Well it was bound to happen and it did. My old buddy from Elk Mountain, Wyoming called me and had finally had some weather worth riding in. At 7,000 feet, his place sits pretty high and Spring comes late in those mountains, but they’d gotten up to 66 degrees last weekend and he’d drug the ‘Glide out and put some miles on it.
As you guys up north are finally rescuing bikes from garages and basements and sheds all over the North Country, I wanted to share a little nugget that I recently learned from my insurance company.
You need to sit down with your insurance guy soon.
See, insurance, even if you never use it, goes up a little bit each year. It’s like an excuse from your first wife – “I only gained five pounds this year…”
Yeah, but after ten years, that is a lot of extra cushion…
I bet you’ve got some cushion in your motorcycle coverage, too, especially if you’ve had the policy for a few years.
So here’s what you do… go to some big carrier online and get a quote for the same coverage you have now. Make a note of the quote and then call up your regular guy and say something to the tune of, “Why am I paying X for insurance from you and company Y says they can get me the same coverage for Z?”
What’s going to happen then is that your insurance guy is going to get diarrhea of the mouth and start giving you tons of reasons, thoughts, and excuses and then, ultimately, cave in and give you a better deal, especially if you have multiple policies with that carrier or company. There’s a reason for this, too. The reason is simple – People are creatures of habit and when we find a deal we like, we stick with it. Insurance carriers know that and they plan on a certain percentage of their customers not paying attention to the premiums while they slip in a few extra dollars here and there.
It’s just business, nothing more. I don’t even get mad at my insurance agent anymore, I just call him a few choice adjectives and then we get the policy right and I go on about my day and he about his.
No harm, no foul.
So now that you have the bike all ready for the weather and the weather all ready for the ride, let’s take care of the insurance on the ride and make it a great season for all of us.
Oh, and one last thing – if your insurance guy doesn’t want to play ball, that’s okay – there are thousands of companies out there that are ready to take care of you and your needs, whether that is multiple policies, one lone policy, or anything in between. Remember, the best insurance policy you will ever buy for your bike is the one you don’t need!