speed being relatively low it was enough to knock the front end out of alignment as well as the fairing subframe. Weirdly to a casual observer the damage to the car probably looks worse than my bike, top marks for Triumph build quality, although my arm may have been partly responsible for the cars dented bodywork Didn't do a physical inspection, declared a total loss by the assessors from pictures, so I still don't really know what's damaged and what isn't, I think once they see front end damage on a 9 yr old bike its curtains really. I did release the forks from the yokes and remove the front wheel to see if it would be enough to fix it, and while it did straighten up considerably it was still not straight ahead and also about 20mm over to one side compared with the rear, so sadly i couldn't save it. Really gutted though as I've loved the last 6 years with the Thruxton and spent a lot of time and effort hiding its near 30k miles and making it the best looking example I've seen, in my humble opinion, and had nothing but positive comments from bikers and non-bikers alike when admiring the bike. Waiting to see what the settlement is going to be but whatever it is there's not a single bike for sale at present that has all the spec and accessories mine has, some of which are discontinued and/or very expensive if you can find them. Not sure at the moment if I want to buy another and go through all that work and try to recreate my bike or go for something completely different, got all winter to think it over. The Thruxton R in happier times
Gutted for you, if they've declared it a write off from the pictures I'm guessing they'll come and collect it once its paid out, wouldn't be a a big thing to pull a few bits off and go "What bits?"
Unfortunately it didn't come with any of the "standard" bits when i bought it, otherwise they would have been swapped out before i took the pictures for the damage assessment. Its mainly the lovely diamond stitched comfort seat and US spec Vance & Hines silencers that are expensive or impossible to get hold of, and i think they'd notice if they were missing. Its going to Copart so no doubt the bits will be up for sale but I don't think they'd give me a special deal. Anyway its not all bad, at least I don't have to choose which bike to ride now, the Daytona 675R wins every time, and I do feel more at one with the bike when I'm not swapping between the two.
I'm also gutted for you Wobbles', your Thruxton was utterly gorgeous imho. More importantly though, how are you.??? -You mentioned that the car was damaged by your arm, so presumably bruised at the very least ?
I worked as a Motor Insurance Underwriter for 20 years. Admittedly this was quite a while back, so I'm not au fait with the current systems. However, back in my day the owner of the vehicle always had the option to 'buy back' the salvage as a right. Of course that may have changed since my day, but I would definitely be asking to retain the wreck, if that's what you want to do. Again, this was a long while back, but typically it was 10% of the write off valuation. I speak from experience beyond working in insurance as well...........in 2009 my Escort Cosworth burned to the ground and I elected to buy back (retain) the wreckage. It had a jolly expensive sequential gearbox in it, which mercifully survived intact. The same cannot be said for the rest of it!!
If it's a 3rd party total fault claim (and WB's thread indicates that it is) then I would hope that he is dealing with them directly, rather than his own insurer. The bike remains his property until he has be reimbursed, doesn't it ? If Wobbleybiker wished to retain it, afaik all he has to do is tell them that and agree a value for the salvage. Once Copart have got their grubby mits on it any opportunity will be greatly impeded. Fwiw I was shocked it was classed as Cat B (that used to mean unsuitable for any repair, and never to return to the road). Perhaps the actual frame is damaged, not simply the forks. Any pic's post accident @wobblybiker99 ?
Well that's total lack. I can't offer any help and advice on what to do next, but I'll send you a big virtual hug instead (avoiding your car denting arm).
Thanks everybody for your thoughts and hug @Janey I may not be 100% correct around the total loss classifications and the rules regarding buy back as I've only spoke to the independent assessor who made the decision, he definitely mentioned class B but wasn't sure on the rules himself, but still waiting to speak to the total loss team who deal with settlement and collection etc. IF there is an option to buy it back as a cat B I couldn't repair it to put it back on the road anyway and could only strip it for parts. The price would have to be low enough to make it viable, as I still don't know exactly what is and isn't damaged I couldn't in all honesty sell many of the expensive front end parts, wheel, forks, triple clamps etc as good items. The engine is perfectly ok but with 30k miles would struggle to sell amongst the many low mileage ones already on ebay, and a couple of the other more rare and expensive parts I'd maybe keep for a possible next bike, so not sure it would be worth the aggro, and may be out of my hands anyway. To a casual observer it looks perfectly fine, the car looked worse Apart from the front end misalignment the damage is only the LH fairing mounts and the bent fairing subframe. I think the fairing damage was reduced because it hit the softer front wing while my front wheel hit the more rigid car wheel side on. The bike remained upright so no other damage around the bike. This was the front wheel after the accident before releasing the forks in the yokes. forks not parallel
More on the joys of insurance I am dealing with the other party's insurer directly who as soon as they'd decided on full liability have been more helpful than my own in all honesty. They badly let me down from the start, rang them to report the accident and to arrange recovery home and they told me my policy wasn't live and hadn't been renewed, which was totally incorrect (computer error), told me they couldn't help any further and left me 40 miles from home, injured with an unrideable bike , and now with the added stress of thinking i could be prosecuted for no insurance, I was spinning out at this stage. Thankfully i was really lucky and a local good Samaritan biker who happened to recognise my bike from a local meet came to my rescue and transported me and the bike home. My insurance company haven't even properly apologised for the mistake and stress caused, or offered any compensation. They did put me in touch with their accident management company who deal with no fault claims but frankly their reviews are the worst I've ever seen on google for anybody, only intent on ramping up the claim through hire bikes at extortionate rates, storage charges etc, sometimes resulting in the innocent victim having to go to court when the claim is challenged to justify the costs mounted up against the other insurer. This was born out when i spoke to them, would not take no for an answer when I explained I didn't want or need a hire bike, told them to forget it and put the phone down in the end, the whole process was stressing me out. I was in no rush still having a car and second bike so decided to wait for the other party's insurer to decide liability and go that route instead, which i think was the best decision, I don't think the decision to fix the bike or write it off would have any different either way. The personal injury claim has been no less stressful for me, my insurer put me in touch with a "solicitor" and we started a no win no fee injury claim but after a few conversations were they always seemed to try and add things on and trying to properly understand the contract and conditions and possible pitfalls (this was prior to the other insurer admitting full liability) I cancelled the claim as i was also dealing with personal issues outside of the accident and couldn't cope. The other insurer has asked me about injuries and said someone will contact me so maybe there will be an option for some compensation directly through them without the complication of a NoWinNoFee agent and the chunk they take, 25% success fee plus an insurance policy to cover costs in case you lose.
IMHO that does not look like justification for a Cat B, by any stretch. Cat C perhaps. If Copart do get their grubby little mitts on it Wobbleybiker99, please let me know, I'd love to buy it and do it up for my little brother (he's always liked the Thruxtons, and your's is the pinnacle version imho).
