2/23 – The Clouds Part – 13/14 June 2024

So yesterday ended with my bike being written off by the insurance assessor. Ron, a biker himself, was very understanding about my reluctance to lose this machine that I had had for nearly 46 years, and which meant so much to me. He went the extra mile to find out the possible options, and, since my policy was comprehensive and there was an agreed value, there were three:

1) Full payout of the agreed value and Progressive keep the bike.

2) Full payout less the residual value of the bike (estimated at $1,260) and the deductible ($250). In this case I would get to keep the bike but with a US salvage title meaning it was not legal to ride.

3) Drop the claim altogether, fix the bike myself and just carry on.

Naturally I didn’t want to give up the bike, so Option 1 was immediately running a distant 3rd. Option 2 seemed like a good solution, but there were a number of complicating factors to consider. Option 3 was clearly an option, provided I could get the damage repaired.

The problems with Option 2 were:

a) I would, effectively, have disposed of the bike in the US with the issues that would raise with the US customs. I would also have exported the bike from France which, no doubt would involve some paperwork that side also. This would be equally true of Option 1.

b)  The bike would not be legal to ride in the US, so I would have to cancel the rest of the ride and go home with the bike intact or, I could replace the frame and register the “new” bike locally (A bike is identified by its frame number) and carry on.

c)  In the latter case, I would then be returning to France with a different bike and probably, incurring import charges. I have no idea how the previous scrapping would affect this. The laws in France would allow me to repair my own bike if written off in France, but I don’t know if I could import a previously scrapped bike, even though it was now a different bike.

So there had to be a plan (20 years in Zimbabwe not wasted! 😉) and Option 3 seemed be the only way to go. I made my mind up and contacted a welder to come and reattach the steering stop. Meanwhile I set about seeing if anything else was damaged.

Dustin arrived as promised on the dot of 0915. He set about the job with little fuss, cleaning up the frame and broken stop, then reuniting the two with one or two slight adjustments to make sure the stop was level and centred. All-in it probably took him about 45 minutes.

The cost was only slightly more than Robber Pete in Baltimore charged me to change a tyre. Since Dustin’s job required coming to me, and considerably more skill than it takes to change a tyre, I was happy to pay. This just confirmed my view that Pete’s, and other similar shops are really getting their arms in. Everyone I speak to confirms and agrees with me, but they all continue to pay! 🤔

Then I get a call from Dominic at Progressive; this is the 3rd contact person from Progressive – Nick the first is on holiday and Ron is the assessor. Although I’ve already made my decision, I brace myself for the worst.

Dominic reiterates the options available and then he informs me that they have decided to pay me in full, less the residual value, which is $0, and I can keep the bike with a clear title!

The sun peeps out. As he goes on with some details, I interrupt and say, “Can I just be clear on this? You are going to pay me the agreed value, and I get to keep the bike with a clear title?”

“Yes,” he replies, and the sun BURSTS through, instantly vapourising all those dark thunder clouds that had been trying to spoil my day.

I GET THE PAYOUT AND I KEEP THE BIKE! How many times have you heard of that happening?

I can hardly believe it until I have sent him a copy of the registration book, given him my bank details and received, in return, a promise that the money would be in my account in about 30 minutes; it took 2 hours, during which I was holding my breath for the call that would say they’d made a mistake!

The only downside to this solution, I only raise this because Dominic pointed it out, is that I now have liability insurance only, nothing else, so if something else should happen, I have only cover for damage to other parties. So now I must decide whether to go with that, or to try to get another insurer. Is that a downside? 🤔

Dominic was very sympathetic to my situation, and I wonder how much input Ron had in the decision-making process. Ron called me a while later that day to see how things had gone, so I leave it up to you to decide. My guess is that they decided that the bureaucratic nightmare outlined above, was not worth it; at the end of a protracted process, they would end up paying me and then having to dispose of the bike, for $0, into the bargain. Much easier just to pay and let me worry about the bike.

Getting everything back together presented a couple of unexpected challenges, not least the physical one because of my knee, which was painful, still swollen, and unbendable; getting down on and up from the floor was not easy with one leg sticking out straight.

One brake pad was stuck, so the disk wouldn’t fit between the two pads. This required that I reconnect the brake hoses, dismantle the caliper and push out the offending pad. When the wheel was finally in place I discovered that the threads on the studs at the bottom of one fork leg were damaged. Since the nuts would not lock up, the studs would have to be replaced.

So, in the space of three days, I have gone from a bike with minor damage, to a total write off and back to an eminently repairable machine. You must remember that the bike was written off on a technicality, not because it was damaged irreparably. Now I just need to make a plan, to get my knee fixed, get the bike fixed and go collected my gear from Greencastle, before the odyssey can continue. Easy!

So remember, next time the clouds gather:

IT’LL BE ALL RIGHT IN THE END, AND IF IT’S NOT ALL RIGHT, THEN IT’S NOT THE END!