I've skimmed most of this thread, so forgive if I'm repeating from above.

Regarding at what point a vehicle becomes salvage, I'm not 100% sure, most likely when the insurance company buys the bike back with the intention to resell.

However, in Colorado, once a bike has been deemed "Salvage," you get a certificate of salvage, which is basically an unregisterable title. That cert goes with the vehicle and is basically treated as a title. Once the state has deemed the bike salvage, the only way to get rid of the cert of salvage and replace with a title is to repair the vehicle to roadworthiness and have it inspected by CSP. Once the bike passes, you take your signed piece of paper from CSP to the DMV and those ass ponies will convert it to a salvage title. This is a registerable title that will contain an "S" or some manner of notation indicating the vehicle is salvage. Additionally, in order to pass CSP inspection, you have stamp the vehicle "REBUILD FROM SALVAGE" visibly on the frame.

Once you've got your salvage title, you can register and go about your merry way. My experience is that insurance will cover other vehicles you hit, but will not cover the bike. Part of the reason is probably because the value of a salvaged bike is too hard to determine well enough to allow the insurance guys to write a policy.