is there a vintage bike insurance?

[meijer's trails]

hi guys,

i several vintage bikes and id like to ride each a little every summer.

im in the state of michigan, and motorcycle insurance used to be $26, then they eliminated six month policies in michigan as a money maker. and then the state catastrophic fund added a bunch. so like $250 per bike per year. so the price causes me to insure just one bike per year.

im wondering if anyone has a "rarely ridden" vintage insurance policy for a fleet of motorcycles?

thanks guys

[slipjoint]

Originally Posted by meijer's trails

hi guys,

i several vintage bikes and id like to ride each a little every summer.

im in the state of michigan, and motorcycle insurance used to be $26, then they eliminated six month policies in michigan as a money maker. and then the state catastrophic fund added a bunch. so like $250 per bike per year. so the price causes me to insure just one bike per year.

im wondering if anyone has a "rarely ridden" vintage insurance policy for a fleet of motorcycles?

thanks guys

I keep my vintage bikes with Hagerty - they will insure 1982 & older - I have full coverage - no deductible - agreed value - my 80' R100 = $114.00 year - my 1979 r65 = $103.00 ------ You might save more if you don't get full coverage I think i have heard a couple guys say in the 50/60 dollar range per year? My very nice 1930 Model = $125.00 1918 T Touring = $135.00 - you can get a free quote on line - tom

[flemsmith]

....American Collector's Insurance 1-800-360-2277

I kept an old Ironhead Sportster insured thru them for $67/yr. No comprehensive or collision..

roy

[jbcaddy]

Rick Parsons Cycleinsure 800-800-0965

www.cycleinsure.com rick@cycleinsure.com

[zoo mob]

Check with Haggerty, they are very reasonable, and as a bonus, based out of Traverse City, MI.

[Garbln]

I do mine thru "JC Taylor" in PA. They specialize in old cars and bikes. I pay a total of $144 Yr for 3 bikes.

[caponerd]

Originally Posted by Garbln

I do mine thru "JC Taylor" in PA. They specialize in old cars and bikes. I pay a total of $144 Yr for 3 bikes.

I've been with JC Taylor (actually underwritten by Maryland Casualty) for years.
I don't know if it's still the case, but when I first signed up, you had to list an antique car as the primary vehicle on the policy, but you could add bikes as secondary vehicles.

I was paying about $175/yr for the car and three bikes. They provide full coverage provided the vehicles are stored in a locked garaage.
You have to declare a value of each vehicle, and I've got all mine pretty seriously undervalued. The insurance would be prohibitively expensive otherwise, and I'm wiling to accept some risk, because I mainly just want insurance to keep them legal when I ride/drive them.

[Flipczak]

Haggerty and Grundy Worldwide have great rates for vintage bikes. The problem is the MCCA (Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association) fee. As the only state in the country with unlimited personal injury protection benfits, Michigan riders and drivers have been geting screwed for over 30 years. It started out at $3 per year and is now up to $146 per year per registered vehicle. So if you have a car and a couple of bikes you pay way more than your fair share. Try riding more than one bike at the same time! It's a messed up system. Of course they won't charge the fee per drivers license as the state would lose millions of dollars. Read this and be glad you don't live in Michigan http://www.whiteagency.com/Michigan%20MCCA.pdf

The only way to avoid the full fee is to register your motorcycle with a "historic vehicle" plate. The fee drops to 25% of the full amount.

[rayder]

Originally Posted by Read this and be glad you don't live in Michigan [URL

http://www.whiteagency.com/Michigan%20MCCA.pdf[/URL]
.

The last page was pretty interesting.
If you look at the figures from 1998-1999 the fund had a huge surplus and we only paid about $5/vehicle/year.

Then our Illustrious and exalted republican governor and minions declared that money really belonged to the people and we all got a check for $600.

You can see then that the assessment immediately shot up to the $100+ per vehicle we pay now.

I'd argue that is was working pretty well until then. I have a paraplegic nephew whose injury was covered and don't know how he could make it if the program wasn't there.

[don-vee]

I have 4 bikes insured through Dairyland at a grand total of $388 a year. But, I ride 'em. Last time I looked, they did offer antique bike insurance with restricted use. So far, quite happy with their customer service and prices. We'll see how they are (or hopefully not) if I ever need to make a claim.

[Otis the Sasquatch]

Originally Posted by don-vee

...........antique bike insurance with restricted use. .......

Note my emphasis. "with restricted use". Read ALL the Fine Print to make sure the policy covers your intended usage.

I used to be into Classic Cars, but I wanted to DRIVE them. (Disclaimer: I've not had anything Interesting on 4-wheels in a while, so no up-to-date info on who's best now, but the generalities still apply.)

Many companies I checked had some serious restrictions on their policies. Where & When you could drive it (To "shows", in parades, to club meetings. Just a "Sunday Ride" was not be covered), how it's stored (garage, at your home), mileage per year, and things like the famous "in attendance" clause.
Basically, the In Attendance clause stated that you (or maybe your buddy or spouse) had to have your vehicle in sight at all times to be covered for loss. Went to walk the Show Field and came back to a blank parking space? Came back to find a new dent or scrape in your car, and the car next to yours gone? Tough Luck. Not covered!
That's why my car club has to have it's summer monthly meetings at a place where we can SEE our cars out the window. Because most of the people have Hagerty, which last I heard, has that clause in their policy.

Can't find the paperwork right now, but I believe I ended up w/ American Collectors for my '72 Riviera. About 50% more than the other, but it had the features I liked. Agreed value, agreed mileage per year (I had mine based on 5000 mi/yr ), drive it wherever you want (except to work), and NO "in attendance" clause.





Thanks for bringing up this subject. I have a 1981 GS1100E Suzuki w/ just liability through Progressive, and I'll probably get full coverage on it this year (even though they don't get stolen as much as they did in the Old Days when everyone wanted them for Dragster Parts, and even though mine ain't worth much ). I would like to be able to go to places like Rocker Box or Barber, and be able to leave my motorcycle to walk around without worrying whether it will be gone or on it's side when I come back, so I'll be starting my research soon. Plus I'm hoping to add to the Old Motorcycle Stable.




EDIT; Yep, it was American Collectors that let you take a Sunday Drive. Here's a link to their "Antique & Classic Motorcycle Insurance 101" page. Doesn't say anything about the "in attandance" stuff, you might have to call them to see if they still allow you to walk away.
http://www.americancollectors.com/An...rance-101/421/








Otis

[timdog]

I am also in Michigan and have several bikes that only get ridden a couple times a year. I don't think we can legally escape paying the $146 mcca fee on each vehicle. This really burns me because when we are on our bikes we don't even get unlimited medical benefits like we would if we were hurt in a car. Between my wife and I we pay it 6 times a year.

[DesmoDog]

Originally Posted by Flipczak

The only way to avoid the full fee is to register your motorcycle with a "historic vehicle" plate. The fee drops to 25% of the full amount.

Originally Posted by timdog

I am also in Michigan and have several bikes that only get ridden a couple times a year. I don't think we can legally escape paying the $146 mcca fee on each vehicle.

As mentioned, registering the bike with a historic plate cuts that fee way down. And added bonus is the historic plate is good for ten years, as in no registration due every year.

I use Haggerty and have never had issues with strange clauses. One of my cars used to be stored off site, no problem. They are limited use policies but it basically comes down to you can't use the vehicle as regular transportation. Sunday drives are fine. I'm pretty sure the age limit is 25 years? Less for some vehicles?

[slipjoint]

Originally Posted by DesmoDog

As mentioned, registering the bike with a historic plate cuts that fee way down. And added bonus is the historic plate is good for ten years, as in no registration due every year.

I use Haggerty and have never had issues with strange clauses. One of my cars used to be stored off site, no problem. They are limited use policies but it basically comes down to you can't use the vehicle as regular transportation. Sunday drives are fine. I'm pretty sure the age limit is 25 years? Less for some vehicles?

Their rule of thumb is 1982 & older - I think they are great but then again I get full coverage - zero deductable & agreed value - I normally put on 1,000 miles a year on my vintage stuff since I usually have 2 or 3 vintage bikes around - no one ever ask what the current mileage is anyway. I store my stuff in my personal garage - I think a for around 100 bucks for a year with full coverage isn't out of line - tom

[meijer's trails]

motorcycles were SO CHEAP even with progressive when i was in maryland. 98 for a full year a couple of steps above the bare mins didnt eve drive the price up.

that part about not being able to collect if not in a 4wheel vehicle is like taxation without representation.

i dont even care about the actual insurance for my bike. only if some idiot tbones me and gets a handlebar through their temple, they wont sue my family for their injury or death.