Buying a Salvage Motorcycle

Motorcycles show up at Copart and IAA every day: crashes, theft recoveries, and bikes that tipped over in a garage. They're cheap compared with cars, you can haul one home in a pickup or on a small trailer, and parts are easy to find. They're also easy to get wrong, because a bike that looks like it just needs a mirror can have a bent frame.

01Why bikes end up at auction

• Crashes. The most common. Damage ranges from a scraped side to a totaled frame.
• Tip-overs and drops. Low-speed falls that scratch plastic and bend levers. Often the best buys.
• Theft recoveries. Bikes that were stolen and found, often stripped or with a broken ignition.
• Flood and fire. Usually not worth it.

Insurance companies total motorcycles easily, because plastic fairings and parts add up fast on a vehicle that isn't worth much to begin with.

02What to check

The frame

The frame is everything. A bent frame usually means a parts bike.

• Steering head: look closely at the area where the forks attach to the frame for cracks or bent tubes.
• Frame rails and swingarm: scrapes are fine, kinks are not.
• Alignment: in photos, look at whether the front wheel lines up with the rear.

The front end

• Forks: bent fork tubes or a twisted front end are common in front-end crashes. Look at whether the forks are parallel and the handlebars are straight with the wheel.
• Triple clamps: the brackets that hold the forks; they bend too.
• Front wheel: dents or cracks in the rim.

Engine and cases

• Cracked engine cases from sliding down the road. Look for oil leaks or ground-down covers.
• Does it run? As with cars, "Run and Drive" or "Starts" is a check-in snapshot. See how to judge an auction vehicle you can't drive.

Plastics and controls

• Fairings, mirrors, levers, pegs, turn signals and headlights. Cheap individually, but they add up on a sport bike.

03Theft recoveries

Stolen bikes are often recovered with:

• A broken or punched ignition
• Missing keys
• Stripped parts (seats, exhaust, wheels)
• Damaged wiring

A new ignition and keys can mean a new ignition switch, gas cap and seat lock, or a reprogrammed immobilizer on newer bikes. Price it in.

04Check the VIN and the title

• The VIN is stamped on the steering head and often on a sticker on the frame. The engine usually has its own number.
• Make sure they match the listing and the title.
• Check the title type. Some states issue non-repairable titles for bikes too.

05Price it

Find out what the bike is worth fixed. Then price the parts: used OEM parts from eBay and bike salvage yards are cheap for popular models. Add up fairings, forks, wheels and anything electrical. Subtract that, plus fees and transport, plus your profit, and that's your maximum bid. See pricing a salvage flip.

06Which bikes flip best

Popular models with lots of parts available (Harley-Davidson cruisers, big Japanese sport bikes and standard bikes) flip best because buyers want them and parts are everywhere. Rare and high-end European bikes can have expensive parts.

A dropped cruiser with scratched chrome and a bent lever can be one of the best deals at auction. A sport bike with a bent frame is usually a parts bike, no matter how cheap it looks.

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