Rebuild title... does it really matter on an older bike?

[Hayabuser]

Just wondering what the consensus here is on an old bike carrying a Rebuild title on it. Does it bother you if the bike otherwise checks out? Lots can happen to a machine in 40+ years....

[Bucko]

I guess it depends on the nature of the damage.  Cosmetic damage is enough to total a bike even thought there's nothing technically wrong with it.  How you evaluate how bad the damage was is another thing altogether.

[Steve G.]

  A rebuilt title machine for sure should have a “reflective “ asking price, as you could very much see a “reflective “  selling price should you sell it.  IMO a reduction of 30% minimum from current retail price.
 No as far as the quality of the machine with a rebuilt status, I would have no concerns, as it will have been repaired and inspected by a recognized shop. 

[hardrockminer]

I may not correctly understand what you mean by rebuild?  If you mean taking a shabby beat up piece of iron and cleaning/replacing broken or worn parts....I have a lot of respect for people who do that correctly.  Less so for people who try to change the bike into something it was never intended to be style wise.  To be clear, I'm not anti mods.  But there are tasteful mods and there are garish ones.  Then there are the ones where the builder has no effing idea of the impact of his mods on safety. 

[Runningdog]

I would imagine that a lot of the bikes within our motley group are rebuilds, just not with an official ICBC "Rebuild" tag.

[kilowop]

I concur with the number of bikes our group has that are NOT official rebuilds, but in reality, over the years have become virtually new. The list of items replaced or repaired on my Collector 550 - '81 Suzuki , is extensive, and I've avoided adding up all the $$$ involved to maintain my rather tenuous sanity.

[Steve G.]

 Here is ICBC’s descriptions of the official status , meaning on paper, of each vehicle operating in BC. I do not know if each province passes along history status of vehicles entering BC . I do know that vehicle status does not cross over from other countries.

“Normal status: If a vehicle does not have a status of rebuilt, salvage, non-repairable or altered, it is considered to have a normal status. "Normal" is simply a term used for the purposes of vehicle registration. A normal status does not mean the vehicle has never been damaged or is in good mechanical condition.

Rebuilt status: This status is assigned to "salvage" vehicles after they have been repaired and have passed inspection.

Salvage status: This status is given to a vehicle that has been written off in an accidental loss, but has the potential to be repaired or reconstructed. The vehicle must be repaired and inspected before it can be licensed or reinsured.

Non-repairable: This status is given to a vehicle that:

Has been written off or otherwise decommissioned,
Cannot be repaired due to structural or safety impairment, and
Can never be relicensed or insured
A non-repairable vehicle may be used only for parts or scrap.”

[hardrockminer]

I spent a few minutes checking the ICBC definitions.  They refer to "vehicles" which technically would include motorcycles but the definitions seem written for autos, not bikes.

But if a bike was damaged in an accident and declared salvage value and was rebuilt, I would have some concern for the frame and whether it was correctly rebuilt.  That's about the only piece that isn't easily replaced.  I once had a Z1 with a broken downtube that I had welded by a qualified tradesman.  I had a procedure written up and he followed it so I had full confidence in the result.  But if it had been done by a backyard specialist with no qualifications....

[Runningdog]

Note the "inspected" description for a rebuild title, although the quality of inspection has some difficulty in quantifying or qualifying.

[hardrockminer]

That's one reason why I think the ICBC writeup is for 4 wheelers.  I don't think an inspection is necessary to register a motorcycle in BC.  I brought one in from Medicine Hat without any inspection.  I brought another in from Rocky Mtn House and they only checked the VIN. 

Perhaps Henry can chime in with how they labelled his Versys when it was crashed.  I think he rebuilt it and then sold it.

[Galactica]

If it’s 25 years old or older, I don’t think it requires inspection.  A while back, I thought about buying a Versys1000 in Alberta.  I’m pretty sure it would require inspection or some sort of certification.

But as to buying/selling a “rebuilt” vehicle, be it a car or motorcycle, caveat emptor.  Ya pays yer money, and ya takes yer chances.  Hence the considerable lower buying and selling prices.  The “rebuilt” moniker, once affixed, follows the vehicle forever on its registration. 

[kaw74]

That's one reason why I think the ICBC writeup is for 4 wheelers.  I don't think an inspection is necessary to register a motorcycle in BC.  I brought one in from Medicine Hat without any inspection.  I brought another in from Rocky Mtn House and they only checked the VIN.  

Perhaps Henry can chime in with how they labelled his Versys when it was crashed.  I think he rebuilt it and then sold it.

I had private insurance and the quote came in higher then the bike was worth IMO but fixed it anyways. There was no rebuild status on that bike.
I did tell the guy that bought it that it was in a accident..

[Hayabuser]

I may not correctly understand what you mean by rebuild?  If you mean taking a shabby beat up piece of iron and cleaning/replacing broken or worn parts....I have a lot of respect for people who do that correctly.  Less so for people who try to change the bike into something it was never intended to be style wise.  To be clear, I'm not anti mods.  But there are tasteful mods and there are garish ones.  Then there are the ones where the builder has no effing idea of the impact of his mods on safety. 

I specifically meant a registration with the bike listed as "Rebuild" as its status, meaning that at some point in its life, it was deemed to have more damage from an incident than the bike itself was worth. The question with a 40+ year old bike (a 1983 in my case) is exactly when did the bike experience this? When it was new and carried a high replacement value, or just a few years ago when a broken headlight could possibly be worth more than the whole motorcycle? Knowing this could help theorize the extent of the damage that caused ICBC to write it off.

Anyway, I was looking at a bike titled rebuilt by ICBC that otherwise looked quite good from having a recent clean-up, but ultimately decided to pass on the bike due to the status. It's definitely an albatross hanging around the neck of a vehicle, regardless of its condition today.

[Steve G.]

  For good and bad it has that status. It almost always means reduced value.

[hardrockminer]

That's a new one for me.  I've never seen a bike registration with Rebuild on it.  Didn't know there was any such thing.