Yeah, still not sure myself how that all works. But with an old vehicle with little value to the insurance company that totals it, then someone re-buys it or gets it from a salvage yard or auction as-is, then it could be a perfectly good vehicle with a salvage title.
It does not have to get rebuilt to get re-registered. Just registered to the new owners as "salvage" and that's it.
I'm sure there's a ton I don't know about it, because I've never researched it. But it takes very little for an insurance company to total a car. Especially an older one. And since we don't know how long it's been a salvage (do we rockriders?) then it could have been years ago before they were worth more than a couple of thousand dollars at the most in the insurance provider's eyes.
I'm guessing that the only thing needed to get it back on the road is a basic safety inspection. And that only once initially most likely. Not sure about the seller in my case, and won't know until I try to sell it on later.
Paul