(Almost) Newbie Insurance for 750 VFR

Hi,

It is my first post... I hope someone could help me!
I am freshly arrived from France, where I had a Yamaha 600 Seca II and I
want to buy a Honda 750 VFR (old one: 1991 with 45000 miles... but still in
very good condition).
The problem is the insurance...
Have you got some good tips to give me... (forget about the online quote...
I don't understand nothing to all this....)?
I live in Palo Alto!!

Thanks in advance!

Sebastien

 

Indeed VFR's tend to be classified as "high risk" bikes.

A liability-only policy helps quite a bit, you might try
Mike Felder Insurance, http://www.7cycles.com/

hth,

bob prohaska

 

Check out State Farm. Their rates are based on displacement only--they
don't assign risk based on "type" of bike. I've found them to be
consistently pretty low. Even my Hayabusa was only around $50-60/mo for a
loaded policy, at least until I packed on the tickets.

Geo
--
George Mealer | DoD 2170 | '00 Suzuki GSX1300R
geo*AT*snarksoft*DOT*com

"Alright, it's Saturday night...I have no date, a two-liter bottle
of Shasta, and my all-Rush mix tape. Let's rock!" -- Philip J. Fry

 

Seconded. Especially when (like on a 91 VFR) you aren't going to want
to bother with collision and comprehensive.

 

You might want to try Progressive (http://motorcycle.progressive.com/).
They gave me a reasonable rate a few years ago (on my VFR), given
tickets etc. on the license, and have consistently dropped the rate over
the years as I have been claim / ticket free since then.

I agree with the previous post about going 'liability only' insofar as
you think you can afford to do so. Also make sure your deductibles are
as high as you can stand.

Have fun at Stanford

J

 

Armando Leigh's my insurance broker. (415) 861-3300. He'll help you
get the best rate (he placed me with Progressive), but that might not be
best for your bike and driving record.

As to coverage, others have suggested liability only. I'd go beyond
that and suggest you consider waiving uninsured motorist coverage. I
know that many will disagree, but I think it's a sucker bet:
1. It's very expensive for a motorcycle, even though on an automobile
it's a trivial item.
2. Many insurers will not cover losses caused by a hit-and-run
situation, which is a likely result if you're hit by an uninsured motorist.

If you've got health insurance that will cover your injuries in a
motorcycle accident, you've got everything you probably need. In fact,
if you had UM and they did pay out, your health insurer would likely
grab the proceeds, meaning that you are buying extra insurance for the
benefit of your health insurer, not yourself.

If, like me, you don't have health insurance, consider a medical
payments policy. It's not cheap, but I'm paying about $200/year for
$10K in coverage -- that should at least get me into the hospital if I
crash and burn.

Rich, Urban Biker

 

That's generally true, but it's worth figuring out what the rate
would be and doing some risk assessments.

Several years ago, I had a 91 EX500. I paid about $1500 for the
bike, so my first inclination was not to get collision/comprehensive,
but then I checked out the rates.

Coll/comp would cost me about $3/month for that bike. I lived and
worked in San Francisco, parked the bike on the street, and I was
a novice rider. I asked myself if I thought there was about a 1 in
35 chance that my bike would get stolen or trashed over the course
of a year, since those were about the odds that I needed to make
it a break-even proposition. [1]

I dedided that coll/comp were worth my while, so got full coverage.
When the bike was stolen a couple of years later, that investment
paid off handsomely.

Most people don't analyze insurance this way, but it really does
make sense to do so. Sometimes collision and comprehensive can be
a screaming deal, and sometimes they're a total ripoff.

As for the original author, I second the recommendation of State
Farm.

-Patti


[1] OK, I'll show my work. Assume a $1500 value for the bike, and a
$250 deductible. That means that I'd get paid $1250 if the bike was
stolen or destroyed.

The cost of the insurance was right around three dollars a month, or
$36/year. Divide 1250 by 36, and you get 34.7. If it's one in
fifty that the bike will be stolen/trashed, then it's not worth
taking the insurance. If it's one in thirty, it is. I think I
decided my actual risk was about one in twenty-five.

The bike got stolen about three years later. State Farm hunted
around for comparable bikes, and decided that mine had a value of
$2100. I was very happy with my decision to take full coverage.

 

bob prohaska handed down these > lines in ba.motorcycles:

I would stay away from Mike Felder .. the service after the sale just
REALLY sucks .. it's the kind of insurance you don't need, no matter who
Mike writes it from 'cause if you need help, your agent doesn't know you.

 

Could you elaborate, please? I've yet (sounds of knuckles on forehead)
to have a claim, so any data would be helpful.

Felder seems to have done ok by me, shuffling carriers on my vfr
from McGraw to Progressive as their rates shifted. At the time
I knew very little, perhaps a more sophisticated customer would
find cause for dissatisfaction.

AAA seems to offer good service but in Nor Cal they don't handle bikes;
makes me wish I'd kept my So Cal membership instead of switching.

bob prohaska

 

Hi,

Thanks everyone for your advice.
Unfortunately, the guy who wanted to sell me the VRF, just crashed it this
Week End...
So, I am still looking for a bike...

I will let you know!!

Have a nice week!

Sebastien