I Just Shopped Insurance

[Paul Barnard]

I am currently insured with Bike-Line and am considering a larger, better long-range sport touring bike than my current V-Strom 650.  I used their online quote engine to do a little price comparison on some bikes I've owned and some I'm considering.  Here is what I came up with.  Annual rates shown with 25/50/25 coverage.  44 YOA Male no tickets or accidents, no MSF certificate (took the class don't have cert...long story).  All 2005 or 2006 models.   Website is www.bike-line.com

Suzuki DR650       $172
Suzuki DL650       $203
Suzuki DL1000      $233
Suzuki SV1000s    $998
Kawasaki Concours $437
Honda ST 1300     $628
Yamaha FJR         $1321
Kawasaki ZRX1200 $727
Kawasaki Z750S    $841
Honda 919           $902
Suzuki Bandit1200  $825

Much of this seems like arbitrary risk assignment by the insurer.

The DL1000 and the SV1000 have the same engine.  The SV makes slightly more power but has a rate over 4 time that of the DL.  
The ZRX and Z750S are both sport standards with minimal fairings, but the 400cc larger ZRX has nearly 20 more HP and is cheaper to insure.  The FJR and ST1300 are both high output open class sport tourers, but the FJR is over double the cost of the ST to insure.

Anybody dare to venture into explaining this?

I had my sights set on a nice low mileage FJR, but at that rate I would have paid the cost of the bike in insurance in 6 years.

I guess i"ll have to shop insurance for the specific bike I intend to purchase with several insurers.

[keeptryn]

Since getting my bikes insured thru Progressive 3 years ago my rates have gone down drastically each year.  For example, my FJR was initially $800/year and in the third year it is down to $200.  I've even gotten 2 speeding tickets in this timeframe.  Not sure if Bike-Line is like Progressive in this regard.

[R Doug]

Depending on the insurance company, they catorgorize bikes by either engine size, bike class / usage, or a combination of both.

In the case of the SV v. DL, I'll bet if you look at the owner / operator history of those two bikes, there is a higher percentage of SV bikes crashed v. the Strom.  Though it's the same engine, you're really looking at a Pure Sport bike v. a Dual Sport.  When I traded in my Ducati ST3 on for a cheaper Daytona 675, my insurance increased from $480 to $950.  OUCH.  Geico saw the Daytona as a pure sport bike with no other purpose than to go fast.

FWIW, I just changed insurance companies from Geico to Dairy Land.  I was able to insure both my Daytona 675 and Yamaha FZ1 for a little less than I was insuring the 675 though Geico.  AND, I increased my underinsured coverage and lowered by deductable.  

Good luck w/ your insurance shopping!

[marc11]

You are not saying what type of coverage you selected for these quotes.  I am willing to bet the insurance companies are not just looking at engine size, but also weight, number of accidents, cost to repair (plastics vs naked), number of thefts, etc...

[CBRXXBLACKBIRD]

I think I will start calling around for some quotes.

[joe-r]

You have to shop around. Find a independent insurance agent and let them do the work for you. My 05 Concours cost me around 300.00 with Progressive Drive Ins.

[FlowBee]

You have to shop around. Find a independent insurance agent and let them do the work for you. My 05 Concours cost me around 300.00 with Progressive Drive Ins.

+1. You can do better than that, especially on the large tourers.  I pay about $325/yr for my 01 ST, and a little more than that for the 06 KTM  (State Farm, multiple vehicles, 42yo married male, $500 ded, 100/300/100, under/un, comp, medical).

[R1150RTMark]

FWIW - I pay a little over $300/yr to Progressive for my '02 R1150RT - full coverage.

[Blackbird]

Ditto independent agent route. Over the years, Progressive was hard to beat. Look at a chunk of deductible if you can afford.
 

[Jetpilot5]

Rather than shop multiple bikes at one company, my advice would be to pick out the bike you want and then shop multiple insurance companies.  I have my insurance with Pekin, but Dairyland's quote was within a few dollars.  Both were substantially cheaper than either Bikeline or Progressive.   There are so many variables to consider it's going to be tough to nail down why one company charges more than another for the same machine.  It will be worth your time to shop.

[R.Markus]

What's insurance?  

[TomGolden]

As someone already stated, different companies use different criteria when underwriting policies.

My insurance story in brief (sort of...)

male, 39 years, divorced, no kids, clean record
Coverage on both bikes is identical: Full coverate at 250K/500K/250K, $500 deductible

Harley - Foremost Insurance: $242/year
Yamaha R1 - State Farm: $1200/year

Now I was smart enough to get quotes for each bike from the "other company" as follows:

Harley quote from State Farm: $1800/year
Yamaha quote from Foremost: $2200/year

Why??? According to my agents with each company, they base their policies as follows - at least here in California:

State Farm - Based on engine size/displacement.

Foremost - based on type of bike, liklihood it's gonna get wrecked and need to be replaced/repaired. Typical Harley rider != stunter. Typical sport biker == teenager, bullet proof stunter extraordinaire.

[Cal24Master]

The best insurance deal I have found is the GMAC program through Rider Magazine.  I had been with Progressive for years and they wanted 1,200/year for 50/100/300 and $500 deductable, full coverage.  I got the same with $250 deductable from GMAC for $510, which went down every year by about $30.  I now pay $520/year for my 06 FJR.  I'm 48 with no tickets.

My son got  full coverage for his SV650 for $700/year 23 years old, no tickets.  That was a third with Farmers wanted.

Tom

[dagwood]

I've spent the entire morning shopping for insurance on my newly acquired 03 VFR.  Rates vary widely between companies and even quotes from the same company.  I started with Progressive and got quoted more than I paid for my old Busa!  After I tried a few others, I tried Progressive again.  I swear the numbers had changed.

I don't have a lien on this bike so I may just go with the minimum liability required in AZ.

[Playinthestreet]

I don't have a lien on this bike so I may just go with the minimum liability required in AZ.

Caveate emptor on "minimum liability"

[swordfish]

insurance is sure cheap in the states.My k1200s in BC is 3600$/yearjavascript:void(0);

[axelwik]

One of the joys of having a 30 year old bike is that insurance is next to nothing.  Last time I paid $74 for the year.  I just go minimum coverage because if I trash the bike it's not a huge loss.  

[Req]

I'm getting completely abused on insurance for my VStrom, at over a thousand a year.  I've got a speeding ticket that's due to come off my record later this month, and the moment that comes off, I'm shopping around again.

I also will turn 30 at about the same time, so that ought to help.

[forester]

I am currently insured with Bike-Line and am considering a larger, better long-range more powerful sport touring bike than my current V-Strom 650.

fixed that for you, since the V-strom 650 is just about as "large" and as "long-range" as you'll find, and "better" is very arguable.
 

Much of this seems like arbitrary risk assignment by the insurer.

The DL1000 and the SV1000 have the same engine.  The SV makes slightly more power but has a rate over 4 time that of the DL.

 They have the same displacement engine (not the same engine), but nowhere NEAR the "slightly more" power (91.2 hp vs. 111.2 hp), and the power:weight ratio (weight comparison: 530 476 - wet) is vastly different.  The performance?  1/4 mile: 11.94@109.9 vs. 10.9 @ 126.2  That is a very serious difference and does not seem so arbitrary to me.

 

The ZRX and Z750S are both sport standards with minimal fairings, but the 400cc larger ZRX has nearly 20 more HP and is cheaper to insure.  The FJR and ST1300 are both high output open class sport tourers, but the FJR is over double the cost of the ST to insure.

Anybody dare to venture into explaining this?

Now those examples, on the other hand do seem arbitrary at first glance.  One guess (and only a guess) is that these prices maybe based on past claims histories of different model bikes (the "fair" way to adjust premiums).

I had my sights set on a nice low mileage FJR, but at that rate I would have paid the cost of the bike in insurance in 6 years.

I guess i"ll have to shop insurance for the specific bike I intend to purchase with several insurers.

 Abosolutely shop for the insurance.  Personally, I like State Farm insurance.  Since a good friend of ours works at an agency, they are automatically ahead of the competition - but what really saves us dough is that we have a multiple car discount with them.  Good luck!

[cyeager]

Anybody dare to venture into explaining this?

Different companies use different methods. Some use straight displacement, others (most I think) categorise bikes based on use-type. I suspect that a company like bike-line (among others) probably bases their rates on crash statistics, which would take into account not only the machine itself, but the sort of people that buy a particular machine, which would explain the higher rate for the SV than the DL despite near-identical performance.