[500Fanatic]

So here I am, wanting to buy myself a motorcycle, but i've run into quite the problem...insurance.

I'm 18 years old and i've only got one traffic violation, but every insurance quote I get is up in the thousands! Geico was 4500 a year! Now, i've seen some of you sharing your insurance rates from State Farm, and they were quite low.

As I am unable to get in touch with State Farm at the moment, can any of you give me a rough estimate of what an 18 year old whose only mark on his record is a traffic violation would pay per year for state farm? Liability, full coverage?

By the way, I live in Kansas.

 

[knightslugger]

Whoa, KANSAS?! anything more than 1000/yr is ridiculous. what was the ticket? have you taken a basic riders course? are you on anyone else's insurance plans, like your family's house insurance? multiple car discounts? Good student discounts? previous insurance experience (makes a difference)?

4500/year is just.... insane. did this come from a local agent? Did you try progressive?

I'll tell you what i pay out. it's about $52/month for the bike, and $48/month for the malibu. I have to have both vehicles covered in order to qualify for the insurance.

I'm 24 Y/O living in central wisconsin
Full coverage on the bike (bank min.), liability on the car
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company
One ticket on file, comes off in feb.
Rates get cut in half when i hit 25 this summer (yay!)

 

[500Fanatic]

A Progressive quote was 2700 a year for me, and 1700 a year in my fathers name.

The ticket was for running a stop sign on accident.

I haven't completed any safety courses or anything like that for motorcycles, I want to find decent insurance and get myself a bike before I start spending money on any of that stuff.

 

[knightslugger]

you should take the BRC before you start looking for bikes. that way you can ride them before you buy them.

 

[500Fanatic]

I've got riding experience, riding friends bikes here and there, but I understand what you're saying.

I'm still in a dilemma with this insurance crap though, how much will getting the BRC done decrease insurance costs?

 

[knightslugger]

depends on the agency. some agents are only sub-writers, meaning, they are only affiliated with a policy because they bought the rights to sell it. they have no policy of their own.

I went through Rural Insurance and their policy was from Dairyland in Texas. it was wierd, but it was cheap... that is until i got my CBR. when i found out how much it was i damn near **** my pants. They said they only go by CC, and to a point they do. however apparently when there's three 'R's in the model name, they're each worth 700 bucks! LOL! not really, but they wanted way too much. something around 2500 a year. so i started shopping around. I went back the dealership and asked a bunch of the techs that work there who they insure through. every one of them told me Liberty Mutual, and i was kinda stunned! I asked why and they told me that they don't qualify motorcycles as high performance. STRICTLY by CC. hell, when i called up my agent and i told her what it was she said, "Oh, it's a small one. good for you!" LOL! i wanted to punch her teeth out for talking down to my bike...! but she was only going to charge me 600/yr for full coverage so all i said was, "...eee-heh... yeah, thanks." the catch was that i needed anouther vehicle or nothing was going to happen, and i needed 3 mo. of history on the car (it was uninsured). so i had to pay Rural Insurance $500 just so i could get a different policy. def. worth it though.

I'll let someone else chime in here though. i rarely feel that i'm whoring up a thread... but now i really think i am.

[me=Knightslugger]steps off soap box[/me]

 

[MrSciTrek]

If the insurance contract requires that "all riders must be legally licensed and endorsed"
the insurance company may not have to cover any accident- medical or material.

Shoot, when my daughter was 16 & had her Nebraska learner's permit the family went on a cross country road trip in a mini-van. She drove in several states. Later, I found out that states don't recognize/accept other state's learners permits! If she'd have been in a wreck or crash, and she wasn't a legally licensed driver, our insurance coverage would've been void. Near as I understand it anyway.

 

[Guest]

Progressive for me would only be $183/yr with full coverage and $100 deductible. I only have liability because the bike isn't worth much, and my renters insurance will give my $1k if it's stolen. I'm 21, married, own the bike, and have an at fault accident on my record.

 

[CerialPhreak]

Ill tell you this, to hell with Progressive and Geico! They both quoted me rediculous amounts. The best way is to piggy back your bike insurance on your folks car insurance if you have the opportunity. Im on my old man's insurance for state farm. Im not licensed, and at the time of us updating the policy i was 19 with no violations on my record, but court supervision 3 times. I think with just liability my premium is somewhere around 600 every 6 months in the chicago suburbs. This is just what i remember my dad saying, ill check for sure tomorrow.

 

[luke]

I'm 20 and had my insurance through Dairyland Insurance and for liability was $174 a year. Course, my ninja was a 95 and i just figured there was no point in me paying for comp for it. Anyway, I sold that bike and bought the 94 CBR. When I went in to change the bike on my policy they quoted it at $768 a year for JUST LIABILITY. I canceled my previous policy, grabbed my genitals in a crude gesture and walked out.
Ok, so that was all crap, but thats besides the point. I would say given that you are only 18 and insurance costs are enough to make you sick to your stomach, look at an older model bike that you don't need a loan for and would only carry liability on. Otherwise, try and have both your name and one of your parents on the title and have them insure it, then just pay them. Those are about the only two ways you can really reduce your insurance costs a measurable amount.
Shop around too. I looked up a bunch of online quotes and the most expensive I found for my CBR was $400 and the cheapest was $256. Big difference from over 700.

 

[TDK]

I pay about 130.00 a year for full coverage at Foremost Insurance co. Oh and tell the insurance co that its an EX-500 don't tell them about the little ninja sticker on it or call it a 500r, that is more money. I'm in ill..
www.foremost.com

 

[500Fanatic]

I pay about 130.00 a year for full coverage at Foremost Insurance co. Oh and tell the insurance co that its an EX-500 don't tell them about the little ninja sticker on it or call it a 500r, that is more money. I'm in ill..
www.foremost.com

I'll remember to call it just an EX-500 tomorrow when I try and get in touch with State Farm and Liberty Mutual. Because my father is military our insurance is through USAA, which doesn't cover motorcycles, they go through Progressive...that's where I got that 2700/1700 quote.

It's really frustrating when I keep reading about you guys paying ~300 for full coverage for a year, and i'm getting quotes back from Geico that look something like the cost of the bike itself.

 

[Guest]

progressive is the cheapest (mainstream) insurance I've seen or heard of. I have a '97 ex500d, and when I called Geico, the agent kept asking if it was "ninja" or "R" anywhere on the bike (my series doesn't). I agree with the others, buy a bike you can afford now (no payments), and maybe pass on the comp. coverage if you're willing.

As for co-signing the title/insuring it under a parents name, that might not be a good idea. Many insurance companies will ask for the info of everyone in the house, so the rates might still be too high for you. Otherwise the insurance companies might skip out on their end of the deal if someone other than the policy holder is operating it.

Worst case scenerio is you might have to wait for some of your marks to fade away / get a job that pays well.

 

[500Fanatic]

progressive is the cheapest (mainstream) insurance I've seen or heard of. I have a '97 ex500d, and when I called Geico, the agent kept asking if it was "ninja" or "R" anywhere on the bike (my series doesn't). I agree with the others, buy a bike you can afford now (no payments), and maybe pass on the comp. coverage if you're willing.

As for co-signing the title/insuring it under a parents name, that might not be a good idea. Many insurance companies will ask for the info of everyone in the house, so the rates might still be too high for you. Otherwise the insurance companies might skip out on their end of the deal if someone other than the policy holder is operating it.

Worst case scenerio is you might have to wait for some of your marks to fade away / get a job that pays well.

I fully understand what you're saying. My job does pay well enough to cover a bike, assuming i'm not getting 100% shafted on the insurance.

I really just want to know why my insurance quotes have been so much higher than what you are quoting. I know my age is a contributing factor...but still...$4500 from Geico?

 

[knightslugger]

progressive is the cheapest (mainstream) insurance I've seen or heard of. I have a '97 ex500d, and when I called Geico, the agent kept asking if it was "ninja" or "R" anywhere on the bike (my series doesn't). I agree with the others, buy a bike you can afford now (no payments), and maybe pass on the comp. coverage if you're willing.

As for co-signing the title/insuring it under a parents name, that might not be a good idea. Many insurance companies will ask for the info of everyone in the house, so the rates might still be too high for you. Otherwise the insurance companies might skip out on their end of the deal if someone other than the policy holder is operating it.

Worst case scenerio is you might have to wait for some of your marks to fade away / get a job that pays well.

I fully understand what you're saying. My job does pay well enough to cover a bike, assuming i'm not getting 100% shafted on the insurance.

I really just want to know why my insurance quotes have been so much higher than what you are quoting. I know my age is a contributing factor...but still...$4500 from Geico?

do you live in a large metro area? A policy can change dramatically just based on which end of town you live in.

 

[500Fanatic]

progressive is the cheapest (mainstream) insurance I've seen or heard of. I have a '97 ex500d, and when I called Geico, the agent kept asking if it was "ninja" or "R" anywhere on the bike (my series doesn't). I agree with the others, buy a bike you can afford now (no payments), and maybe pass on the comp. coverage if you're willing.

As for co-signing the title/insuring it under a parents name, that might not be a good idea. Many insurance companies will ask for the info of everyone in the house, so the rates might still be too high for you. Otherwise the insurance companies might skip out on their end of the deal if someone other than the policy holder is operating it.

Worst case scenerio is you might have to wait for some of your marks to fade away / get a job that pays well.

I fully understand what you're saying. My job does pay well enough to cover a bike, assuming i'm not getting 100% shafted on the insurance.

I really just want to know why my insurance quotes have been so much higher than what you are quoting. I know my age is a contributing factor...but still...$4500 from Geico?

do you live in a large metro area? A policy can change dramatically just based on which end of town you live in.

I actually live out in a smaller town, population of just over 5000 if I recall correctly.

I just got another quote from Progressive, $250 a year for liability, and $650 a year for full coverage.

What kind of insurance do most of you other riders have? Do you just go with liability only or do you get full coverage, maximum coverage (highest deductibles etc.)?

 

[MrSciTrek]

Insurance company price & service info would come in handy when I get my bike titled & licensed this spring.

 

[knightslugger]

you should always get full coverage. liability doesn't cover bike theft or anything because someone else ran over your ride. happens.

 

[Guest]

Full coverage for me on a zx10r would be $3000, a zx6r not much cheaper at $2300 with full coverage since they are high-loss items; they figger you're gonna drop it or it's going to ride away while your back's turned.

My used 2004 ex500 with liability only is $183/yr, I'm willing to take the loss in case of accident though many here are not. It had been dropped, both sides (unreported so it had a clean title), no sense insuring it for further loss.

Weigh your own risks! Decide if you want to fully cover a new bike, or economize with a used scratch-and-dent until you're ready for something more risk-worthy.

 

[fog]

Cosidering the Relative cheapnes of EXs why not just get a bond in lieu of insurance, to cover your liability and eat the damage to the bike yourself. Or just Min laibility and eat your own damage. For 4500 a year you could almost get another bike.

FOG