Salvage Auto

Flood Damaged Salvage Motorcycles – Should You Buy Or Stay Away?

Flood Damaged Salvage Motorcycle
Flood Damaged Harley

Honestly, my first reaction is always to tell people to stay away. But, to be fair, I’ll tell you why you should consider buying a water-damaged bike. I will also tell you why not to buy one.

Five Reasons To Get A Flood Damaged Salvage Motorcycle:

  1. If you absolutely know what you are doing with a wrench on a bike. You’ve rebuilt motorcycles, done complete teardowns, and, above all, have infinite patience;
  2. People Do It Already. People fix flood-damaged bikes all the time. For example, motorcycle enthusiasts in the Philippines – a region known for tropical monsoons and flooding – have documented the process for cleaning Honda motorcycles;
  3. A motorcycle is not a car. Repairing a flood damaged car is a nightmare. A good part of a car wasn’t designed to be out in the open. Motorcycles are designed to deal with the elements. Therefore, motorcycle parts can be pretty resilient;
  4. Moving parts can be inspected, dried and repaired: engines, forks, and bearings can be taken apart fairly easily and set out to dry in a normal garage;
  5. You can do it on a budget. You can buy a flood salvage bike cheap. If you do the work yourself and find good cheap sources for parts, you can save a lot of money.

Five Reasons NOT To Get A Flood Damaged Salvage Motorcycle

Water In Salvage Harley Davidson Motorcycle
Look at the water inside!
  1. Water gets into everything. Water goes into any small or hollow opening. It floods the fuel tank and works its way into the fuel system. Liquid seeps into cables, gauges, pistons, bearings, cylinders, crankcase, plugs, etc.;
  2. Water damage can appear months after the flooding. Water gets in everywhere (see #1), and quietly corrodes from the inside. Motorcycles have metal, composite, plastics, rubber, glass, and leather. Water basically destroys just about every one of those things over time;
  3. Flood water is not just “water”. Flood water can come with salt water, fuels, oils, chemicals, sludge, sewage, etc. These chemicals can be really toxic to a bike;
  4. You don’t know how long it was underwater. Most articles about repairing “flooded bikes” are for people who just pulled their bikes out of the water. They are able to do emergency work, like hosing down the bike with clean water and emptying out gas tanks. Now, about these motorcycles being auctioned today, how long were they underwater? Who knows?
  5. Forget resale value, collision insurance, trade-ins or getting financing. Once that bike gets “flood” on the title, it will mark the motorcycle for life. As a result, insurers won’t want to touch it, dealers won’t accept it for trade-ins. Too much risk to insure or put on your showroom.
Flood Damaged Salvage Title Yamaha Motorcycle
Another Flood Victim

CONCLUSION

There you have it, both sides to the argument. Most importantly, I’d say stay away, if I didn’t have any knowledge. On the other hand, if you are a master mechanic with a lot of time, go for it. Otherwise, do not touch it! read more

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You’ve been looking for a used bike and decided to go the salvage motorcycle route. Great! Now, it’s time to actually get out there and start shopping. But before you bid, if possible, you need to personally inspect salvage motorcycles you plan on bidding on. read more

Salvage Motorcycles – Buying And Selling Can Be Fun!

Salvage motorcycles can bring a lot of joy when you get to repair one
The calm before…

Dealing with salvage vehicles can be time-consuming, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be fun! First of all, you don’t need to spend a fortune on this hobby. The more knowledge you have on fixing them, the more money you will save. Some salvage motorcycles don’t need much work and can be turned around in a week, which are the ones you need to make a business out of. read more