Well,
that's me got my Skorpion back quicker than I was anticipating. It had been
located almost immediately as the thieves has tried to set it on fire,
presumably as they couldn't get it started despite chiselling the ignition off
to get at the wires. I took delivery of the remains yesterday afternoon.
 |
| handlebar clamp snapped |
Initially,
I had been told that it had been burnt out and obviously assumed the worst.
However, when I went to have a look I found that only the tank had been damaged
(see picture below).
 |
| molten plastic |
How you can set a plastic fuel tank full of petrol on fire and
fail to completely destroy a bike I find hard to understand. I'm not
complaining, you understand, just curious. Anyway, having worked out that most
of the additional damaged or missing bits could be replaced from the depths of
my spares bins I set about arranging to have it returned to me.
 |
| broken screen and indicator |
The
insurance company were talking about writing it off as uneconomical to repair
and wouldn't guarantee that I would be able to buy it back as salvage. So,
first thing I had to do was drop my insurance claim. That way the bike was
still legally mine.
Next
up was the legal con that the authorities play on you. The Police no longer
recover stolen or abandoned vehicles, that has been farmed out to private
companies, and these companies want paying. So, in order to get my own
property back I had to pay the recovery company concerned 200 quid for
recovery and 'storage', ie. sitting in their yard. None of this money can be
reclaimed, so you might say that I'm not best pleased. However, all things
considered, it could have been a lot worse.
The
plan now is to put the bike back to Traveller spec. using all the bits I took
off a couple of years ago (see picture below), that way I don't have to spend any more money than absolutely necessary.
I will need
some new clocks, a new ignition barrel and to have some welding done on the
rack which has a broken seam, but once I get these things sorted I reckon that I
can have the bike back on the road over a long weekend should everything go to
plan.
So, if you're interested you can just look at my earlier posts on the process in the reverse order.
So, if you're interested you can just look at my earlier posts on the process in the reverse order.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteI would persevere with your insurance company re the Skorpion. There is no way they want to be left with a scorched MZ. A few years ago when my Saxon 301 was hit on a roundabout I said that the bike was worth £400 (fairly truthful) and I'd buy it from them if it was written off. Soon after I got an offer of £350 and keep the bike. You may as well try to make the best of the situation.
Good to hear Mike that the damage wasn't as bad as it could've been.
ReplyDeleteSounds like quite a racket having to pay to get your own property back. It's not like it was illegally parked, it was nicked and now have to suffer again by shelling out to some twits just 'cause they "retrieved' it and stored it.
A bloody racket and scam I think!
I sometimes think the local coppers are in cahoots with the local towing yards here in California. It seems they'll take their sweet time informing you of a recvered vehicle, meanwhile 'storage fees'are accrueing on top of the towing fee. It is quite a racket. Glad to see the fire stopped before damaging more of the bike. Good luck on the Triumph.
ReplyDelete