Crash Repair: What Happens After You Go Down

Damage splits into cosmetic and structural — and the split decides everything downstream, including what your bike is hiding.

First: the two kinds of damage

• Cosmetic — fairings, levers, mirrors, pegs, scratched covers. Visible, annoying, and usually straightforward to price from a parts list.
• Structural — frame, forks, wheels, mounts, steering stops. Often invisible from the outside. A bike can look like it only needs a fairing and be hiding a bent frame; the impact travels through the machine in ways the surface doesn't show.

This is why a real assessment sometimes means teardown: complete disassembly where needed to find everything the impact caused, not just what it scuffed. It's also why "it looks rideable" isn't a safety judgment — front-end alignment and hidden cracks don't announce themselves at parking-lot speed.

What to document (do this early)

Whether or not you're sure you'll file a claim, protect your options while the scene is fresh:

• Photos of the whole bike from all sides, plus close-ups of every point of damage.
• Photos of the scene if you safely can — road surface, whatever you hit, weather.
• Your gear — damaged helmets and gear are part of the loss too.
• The other party's and witnesses' info if another vehicle was involved.
• Where the bike ends up — if it goes to a tow yard, note which one; yard storage fees accumulate.

If it needs a tow: we don't run a truck, but we can refer you to local services that handle motorcycles correctly — worth a call before letting a car-oriented tow operator strap your bike badly.

How the insurance path works

1. File the claim with your carrier first. Get a claim number. (Haven't filed yet? Call us anyway — we'll walk you through starting.)
2. Get the bike to us. Ride it in only if it's genuinely safe; trailer or tow otherwise.
3. We document everything. A complete repair estimate — photos, parts list, labor breakdown — submitted directly to your adjuster. In most cases the adjuster never needs to visit the shop; the majority of claims are handled remotely.
4. Approval, then parts, then work. Once your carrier approves, parts get ordered immediately. You get a realistic timeline up front and updates throughout.

What we won't do is promise an outcome — approval decisions and total-loss calls belong to your carrier. If the carrier declares a total loss and you believe the bike is repairable, we can provide documentation to support your case; and if you choose to buy back the salvage and repair out of pocket, that's a conversation we're glad to have.

How the estimate (and the credit) works

A proper crash estimate is real work — teardown where needed, parts research, labor breakdown, photo documentation — so it's priced like work: the estimate is $199. Proceed with the repair at MTC and part of that fee is credited toward the job. The estimate fee is what keeps the assessment honest: you're paying for a documented answer, not a sales pitch.

Paying out of pocket instead?

Same process minus the adjuster: assessment, itemized estimate, your call on scope. Riders sometimes choose to skip a claim for minor damage — that's a math decision about your deductible and premium history, and it's yours to make; we'll give you the real repair number so you can make it with facts.

Crash Repair FAQ