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Getting Insured


wayfarer

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Insurance isn't a product in the literal sense but I didn't know where else to put this. I'm (hopefully) going to be finalizing a deal on a R6S in the next few days and I wanted to start asking around about insurance. My auto insurer is a smaller operation and he doesn't do motorcycle insurance, so that's out of the picture. How do you guys recommend I find the best rates? Keep in mind I'm a total newbie at this. I've been with the same insurance provider my dad used since I started driving. Should I just go to a site like Progressive and choose the best quote? Any other sites I should check out? A lot of these sites want personal information, sometimes even your social, so I'd like to put this out to as few insurance websites as possible. What sites have you had luck with?

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I have found that when you bundle insurance: Home, Auto, Motorcycle, etc..., you get the better rates.

 

Keep in mind, insurance rates have a huge variance, and depend on a lot of factors...it's literally impossible to compare what one persons pays compared to another.

 

Spend a few days and shop around, that's the best advice!

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I've been with the same insurance provider my dad used since I started driving.

 

Bundle your stuff and shop around. If you are not shopping around and changing insurance every 3-5 years you are paying a lot too much.

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Progressive and Geico both have easy to use sites for getting quotes on bike insurance and both are pretty good on rates. Definitely shop around as rates can vary wildly and where one person gets the best rate might give you horrible rates or not even insure you at all.

 

I'm with progressive but I'm 40 and ride a Vstrom so my rates will be very different than a younger rider on a sport bike.

 

What Tonik says is true, if you don't shop around every couple years you are probably paying way more than you could. I don't do that enough but I have cut car and home owners insurance rates in half at different times by shopping around.

 

Craig

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just a heads up, from what i was told when i was with state farm, motorcycle coverage does not bundle or interact at all with the rest of the products (home, auto, other).

 

I am now with progressive (my wife started working there which is why we switched) and i'm with riders for bike insurance. rider was cheapest that i could find.

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Thanks for the tips guys! I'm hearing a lot of good things about Rider's Inc. and Progressive so I think I'll start with those sites and shop around from there. Likes like it might be a couple weeks before I can buy a bike now so I've got plenty of time to shop around.

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If you like, I have a guy that can quote from a bunch of different insurers. He's part of an independent agency but he doesn't have any broker fees or anything like that.

He got me a quote for my FZ1, full coverage including roadside, uninsured/underinsured, medical, theft/fall damage, $270/year. 29/M, and I have a couple of speeding tickets.

*edit -- through Progressive. I have multi-line discounts there.

Edited by Ryan_c_F
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I don't recall whose thread it was, but be smart about what you buy, versus what you want to pay.

 

un-insured and under-insured motorist coverage is VERY important (IMHO) for riders, because you're talking about payment for your injuries.  I ride disposable bikes, so I don't really care much about the other person's policy limits as far as fixing or replacing that, but I am not cheap to repair.  Nor are my passengers.

 

I paid more like $400/year on my '97 EX500, but I had a TON of coverage in case the other person didn't.  $300 difference is chump change to protect yourself.

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Ryan, thank you for the offer. I think I've got plenty to get me started here though so I will see what I found. It sounds like you ended up with progressive anyway so I'll start with that and Riders Inc.

 

redkow, that is a good point. I have fairly good medical insurance, so I would think it would cover injuries. To be honest I haven't checked that specifically though. If you don't mind me asking, who do you get insurance through?

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Progressive was very high when I checked. I'm all

for the pot smoking owner but can't support with high rates. State Farm is very competitive on sport bikes especially if you bundle. I have home, cars, bikes, life all with SF. Sure shopping around and swapping companies very few years can save you money but there may be hidden costs to that approach.

Edited by turnone
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Sure shopping around and swapping companies very few years can save you money but there may be hidden costs to that approach.

Including their willingness to pay in a claim. I probably pay a couple hundred more a year than I have to, but Met P&C was very fair about two accidents my kiddo incurred plus wind damage to my roof. They were cheap bastards about my busted sewage line, but alas I didn't have sewage and gas line coverage. Anyway, sometimes long-term customers are treated a lot better than insurance hoppers when discretion matters.

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Also, make sure to add different things to the policy and see what the price change is. When I covered my bike, the difference between 300/100 and 500/250 was like $1 a year, and adding on roadside assistance add like another $4 a year.

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and adding on roadside assistance add like another $4 a year.

 

I added trip interruption for 12 bucks a year. Paid for 900 worth of hotels, food and a uhaul when I broke down bad in Canada.

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I added trip interruption for 12 bucks a year. Paid for 900 worth of hotels, food and a uhaul when I broke down bad in Canada.

Let's do some math - $900 / $12 = 75 So you have 74 more free years of use. Lol! Pretty good investment!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm also in the market for insurance oh my bike, didn't know where to start either. Glad to see the several suggestions. I'll be checking out riders insurance for sure and comparing. Thanks all.


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  • 1 month later...

Just switched to Riders from the lizard. And I dropped my deductibles from $500 to $250 and added my 4 wheeler to my policy that I just bought and it only went up $20 a year vs what I was paying. So 2 bikes (full coverage ) 2 riders, one 4 wheeler(comprehensive)(all with $250 deductible) for $284 a year

And don't forget riders offers free roadside assistance.

Edited by 2talltim
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I also use riders

They cover track days, as long as you dot participate In a race.

If I remember right:

300/year for the s1000rr

86/year for the k1200lt

116/year for the grom

All comprehensive/collision coverage

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  • 4 weeks later...

Get this craziness: I just got off the phone with Progressive after intending to remove a 3rd motorcycle from my policy (I sold my '76 CB125S on Saturday).  To do so would have INCREASED my rates by $50/yr because it would have given up the 3-vehicle discount!  Isn't that nutty?!  It reduced their (and my) payout risk, yet they wanted me to pay $50/yr more instead of $76/yr less (what the CB125 cost to insure alone).  After being momentarily flummoxed, I told 'em to leave the bike on the policy while I shop other providers, and they seemed OK with that... so here I go...

 

Hey Geico and Riders...

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