Selling Uninsured motorcycle

That depends on your attitude towards risk. The owner and the driver of
a licensed vehicle are jointly and severally liable for any damage
caused by its negligent operation. If the prospective buyer carries
liability insurance and if that insurance covers him for damage caused
by using a vehicle owned by another with that person's permission, that
buyer might be a more attractive target for a lawsuit than you, but if
the injured party decides that you've got the assets and the buyer has
better lawyers, you may find yourself in court and paying for your own
defense, even if successful.

The technique that others have used, and since I'm not a lawyer, I can't
assure you how well it would work for you, is that if you have an
interested buyer, you offer to sell him the bike for cash with a very
short right of return, such right being conditioned on his returning the
bike in the same condition in which you sold it to him. The theory
being that if he has an accident during the test period, he is the legal
owner as well as the driver and solely liable to any third parties he
injures, and if he does any damage to the bike, you aren't obligated to
return his purchase price.

If this strikes you as too risky, you might want to consider selling to
to a dealer. You'll probably get less money, but since dealers are
agents of the DMV for title transfer purposes, you can be assured that
the transaction won't come back to bite you.

Rich, Urban Biker

 

thanks for the response, what do you think about reinsuring the bike just
so
I can sell it?
I'd probably get way more for it that way.

 

I don't think insurance is transferrable, if that's what you're
thinking. When you sell the bike the insurance disappears, so your
having it insured doesn't increase its value.

You might check into insuring the bike for liability only. I get my
bike insurance from Progressive. When I bought a new (to me) bike
this year I insured it for comp & collision. I was meaning to sell
the old bike, but just out curiosity I asked for a quote to insure it
for liability only as a 2nd bike. It was $33 a year! So I kept it.

But I still like the idea of selling the bike to a prospective buyer
with a reasonable right of return. It covers not only your liability
but also the value of the bike itself.

 

If you DO re-insure it, and then quickly sell it, can't you cancel the
insurance and get the unused portion back? State Farm does it that way.
I think...

mb
-----------------

 

For $33 I wouldn't care. But I believe Progressive will give you 6
months back at most (don't quote me on that). So it would be $17.50.
Cheap enough, I'd say.

 

blazing laser <none> wrote in 4ax.com:

No offense, but why in the HECK does anyone on this list continue to
listen to conjecture and BS.

"I don't think" doesn't that literally translate to "I have no
freakin Idea, and I am just talking out of my butt cheeks"???


Guy who wants to sell bike: NO. Your insurance does NOT cover another
rider, unless you specifically paid for it

Look at Kesti's post on how to sell a bike. this is the ONLY correct way
to do it in this godforsaken state. GET paid. The bike is sold, he
has x amount of time to bring it back. You will be more than happy to
ride it to his mechanic, etc.....


but please, if you do not KNOW, with authority you are willing to bet a
body part on, don't post crap and conjecture. It just wastes time.

 

Well, that would be to ASSume that the exact opposite rule applies to MC
insurance than CAGE insurance.

The vehicle carries the insurance. Not the driver.

mb
-------------------

 

I'm not an expert. I know how MY insurance works but I don't know if
they all work that way.

MY insurance does cover other riders. Didn't cost extra, it's just
how the policy works.

I just wanted to warn the OP that being insured does not make the bike
more valuable since the insurance policy is nullified when the bike
changes hands.

 

Sort of. Liability attaches to both the owner and the operator (with
owner's permission) of a motor vehicle. Auto liability coverage
generally applies in either case, covering the incidental use of someone
else's vehicle and damage caused by your vehicle when driven by someone
else.

Motorcycle liability is often written more restrictively, sometimes
covering you when driving other motorcycles and sometimes covering
others' use of your motorcycle. It does not cover damage you cause by
driving other than a motorcycle.

Keep in mind that even when your insurance covers your liability for
another's use of your vehicle, if that use results in a claim, it will
affect your rates.

Rich, Urban Biker

 

Mine, too. I checked.

Correct.

 

Some insurance companies are reluctant to insure vehicles that have
spent any length of time uninsured, however. I don't know whether this
is a problem with motorcycles, but I ran into it once with a car...

Al Moore
DoD 734

 

will you let a prospective purchaser take your bike for a ride?

 

Depends on the prospective purchaser. Just because my insurance covers
him/her doesn't mean I have no regard for my bike!

 

Does the insurance cover the bike - or just "The othe Guy"?

 

will you let a prospective purchaser take your bike for a ride?

ME, I got a new stunt I need to learn. DDD