Suzuki LS650 Boulevard S40 650cc single cylinder thumper. Not an expensive bike, maybe $3000 full retail cost.

Havent driven my motorcycle for about a month, so took it for a little drive around the neighborhood tonight. Started smelling burning plastic, followed by all the plastic melting off of the throttle cable (??). Then large amounts of smoke billowing out from under the gas tank. Great. Recognized a short, so I scrambled to disconnect the battery. Never had the battery out of this bike before, so took me about 5 minutes to figure it out and get the battery out and disconnected.

Has a bunch of burned out wires and probably lots of other damage. Yayy!!!

Thought I would have to eat the cost on this, then wife reminded me that we have insurance and it "might" be covered. I checked and I do have comprehensive, so I'm guessing that the ins company will cover the damage? My comprehensive deductible is $350. I imagine fire damage to wiring could be much more expensive to fix than $350.

I've never dealt with an insurance claim before, so this is all new to me.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bubbatime,

That is how I got a vintage Yamaha RD350 in California. It had a small fire and the owner had no insurance coverage for that situation. It looked horrible with black soot all over the tank sides. Bought that baby for $58 dollars. Replaced all of the fuel hoses, rewired part of the harness and was riding it the next day... The burn/soot look came off of the tank with rubbing compound. Had to repaint the air filter cover but that was it.
I have done a number of these bike fires. Utilize eBay for parts you need that are too expensive new... If you were able to shut it down and it didn't continue burning chances are it looks worse than it actually is. Anymore more elaborate depends on the model and what it hides under the tank.

Right around '79 I picked up a a BSA Lightning 650 that had shorted and burned most of the wiring. Not unusual for Brit' bikes of that era.
I suggest getting a new wiring harness and go completely through the electrical circuitry . Taking a wire brush to all the ground parts would be wise.
G'Luck.

quote:

Originally posted by Gambit:
Right around '79 I picked up a a BSA Lightning 650 that had shorted and burned most of the wiring. Not unusual for Brit' bikes of that era.
I suggest getting a new wiring harness and go completely through the electrical circuitry . Taking a wire brush to all the ground parts would be wise.
G'Luck.

There is a reason they called Joe Lucas the Prince of Darkness!

Mice and rats will chew the wiring if the bike sits for long. They must love the taste of the insulation. I had this issue over winter storage until I got smart and kept mothballs in the bike. The rodents hate the smell and move on to something else.

quote:

Originally posted by Kevmo:

quote:

Originally posted by Gambit:
Right around '79 I picked up a a BSA Lightning 650 that had shorted and burned most of the wiring. Not unusual for Brit' bikes of that era.
I suggest getting a new wiring harness and go completely through the electrical circuitry . Taking a wire brush to all the ground parts would be wise.
G'Luck.

There is a reason they called Joe Lucas the Prince of Darkness!

Lucas once claimed: "A Gentleman does not motor at night".

Bike insurance covers repairs? That would be odd. Maybe if there's evidence of a rat chewing through I could see that.

Tesla is making motorcycles?

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Bike insurance covers repairs? That would be odd. Maybe if there's evidence of a rat chewing through I could see that.

If my pickup burned down I’d expect insurance to cover it.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Bike insurance covers repairs? That would be odd. Maybe if there's evidence of a rat chewing through I could see that.

They absolutely should cover FIRES, but not mechanical breakdowns. But fires, yes.