New old K75

[CodyP]

Hello from north Idaho. Just picked up an 88 K75s yesterday. Grew up riding my dads 88 K100 RS that he sold a few years ago. Had a 2000 Yamaha R6 that I would about 5 years ago and found this guy for a decent price so I picked it up.
Side note, 1 verification question is fine, but 5??? really??? and front brake and rear brake are incorrect.....brake and brake are accepted. Silly.

OK, so I buy this bike, seller gives me the small tragkorbs, large tragkorbs with the liners as well, and sends me away with an older jacket and HJC helmet. 42K on the bike, it runs great. Needs tires and front brakes. Just found out today that it was a previously salvage (at about 12K miles) on the title which the seller says he didn't know (it says it on the title but not sure how I missed it yesterday). Told him about it and I'm torn now. He said he would give me my money back but I like the bike and eventually would like to do a little cafe racer style modifications on it (I'm sure you people will either love or hate this).
Stuck with what I should do.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Welcome!  CDA?  I was there a couple years ago, lovely town.  I need to get back there again.

I had a bike totaled a couple years ago.  I bought a frame from a breaker in Denver with a clean title and rebuilt it better than before the crash.  That is one way to get around it.

[CodyP]

yes CDA is pretty.

Well, I just don't know if I should keep the bike. Paid $1500 for it or give it back to the seller and maybe find another bike. I really wasn't looking for another bike much less an old K-bike but this one was cheap and figured I could have some fun with it.

[Laitch]

Welcome, CodyP! Silliness is part of the package along with hostility, condescension, moto information, mechanical instruction, deportment lessons, spiritual guidance and buyer's remorse grief counseling.

Knowing what $1500 worth of fun looks like would seem essential in the decision-making process. We all know now why it was relatively cheap. Maybe you can do a quick compression test, rear drive spline inspection, speedometer function appraisal, and road speed handling evaluation before the refund clock runs out. Just don't let the seller think you're having fun with it. 

[The Mighty Gryphon]

All is not lost.

If, as Laitch mentions, the bike runs well, has good splines, and isn't too beat up the salvage title won't prevent you from registering it and using it on the road.  It's entirely possible that the reason for the Salvage title is that the bike was stolen and recovered after the insurance company paid the claim.  In that case, you have a bike that is in good mechanical condition.

Here is the official Idaho information on salvage title/certificate:

https://itd.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/SalvageFactSheet.pdf

If the bike is mechanically sound, the market on it is at least $2000 + about $250 for the city cases.  $1500 is a good deal if you are willing to take on the hassle to register it.

[CodyP]

thank guys. I think it will be easier to keep it in the end since I already ordered new tires and brakes for it. The PO had a certified BMW mechanic that serviced this bike regularly so it was kept in good shape. I know I can register it since it was just registered last in January of this year. It was salvaged as a California title, then (I assume) fixed and retitled in Washington, then retitled in Idaho. I with there was a way to see why it was salvaged instead of the vin check just saying, salvaged. I really do wanna have fun with this bike and figure it's worth the money to me. Was just a bit upsetting that a) I missed seeing the "By Previous State WA Salvage" noted on the title and b) I wasn't told about it. The seller is 77years old and  a bit of a kook so I'm not sure he lied to me about it anyways.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Does the bike track properly?  Can you take your hands off the bars without it taking off for the weeds?

From what I know, Salvage Title means that an insurance company has paid a claim for the total value of the bike.  This could be after a major accident, or a theft where the bike was recovered after the claim was paid and the Insurance company took possession of it and auctioned it off. 

Usually, if the bike was totaled in an accident the frame will be tweaked and the bike won't track properly.  Those bikes normally wind up being donors, unless they get another frame.  The "new" frame is probably used and carries a clean title with a different VIN.  A bike built on that frame will not have a salvage title because it was scrapped with the old frame.

Since your bike has a good frame and shows no collision damage, I suspect it was stolen at some point and wasn't recovered until some time after the insurance claim was settled.  At that point, someone probably purchased it at auction and a salvage titlle assigned because of the break in legal ownership.  It's not a big deal, just a little more paperwork and a search of stolen VIN's to get it registered.  Since it was registered in January, a previous owner took care of the problem for you.  Everything is cool and you got a pretty good deal on a nice bike.

My final tip to you is to make sure those nice city cases are secured to the z-frames with straps or rope or you have something that prevents the latch from releasing when you hit a bump.  Those cases come off the bike very easily, and you won't notice until it's way too late.  I learned that the hard way.  Twice.

[CodyP]

Wow. Some great information there. Thanks a bunch. I agree, the bike hasn’t been dropped, everything on it is in great shape and on riding it, it does ride great. Tracks fine. Only issues are shuddering front end which I attribute to the front brakes but otherwise it performs as I feel it should. Didn’t think to have to strap the tragkorbs on but if I use them I will do that. Appreciate the tips and vast amounts of tidbits!

[Martin]

IMHO you've got the best brick made in the best model and best colour. K75s's are the thinnest on the ground of all the Brick models and looked after and serviced are virtually bullet proof.
Regards Martin.