Passes & Canyons Blog

I’ve told at length of the crash I had on June 29 and its aftermath, including that my 1980 Honda CB750 Custom was totaled in the crash. I’ve showed a couple photos of the bike in the yard where it was hauled and some folks have questioned my statement that it had been totaled. It doesn’t really look all that bad. So I figured I’d discuss that.

When I was much younger I took the word “totaled” to mean that a vehicle was beyond repair. Later I came to understand that it really means that while it could be repaired, the expense to do so is more than the vehicle is worth. In short, the latter is why I deemed it totaled.

Before I went to the yard to look at it I spoke with my mechanic and he said I should shoot some pictures and send them to him, and he would be able to tell by looking at it whether it could be repaired. I did so but never heard from him, so I was on my on in making the decision.

First off, salvage yards like that are running a huge racket. By the time I was able to go see it it had been there three days and the charge was $135 per day for storage. There was no way I could get it out of there that day so just to get my own bike back in my possession would have cost me four days storage, $540. Keep in mind I paid $800 for this bike 37 years ago.

Then what about repair? I have no good idea what that would cost but I’m sure the fork would need to be replaced because it was definitely bent badly. I had case guards on the lower portion so the engine was probably fine. And while the right side exhaust pipes were fine, the bike obviously went down on its left side and that pipe was mangled.

Now, I know that my mechanic had an identical bike sitting in his shop for a long time because the owner needed pipes and was finding it absolutely impossible to find any. So I’m looking at paying $540 to get it out of jail, an unknown cost for repair, and a certainty that I’d never find pipes. Add to that the fact that the bike leaks oil and then burns it like a smoke machine sometimes, and my inquiries into fixing that ran into estimates of $3,000 or more. My estimate, based on some searching, was that before the crash I could maybe have sold the bike for $3,000. I didn’t have the work done and boy am I glad I didn’t.

So I declared the bike “totaled.” And I walked away.

Here’s the funny thing. I loved that bike. It was the first bike I ever owned and after 37 years I was still riding it regularly. I thought I’d never part with it. But when the time came it didn’t affect me emotionally at all. It was kind of a relief because that meant I no longer needed to deal with the hassles that came with it.

I had had that very same sort of experience twice before. The first was when Judy and I decided to get married and we bought a house together. I had lived at my old place for 17 years and loved that place. I thought it would tear me up to leave it. But it didn’t. The new house is much nicer and has none of the hassles that old place had. Like pipes freezing every time it got really cold in winter. I’ve never missed it at all.

And then there was the time last year when I parted with my 1999 Kawasaki Concours. I had had that bike for 25 years and loved it. But lately it had been causing me trouble and when I sold it I felt relief.

Apparently it’s OK to love something and to part with it. A very interesting life lesson. I guess it’s called life.

Biker Quote for Today

Life may knock you down, but a bike will always lift you up.