My FZ1 under water too.

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Steve F

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Hi All
My block got hit with the flood badly here in central NJ. Lost the car and minivan for sure. Basement and garage were flodded but it stopped literally 3 inches short of coming into my living area. Due to a substation failure they tell us to expect power outages for another 10 days or so.

The FZ1 was in water almost above the tire. It got into the muffler and it's leaking out. The instrument panel will light but I didn't try to start it. Flo (Porgressive) is coming to look at it on Tuesday. The brake rotors are rusted pretty good already. My neighbor's Harley was completely submerged. As well as another neighbor's V-Max & BMW-1100. Most of my gear is soaked.

Luckily, unlike like so many of my neighbors, I had no major damage to my home. They came to my porch in a raft and asked us if we wanted to leave.

I'll let you know how I make out.
 
Steve F said:
Hi All
My block got hit with the flood badly here in central NJ. Lost the car and minivan for sure. Basement and garage were flodded but it stopped literally 3 inches short of coming into my living area. Due to a substation failure they tell us to expect power outages for another 10 days or so.

The FZ1 was in water almost above the tire. It got into the muffler and it's leaking out. The instrument panel will light but I didn't try to start it. Flo (Porgressive) is coming to look at it on Tuesday. The brake rotors are rusted pretty good already. My neighbor's Harley was completely submerged. As well as another neighbor's V-Max & BMW-1100. Most of my gear is soaked.

Luckily, unlike like so many of my neighbors, I had no major damage to my home. They came to my porch in a raft and asked us if we wanted to leave.

I'll let you know how I make out.
Click to expand...

I hear progressive totals a lot of stuff out, but people are often satisfied with the results.
 
Glad you made it through with (relatively) minor damage. Sound like you fared out better than many others. Not to diminish your loss, I can't imagine having to deal with a mess like this and the loss all involved have suffered. I wish a speedy recovery to all, and hope your bikes (and houses and cars etc...) are back to tip top shape sooner than later.
 
Sorry to hear that Steve. Hopefully the water wasn't high enough to make it into the cylinder head. It may just be you'll have to remove the exhaust to get any standing water out of there. Sorry about the cars though. What a sucky storm it was. Total devastation around Jersey, LI, and Staten Island.
 
Thanks Guys.

Hi Billy, I hope so. Shopping for a new bike in the spring would be fun but I'd miss the FZ badly. I hope it can be saved.
 
Hi All
I have some great news but I also need advice.

The insurance totaled the bike. I have to decide whether I want to take the total value and allow them to take the bike, or, if I want to keep the bike and take less money.

I had it towed to the dealer I bought it from. They looked it over and said the bike will be fine. They changed the oil, drained water out of the pipes and said I'm good to go.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely totally thrilled my beloved FZ will be on the road again but I'm a little hesitant to shout a big "HURRAY !!" just yet. Here's where I need advice. Remember, as much as I love riding, I'm not much of a mechanic.

They seem to make no big deal about the rotors and chain being rusted. I know they can be cleaned. But shouldn't the brake lines be replaced? I assume they're rusted too. Also do you think the muffler will be OK? The bike was on the center stand and the water came up almost to the top of the tire. It got in the muffler but they drained it.

The bike is hard to roll now because of rust. They told me things would loosen up after cleaning the chain. But aren't there greased bearings on the axle that need to be removed and replaced or cleaned?


So, what do you think? What would you do to restore the bike? Is there anything else I should be concerned with? Thanks for your help.
 
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I think the question is down to money. Which route would give you the most benefit at the least cost? I have no doubt that the bike could be brought back to perfect condition at the dealership but if you're having to pay the whole settlement out to have them fix it, maybe it's easier just to get a new one?

What are their offers?
 
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Like Dustin said, if their offer leaves you room to pick up a newer bike, I'd let them have it. The last thing you want is to have issues with electronics down the line. ECU's, relays, lights, fuse boxes, and anything else my have issues over time unless fully cleaned. Do you want to go by what the mechanic says? It's not his bike and no matter how good he is, he can't possibly know what may go wrong in the future. If taking the "totaled" route gets you enough for a new ride I would go for it. You may save headaches and money in the long run. Just my :2cents: of course.
 
I don't even know why this is a question .... GET RID OF THAT BIKE. A rusted chain and now hard to roll does not indicate a bike 'good to go'. You will have problems down the road with corrosion. Take a settlement check and get a new bike, you do not want the headache of bike that's gone under salt water.
 
Well, they'll give me $6,100 if they take the bike. They'll give me $4,600 if I keep it.

I just laid out money for two new vehicles so if the bike can be fixed I'd like to keep it. The $4,600. will certainly cover any repairs and buy all the replacement gear. But like you said, will there be problems looming down the road?

As far as I can tell the water didn't get into anything electrical except for the EXUP valve. As you know it's located down low ahead of the muffler. It was submerged for sure.
 
It's a tricky situation. If you are positive that water didn't get into any of the expensive electronics, maybe you're ok with having it repaired. Keeping the bike & getting $4600 in your pocket is a pretty attractive option. It's a risk but if it was me, I would probably make a judgement call on that based on what damage I think may have been done.

I certainly have had my own bikes covered in salt and sand and drenched in nasty winter stuff and deep puddles but never had them submerged up to the wheels in salt water. People from sunny climates might be deathly afraid of salt & water & stuff but I think bikes are more durable than that, within reason.

To be honest, the $4600 payout is more than enough to get yourself another FZ1 on the used market. You could get a new-to-you gen 2 and part out your salt-water one in your free time. Or sell it as-is to someone else to repair.
 
If you really like the bike, then keep it. I would go ahead and replace all the bearings that were submerged. (wheels, linkage, swingarm) They were probably due anyway.
 
Yup, get rid of the bike. Now you have a salvage title due to a flood. Plus the repairs the bike needs. Almost to the top of the wheels is almost to the top of the engine. Doesn't take long to do some major damage. Not to mention it was salt water. Get rid of it, take the out while you have one.
 
Just make sure you don't buy a used bike someone else has had written off for the same reason.... No point swapping one flood damaged bike for another.

We had a lot of cheep cars up for sale here in Australia after the Brisbane floods. Dodgy car dealers were buying them cheep in Queensland and shipping them to the southern states to sell them.
 
More thoughts - no clear cut answer here....

Another aspect of keeping the bike is the bike's worth later on. It may be very difficult to sell a submerged bike - bringing it's real value to you at that time way down.
The full settlement they are offering you will get you close to a new bike today - in the off-season. I've seen some volume dealers offering new '12s for about 8,000. Talked to one about 130 miles from me. You'd have to add some transportation money - but that is a new bike - with a much better resale value.
I'm wondering if you could find any new '11s cheaper. I believe most dealers have finally worked off most of their old new stock. I was trying to find a new '10 and pretty much gave up the past couple of months. They seem to be gone.

$4,600 and keep it - and repair a bunch of stuff at dealer repair rates....(you said you're not a mechanic). They are likely to eat up a bunch of money - and, of course, a dealer would encourage you to repair - because they want the repair money. They are not being bad guys - it's just they want the business...
But chances of more stuff turning up bad is pretty high. It is salt water, after all.
Even if the bike was not submerged past the tires - if the winds whipped the water into wavelets and the bike was pretty thoroughly saturated by that wave and wind action - then you could have corrosion into upper level stuff, too.

This is not an easy decision.

I'm thinking though, if you keep it, your bike will become a $1,500 bike due to market - not wanting flood bikes. Maybe worse than 1,500.
If you can live with that and ride it as your own - forgetting that no one else will want it later on - then maybe that's OK.

Of course, buying new - you have a nice new bike - but then it will depreciate as new bikes will and you will lose depreciation. No perfect answer, here.
The best bike for you would be the new.
But maybe you could find a used for close to the offer money. A danger here is that you would buy a damaged bike close to you.

Good luck with this...
 
I'd remove any mods and put on stock parts, keep it totaled, take the cash and go get something that will give you peace-of-mind. You're always going to doubt/wonder what will give out next. Not such a big deal in a cage with four wheels, but two wheels? I wouldn't leave it to chance over any sentimental value. Ditch it and buy new/used reliable. :D
 
Thanks All. I really appreciate the advice.

Hmmmm, the 2013's are cobalt blue just like my rusted 07. Hmmmmm. I'll have to be extra nice to the wife this week.

Someone else also mentioned to me about the salvage title. I didn't think of that. I guess that is a major consideration.

Well, I'll get one more ride out of it at least. The dealer already changed the oil and lubed the chain. Now I have to go buy a new helmet. Let me tell you, that is going to be one sad ride.

I won't be able to make any firm decisions until Sat. My father went into the hospital last night and I'll be very tied up these next couple days.

keep the advice coming!
 
good luck steve
theres alot things that should be taken apart cleaned and relubed the different metals and alloys could get welded together from the salt .The exup unit and cables,any washers,nuts and bolts ,wheel and swingarm bearings.If you plan on keeping the bike you should have someone do those things soon. i hope everything works out for you.


Lonney
 
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