As I understand it the injured party should be able to enjoy the same circumstances that existed before the incident happened. If your machine has a sentimental value to you and you would ideally wish to retain ownership and continue to ride it despite the assessors opinion that it’s a write off you ought to be able to negotiate a cash settlement in lieu of repair. Ten years or so ago I had a spill after coming across a sunken drainage grating close to home. No more than 10 mph but the Duke ended up with a goodly amount of road rash on the fairing and the offside indicator, twist grip and front brake lever also suffered. Because the front brake lever clamped my fingers to the bar it dragged me with it. Breaking collar bone, shoulder blade and a couple of ribs. My machine also has a custom registration which I would loose if it were written off. All due to my inattentiveness. The bike was around ten years old but was a 30th wedding anniversary pressy from SWMBO so despite the assessor advising that he regarded it as a write off he agreed to a cash settlement in lieu of repair. Being reasonably handy with the spanners the only thing I couldn’t tackle was the bodywork. End result, all sorted with enough spare crinkle to buy myself a compressor. The reason they use the term “cash settlement in lieu of repair” absolves them of any liability if a subsequent event occurs that can be found to be caused by your poor or inappropriate repair.
As @Baza said buying back the remains is always an option but be careful and ensure you know, as far as possible, what you are letting yourself in for. I bought my mates 675r after he was chasing me on my 765rs. He came off it on a lefthander, which he is particularly strong on. Amongst the obvious was also a bent front wheel spindle , no problem but..... what else? Unfortunately, and totally unforeseeable, the forks were ever so slightly bent sideways. New legs and spindle sorted it but added significantly to the rebuild cost.
Yes I got caught some years with a Commando 850. Turned out the frame was bent at the headstock slightly. I got it repaired but it would of been cheaper just to replace it with another 850 which were cheaper then. Joe
