I recently co-signed a loan for a brand new motorcycle for my older brother. We purchased it in May of 2001. In August of 2001 my brother let a friend on it to ride and supposable he told his friend that if he crashed or broke it he would have to pay for it. My brother had two witnesses to it. His friend did not have a license or a permit to be ridding it. The friend is under 21 and lives at home with his parents. He ended up crashing the bike and going to the hospital for broke leg, collapsed lung, and broken arm. His parents told my brother that they would pay for the bike. They said this in front of five other people. Later after the kid got out of the hospital his parents tried going after my brothers insurance company for medical bills. Well the insurance company does not cover the operator of the motorcycle only the passenger. We only had liability on the bike. Well the total damage for the bike was over the cost of it, in which the cost of the bike is $8,500.00. There was no estimate written up on it. Now we are looking to take him to small claims court for only $5,000.00, because we are going to repair it ourselves. My brother started to repair it and pay for some of the parts. Now here it is February 2002 and we are now going to file in small claims court for the $5,000.00. I need to know if we have a case or will we loose out and get stuck having to pay for a half put together motorcycle? Also can I do that will help me win the case?