| Author | Message | ||
     Vito |
So here I am fighting insomnia and reading on the 2007 having 115 rwhp. In the middle of that I see a discussion on insurance, which is a subject near and dear to my heart, having been in an injury accident with an underinsured motorist. In January of 2004, I dropped almost 24000 bucks on my 04 Wide Glide. I did a Stage II Big Bore with 2.11 cams, and it has more chrome on it than should be legally allowed. Through my insurance company, they wanted like 1200 bucks for year around coverage. I went through HDFSI and they got me a rate of like 955. I went with a little higher deductibles, as I paid cash for the bike. By January of 05, my rate had dropped to 650, and my last renewal was like 420. They asked me what extras I had, and I told them everything-engine mods included. Didn't change the rate. Fast forward to June of 05 and I just have to have an XB12S Lightning with the race kit. I plunk down 12,931 dollars for this beautiful machine in thrust blue. Being as I live in Washington State, as long as I have existing motorcycle insurance, I am good for 30 days. I get on the phone to our new homeowners policy and they laugh at me. I call Dairyland. PEMCO and a few others. The LOWEST was LIKE 1500 per year. Finally called HDFSI and had them rate it. I figured I could get a multiple bike discount. Boy, was I wrong. To add the Buell to my Foremost plan would have cost me 1250 per year. So they shopped it around and came up with Dairyland-who came in at 750. I jumped on that. THEN the questioning started on this performance bike. Have you made any modifications TO THE ENGINE, to which I replied no. I added a race kit. They came back with did you put bigger heads and pistons in-no-just ecm, breather, exhaust pipe. Got it down to 650. Now get this-My Hog was up in January, so I thought I could add the Hog to the Buell policy. My Hog rate would have DOUBLED-PLUS the Buell would still be in the 800 range. It would seem to me, that there HAS TO BE some insurance company that will give you a multiple bike adjustment, safe driving record, HOG Member, BRAG Member, MSF INSTRUCTOR reductions. Am I being too simplistic in my analysis of this??I put bigger jugs, pistons, heavier cams, pipes and breather on my hog which costs twice as much, and they want to charge me 1/2 the price for insurance on that vs. a smaller motorcycle with a significantly lower value, but double the rates. I am 42, married, kids, mortgage, professional and they still wanna gouge me. Any thoughts? | ||
| Midknyte |
Short answer is you gotta shop around. Rates fall all over the map and will be influenced not only by your personal criteria but by where you live as well. So while we can tell you what rates we have, they'll be different for you even within the same companies. For what its worth, if you have County Companies in your state, they rate by engine size only, not class (Sportbike, etc.) - so it is very affordable (again, for me anyway). | ||
| Blazinc5 |
Hey Vito, Just read your post there and I see your in WA too. I am over on the east side near Spokane. Cheney to be more exact. But I am currently in the middle of buying a used 05 xb12r. I did check out my insurance before I told the guy I was committed. I use State farm for my home and vehicles. But asking them all sorts of questions about what I could do to further lower my next bikes insurance. It got me nowhere. I however am not to worried because they quoted me a little over $39/Mo... The only info they needed was where I wanted my deductibles set what brand and how many cc's the bike is. raising deductibles could lower it some,,(not much at all) But, aside from that,, nothing would lower it further.. not even alarms, certified safety course, or even being an msf instructor. Did you check State farm out? So far over the years of checking around I haven't found anyplace cheaper. And I know they pay out with little problem, Due to my wife's backing up problem with my pickup. Arg... But I too have clean driving record, professional, kid, and just turned 29. I guess my advice would be to just keep trying, your bound to hit something solid. Devin | ||
| Daman |
Give state farm a call. | ||
| Tommy_k |
Vito, Just did some shopping around myself. I've had geico for the last 6 years for all autos. Last August I insured my 06 lightning with them. 1K deductible, and right about 550/yr. Just yesterday I called and asked about adding an 06 Hayabusa to my policy. Busa would have been 1K/yr, but the Buell was to be reduced to about 424/yr.(multi-bike discount) Then they added that when I hit my 1 yr annv. for my bike policy it would go down another 10% automatically for safe record. Now, I haven't had any tickets in over 5 years, but I've had some in the past. Even had a Viper stolen which geico cut a nice check for. Everything is done over the phone in like 5 mins. Might be worth a try. I thought the rates were very reasonable. I'm going to demo a night rod today, I'll post what geico says about it. TK ps. 29 y/o, married | ||
| Kowpow225 |
25/single/clean record= $650/yr. at sentry aka dairlyland. I've dealt with several companies and can tell you that progressive pulled the ol bait and switch on me...you know, they offer a low first year rate and then bump it up 30% (or more) the next year when you go to renew. I had no claims accidents or anything for the past 7 years either but the rate still jumped. | ||
| Cliffb |
I've had Dairyland on my bikes for years. When I got a Buell the rates went crazy. I ended up with Geico with better coverage and half the premium. | ||
| Biker_bob |
Safeco $500 deductible as big as you can get on the liability medical coverage 06 Uly 04 Ultra 01 Heritage Classic less than $1100. When I moved from an "Urban" county to a "rural county" 7 miles difference the rates went down 30%. No tickets but they did write me a $20,000 check in 04 for a totalled Ultra. | ||
| Butch_xb9r |
I sell car insurance for a living and there is quite a few variables that go into your rate. Limits, Deductibles, Occupation, Age, Married/Single, Record, Where you live...etc. Some companies even run your credit score. As Biker_bob mentioned he moved just a few miles and his rates dropped quite a bit while nothing really changed except his address. | ||
| Cruisin |
I use Dairyland. They do give discounts for good riders (but I believe it only kicks in after you're with them - a good rider renewal discount), but also for HOG or BRAG membership (10%), MSF course completion (10%), and alarms (5%). Adding the wife's 1992 BMW K75S only cost an extra $40 a year - I'd call that a multi bike discount. I pay a total of $366 a year for both bikes (04 XB12R), full coverage. It is slightly discounted due to location (VT) - 9 month price for 12 months of coverage. I guess they factor in that we don't ride much in the winter. | ||
| Tommy_k |
Well, I bought the Night Rod today. My ins. went down to 480/yr on the Buell, and the HD is 120/yr. Total 606/yr for both w/ 1K ded. thru geico. They rule. TK | ||
| Vito |
Tommy: Congrats on the Night Rod-nice machine! I pay a total of about 1100 bucks with 500 deductibles, but I carry 100/300,000 on my coverages. | ||
| Jak |
Insurance companies are F'n crooks!!! Honestly, if I had known that I was going to pay $1 per cc I would have purchased the Ducati 749 I was looking at and spent the $500 I would have saved this year on something in carbon. | ||
| Brad_buell |
I have Dairyland as well. I live in Michigan. I started with State Farm the first year and things were Great. When I went to renew my policy.......BANG!!!!!! I have no tickets, or accident reports and it went sky high! Dairyland has my XB9S at just under $500. | ||
| Buellisti |
I am using Dairyland for coverage. Male - 40 - Not Married - no tickets - $250 deductible - uninsured/underinsured coverage included - border city (a majority of drivers uninsured) - $680 a year after discounts. Rate went up $24 this year. Motorcycle theft rate quadrupled and a kid wiped out big time on an XB12R, no helmet, dead at scene. Dairyland was the best rate I could find, and the good rider discount for the second year nearly halved it. If I were married, the rate would have been nearly halved again. Uninsured/underinsured coverage for medical and property added $150 to policy cost. | ||
| Vito |
Anybody in states without mandatory helmet laws weigh in.....are you paying more or less? How about those in states with higher or lower speed limits? | ||
| Butch_xb9r |
I live in Ohio where the helmet is only required if you have your permit and for your first licensed year. I have State Farm and I pay $360/yr for 100/300/50, un/underinsured BI/PD, 250 deductibles...etc. Basically "full coverage." I've also been with State Farm since I was 16 and have multi-vehicle/policy...etc. discounts. As a reference my first bike was an 87 Yamaha FZ700 and for the same coverages I paid ~$290/yr. | ||
| Gbr |
In MT we have no helmet laws. I'm 32, no tickets, and I pay about $300 a year for full coverage on my 04 lightning. My deductables are $500 for everything. I'm through State Farm. I also use them for my vehicles and house. No complaints, although I have tried to beat up my agent on my MSF Instructor and Riders Edge Instructor status. Hasn't helped, but I'll keep trying anyway. gbr | ||
| Dpoole |
Ohio, 04 12S, $275/year w/Progressive - We'll see what they say next year when I go to renew. They claim its not a discount, but I have two cars with them. 45, married, living in a suburb, good credit. What's funny is they quoted me $590, I called back and again to check that quote and they said $390, and when I called to purchase the policy I got $275. No changes to any coverage or deductibles. Go figure. | ||
| Vito |
WOW-quite a difference across the board there. I think I probably pay a little more due to credit score, and I know my last ticket dropped off, so it will be interesting to see what my renewal is in June. Now that my record is clear and the credit is better, maybe I can get everything insured together-cars, bikes and home! Gbr: Did you say you were a Rider's Edge instructor? Which dealership? | ||
| Vito |
I thought Montana had a helmet law for operators and passengers under 18? Has that changed? | ||
| Vito |
Tommy K: Doesn't Florida's helmet law require you to have insurance in order to ride helmetless? Bear in mind, I am not advocating helmetless riding, but this question is directed at how the rates are comparably to helmet laws vs. no laws? | ||
| Gbr |
Vito, We do have a law for under 18. I have always assumed most states do for minors. I teach for Yellowstone HD in Belgrade MT. We just started our program last summer. Looking forward to a very busy summer this year. gbr | ||
| Angelwild327 |
Vito, To ride helmetless here, requires you to have at least 10k in medical insurance (I might be wrong on that number) but it's medical insurance you need if you are in an accident without a helmet. |
