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Cursed bike - repair and value question

853 Views 9 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  geoffrey2k
OK, this has become absurd, and I'm hoping it is just me still dreaming on Saturday morning and that Im not actually writing this. So - here it goes...

My 2000 Ducati Monster Dark has been run over while parked three times since I bought it in Jan 04. The first two, hit and run, no note, so I ate the $500-600 in repair costs each time for bars, levers, pegs, lights, etc. The third time, I thought, was the charm. This was in August of this year, and someone finally was nice enough to leave a note so I was able to file an insurance claim. The damage estimate, all told, including tank, exhaust, etc (all the expensive stuff) came to over $5000 with labor, so the bike was essentially totaled, even though it was all essentially cosmetic, and the functional stuff easily fixed back to full working order.

I took a check from insurance for about $4000, fixed a few things to make it rideable even though cosmetically it was a good bit uglier, and then finally, was able to get it re-inspected, and retitled as a salvage with a value of around $400. This was yesterday, at about 5pm when I finally had everything back in working order. Running great, just looking a bit worse for wear, but I was so happy just to have the whole ordeal wrapped up.

So, this morning, I go out on a beautiful sunny San Francisco morning for a ride, and sure enough, instead of the being perpendicular to the road, in its special 6 ft wide park with two driveways on both side, and no parks around it, where it has always been safe, well, oddly, it's leaning against a pole. And better still, a nice big pool of oil below it. Yup, knocked over again.

I checked it out, and the situation looks grim. The kickstand is bent forward, is unusable, hit so hard in fact, that where it attaches to the engine block, the stress must have been too much, for that is the source of the oil leak. Aside from that, the usual damage - bent bars, levers, cut grips, etc.

Now that my ride is officially cursed, any suggestions as for what to do? Id think that damage to the engine like that would be super expensive to fix. I have no possible insurance claim, since I didnt have collission on the salvage bike of $400 value. Is it worth fixing? How much could I get if it was sold for parts at 8400 miles, given the major tank dent, scratched exhaust, some left out in the weather elemental wear?

Any help would be appreciated. I'm really at a loss, and given the curse, and thinking it is time to just bury DQ (her nickname, DramaQueen) and call it a day.

:-[
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Somebody must be screwing with you. Run over that many times? Sounds like deliberate campaign against you.

Sorry, no constructive advice on this bike, but I'd quit trying to own one until I moved or had secure parking.
Man seriously, I believe you may need a witchdoctor or shaman or somthing. Thats full on ridiculous.

What do you say to that?
G
stop parking between cars might help, but it sounds like you are in the city so that might be hard. Part it out. I'm sure you can get some $$ back. Get a rat bike for the City.

good luck
I know all about having bikes get knocked over, and I think that you've been on the right track trying to continue using this bike despite it's curse. The fact is that if you bought a new bike it would be screwed up in no time, so you might as well just keep this one; a cool, yet damaged bike.

That sucks about the oil leak though, I can't imagine that will be easy to fix. Then again, it sounds like the rest of the parts (damaged tank etc) are of very little value, so if it can be patched up, I'd say go for it (ie not much to be gained from parting it out).

You can get a used kickstand for like $50, so if you somehow find a way to patch the oil leak I'd say thats the way to go. Otherwise, I'm afraid you are gonna have to stop riding bikes altogether, since getting a new one is clearly not an option.
Man, when I think things are tough for me, I read your post. I hope your fortunes improve.
I read about a Triumph club in NYC whose members say that knocked over bikes are a fact of life there. All their bikes looked like beaters.
I would hate not being able to have nice things on account of others negligence, stupidity, etc.
Maybe they won't run over you if you park on the sidewalk.
I pray that your bikes will be protected from any future mishaps.
JP
Cracked block. You're f*cked. Part it out. Get a crappy bike to hold you over untill you have someplace decent to store it.
Holy ****, that's insane. Part it out and get a 'tard. Park your tard wher you can chain it to a tree, pole, etc.
Sorry about your bike.
But being that it has been hit three times in less than as many years, i agree with alex.
And, as we all know, unless they themselves ride, people in cages don't watch for bikes!
Why take a chance on ruining another one?
IF you can fix it, ride it as is and buy a better one later (after you move or the curse wears off).
Thanks folks. The operative words I was looking for here are "cracked block." I know how that kind of thing works out with cars, and well, with a Ducati, I figured she is toast.

Some background, fyi : I live in San Francisco, and a hilly part of it, however, I have learned from the first two knockovers, never to park between two cars. Kiss of death. However, the third, I was in what is typically a safe area. Best of all, that person realized it and left insurance info. This time around, there was absolutely no reason to have any car near the bike since there are no parks and the space of sidewalk is nearly 8 ft wide between two driveways. And still, some moron managed to whack it. That said, it remains possible that there is a malicious asshole or holes in the neighborhood. Or heck, even some jerk drunk kid who decided to jump on it and topple it. Happens even in SF.

I had no intention on buying another since on the street life for a bike here with this crap and the weather means any new bike becomes a beater in no time. This was already cosmetically impaired when I bought it, so I didnt mind it getting weathered further. I was mostly wondering if it is worth fixing yet again, but I cant imagine that it would be with the type of damage inflicted this time. So, Im looking to part it and will probably post for sale here, or just sell it AS IS for whatever. I wont buy a new bike until I move, which is in 8 months. I figured this last fix was going to last me until then. But no...

What sucks is I just dropped $500 to fix it, $100 to retitle/register, another $50 for parking permit, etc...only to have it re-totaled in less than 24 hours. Just ridiculous.

BTW, as for anyone suggesting a garage, in my neighborhood they are very hard to find. There are some a bit far from my place, which is pretty inconvenient, and they are minimum $700 a year. Which is silly.

As for parking on sidewalk, I did that for a year, before my landlord called saying how it annoyed her. I kept doing it. Sure enough, $100 ticket one day, even though most bikes are never ticketed except if someone complained. I let it slide, three weeks later, another $100 ticket, parking on sidewalk. I checked with my neighbors, told them Id park out front, to see if they were ok. They were. And I always killed the engine before so no noise/exhaust. And always walked it out to the street to start...but....Guess who did the complaining...ya. Bitchy landlady. Anyway, so much for that idea.

Thanks for listening to me gripe. Any idea if anyone would buy it as is for a few hundred? Plenty of new parts on it....hahahaha. Oy...
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