Damaged 6th Gen VFR800

Hi, new member looking for advice please.

I'm looking to buy a cheap 6th gen to use as a commuter hack and have found one with 9000m that needs some TLC which is fine as I don't mind a project. It's direct from an insurance co so no idea on how it got damaged. Pics attached.

It's been dropped on the LHS, but broken the clutch cover on the RHS (no other damage to RHS at all). I'm trying to work out how this might have happened to understand what the engine damage might be - my thoughts are:

- clutch blew making the rider drop the bike or
- something else blew in the engine and a piece of something got stuck between the clutch and cover, then rider drops bike or
- rider dropped the bike which caused the clutch pushrod to somehow push the clutch into the cover and break it (is this even possible?)

None of these seem likely to me but interested in your thoughts? As far as I know these engines are pretty solid (I've owned 2 others including one that I rebuilt after an accident) so I can't think of a logical scenario?

Any ideas appreciated?

Cheers

 

The damage might not of happened at the same time. Might be 2 separate incidents.

 

Clutch blew making the rider drop it, did the ins.company tell you this?
Sounds and smells like fish.
How much$$$ ?

 

Sow shipped his bike over the pond?

 

That's a good point. I wonder what on its own would damage the clutch cover like that?


Duccman - The insurance Co hasn't said anything at all, I'm trying to guess at what might have happened to help me understand the scale of the engine damage. Oh and it's the equivalent of 1200 USD.

 

Both (RHS+LHS) sets of damage look to be of similar vintage - so I would suspect its probably just one accident.

If the number plate is still attached then maybe run a RAC datacheck to see who the recorded owner is so you can contact them and find out exactly what happened from them. As it stands my guess is something BIG like a truck pulled out in front of the bike whilst it was barrelling down the road, the rider spotted the looming crash and laid the bike on its side and bailed - leaving the bike to slide on its LHS violently into the large vehicle at which point something on the underside of the truck ripped that large hole into the RHS. Those RHS marks show what appears to be scraping damage caused by being suddenly wedged against something.

As you say neither you nor the seller know what if any damage was inflicted on the engine. If it ran without oil for any time it would be worthless - so buying it means taking a big risk and provides grounds for a cheeky bid. If you can get it for £150 and it would make a fair project. Remember you can buy similar running and undamaged bikes on autotrader from £1,300. I would not bid more than the roughly £150 you could get if its really dead and you end up having to sell the lights, wheels, tyres and seat as parts on eBay and then scrap the rest.

My 2p - Take care





SkiMad

 

I had a bit of a prang a few years ago on my CB750 Supersport, put a small hole in the ignition timing cover. No other damage but the insurance co wrote it off because of the potential for dirt to have go into the motor. I bought it back for $150, replaced the timing cover, dropped the sump to check for anything that may have entered the motor, put it back together and all is good, but this is the thing, you don't know and it can be a crap shoot

 

Looks like maybe instead of a laydown something hit the bike with enough force to bust that clutch cover. The bike could have been parked with the engine off. If the bike was running, there would be engine oil evidence.

Any chance that that busted cover could be patched temporarily. Present yourself to the insurance agent as a serious cash buyer and they might cut you some slack on the inspection part.

 

Thanks for the replies, all good thoughts.

Where I'm at....

I don't think it was a fast accident. The fairing damage just isn't big enough. Apart from what's shown in the pictures the rest of the LHS is pretty much untouched. The mirror was busted off but the back of the bike, bar ends, levers, footpegs all look pretty clean. All accidents are different but when my last vfr8 hit the deck at about 35-40 there were marks on all bits that stuck out (me included, thank god for leathers).

I'm leaning towards the big and heavy thing hitting it while hardly moving or parked... big and heavy things can also bend stuff that I can't see so something else to consider I guess.

Even if the engine was running when the bike went down the tilt switch should have killed the engine before much internal damage could occur...? [edit - of course someone could have started it afterwards and caused damage]

Theres a chance that someone already replaced a few broken bits too which would be unlikely but possible I guess.

Lots of unknowns. Guess theres only one way to find out since I don't have the registration or any way of contacting the prev owner but it's a bit of a risk!

Need to sleep on it.

 

Good luck with what ever you decide....

 

Tell them I'll give them $20 if they cover shipping.

 

Forget it ,it's a 6th gen after all. Get a good 5th , they are the best .

 

I wouldn't pay more than like...$500 for it, knowing full well you may need to go so far is just kick that engine out and put a new one in.

 

Wow that is ridiculously steep ! Are they seriously asking around £800 for a banged up CAT D? insurance write off 6th gen?

At that price I really would not contemplate it. You can go on BikeTrader and pick up a similar vintage undamaged bike ready to ride away for £1,300 so in essence they are giving you only £500 discount to cover everything?????? Ok the mileage looks low but you really have no idea if the engine or gearbox have been trashed. Remember a properly maintained 6th Gen will handle 100,000 miles plus so don't over value that low odometer mileage - especially as you have no way of telling that is the original set of clocks.

Looking at those pictures even if there is no internal damage it looks like you have to sort out :
a heap of stuffed up panels,
damaged bars, damaged pegs and gear lever,
replacement clutch casing

Even if you can find them second hand you will be spending well over that £500 just on parts - and masses more if you need to get new stuff from Honda.


So that leaves nothing to cover garage labour (or your own time) or the cost and hassle of renting a trailer to collect the damaged bike, repairing it and then getting it checked and eventually passed by an MOT test centre, let alone the hassle of getting DVLA to officially re-register this vehicle in your name - and the V5c will always carry the price stigma of being a clearly recorded insurance write-off - which never command anywhere near the prices of similar vehicles with a clear history.

Add all that lot up and assuming you are really only doing this primarily as a "fun project" then you might justify making a bid of the scrap value - so £150. As for £800 - those guys are real pirates!

If however all you really want is a cheap winter commuter then there are better and cheaper options available right now which you can test ride and if you are happy ride away without any of the hassle you would be letting yourself in pursuing this write-off.

Sorry to be blunt but - do not waste your time on this POS.

Take care




SkiMad

 

find a well maintained bike that has maintenance records, owned by (hopefully a mature individual) that you can jump on and ride.
Deals are out there, take your time when looking.
Ins. write off..bells a whistles start ringin

 

So just to bring this thread to a close, I took the advice given and didn't buy the bike - thanks for the input.

I did however buy another insurance damaged bike which I came across (not a VFR). It cost me about half of what I could find one for on the bay, and after spending a total of £75 on parts (including £40 for hiring a van), and half a day's work went for a ride yesterday. One of, if not the best handling bike I've ridden in my 25 years of playing with bikes so pretty happy.

For me, the insurance route works coz I'm looking for a commuter hack (and occasional track day toy) that I'll ride into the ground, a few marks here and there don't bother me and resale isn't important. And in the UK, 'write off' motorbikes don't need any special checks whatsoever to put them back on the road - even the pre-accident MOT remains valid(!). I'm the first to admit this is wrong, other countries that I've lived and repaired bikes in require a full engineers report which makes far more sense. Of course there are risks but this time at least, it worked whereas the VFR I was looking at may not have.

Thanks again for the advice and happy riding.

 

Here in Victoria we have 2 classifications, repairable write off and non repairable write off. A repairable write off costs $500 to get it off the register after it is repaired, a non repairable can not be ever registered again, is only good for parts or a track bike

 

a4c

Glad you went for a better solution. :thumbsup:

If you can find the time - the folks on here will be interested to see a photo of your new commuter VFR, or at least let us know what spec VFR you ended up with.

I guess if any damage was purely cosmetic and its no bother to you then get out and enjoy that V4 roar. At least until you become familiar with the bike maybe keep an eye (and ear) on it (as a minimum check oil water and tyres), just in case something else needs attention.

A big thanks for the update - on too many forums people just seek advice, but never provide an update on how things resolved.

Take Care ATGATT


SkiMad

 

Except that its not a VFR

As its a second hand bike and you never know what the previous owner's done I've stripped it back... lets see if anyone can tell what it is..!