Should you buy a motorcycle with a salvage title?

My Opinion, NO!I would not touch it. It has been totaled and as such must have had extensive damage. If repaired correctly it may be safe. But if repaired incorrectly, it may be an accident waiting to happen. I might buy a salvaged car if I knew for sure what damage it had and who & how it was repaired. A motorcycle on the other hand is one vehicle I would not ever buy that had a salvage title.

My opinion:

The above statement does not take into consideration how easily an insurance company will "total" a motorcycle. It is not necessary that it have "extensive damage." I have seen bikes that have been knocked over and had only fairing damage (scratches etc) that were totaled by their insurance companies. (And yes, the bikes were checked out and verified to have incurred ZERO damage other than to the paint on the bike).

Also, I've seen bikes layed down, and likely had real structural damage that were fixed by the owners, never reported, and maintain a clear title today.

The point is, there are bikes with salvage titles that are perfectly fine, and bikes with clear titles that have underlying problems. It is important to check out the bike thoroughly no matter what, and to make an educated decision based on the evidence.

my 2cents, the dude is right, if a like a , touring bike gets tipped over too badly it could be 'totaled' because the repair of the fairing, accessoried and such would cost too much.. It could still be safe to ride if all the cosmetic was fixed. But on the other hand, if the frame was 'tweaked' it might ride o.k., at slow speed around the block, around town..but when you get up to speed on the freeway, then it might go into that ' uncontroable wobble' and then ur in deep trouble, because trying to slow down just makes the wobble worse, speed ing up makes it less, bottom line ur dead meat, ur gonna crash. Even just buying a used bike ( private party), is scary unless u are positive it hasn't been in some type of accident.