Motorcycle Towing Insurance

I had an unpleasant experience when my bike was disabled almost 300 miles from the closest dealer. I had three types of towing insurance at the time, but none were any use.

My Spot Satellite locator has a towing plan that comes with my upgraded service. But they would only tow 50 miles or less. No help at all.
My Safeco insurance policy also had towing coverage but it was limited to 35 miles. Pathetic.

Some have recommended the AAA RV policy because of its higher mileage limits. Although the AAA policy provides up to 300 miles of towing per year, it will NOT provide a 300 mile tow to the dealer. Instead, it will provide a maximum of 100 miles "per tow." To get 300 miles you would have to get three separate tows. That means you'd have to move about 100 miles, call in for the next tow, wait for the truck to arrive, get towed the next 100 miles, and repeat. And you'd have to be sure that wherever they dropped you between tows you had cell coverage to call in for the next tow, which can be problematic out West between cities.

Having learned the lesson the hard way, I'm looking for a towing policy that could bail me out of a similar situation. Looking for suggestions for a better towing policy. Any ideas?

Have you check AMA? They cover 35 miles but I never checked about possibility of towing greater distances since my commute is about 30miles each way. And it's only $50 a year!

Mark

The Honda Roadside Assistance Plan is supposed tow you home (within 30 miles) or to the nearest Honda Dealer (no apparent mileage limit to the dealer but who knows in reality). I paid $99.99 for 60 months ($20 a year) coverage per bike from Hondadirectline.com. The plan is registered to the VIN and it has to be a Honda. I've never used it so I don't know if they live up to it or not. From their website -

Honda Roadside Assistance

Roadside Assistance is available from your authorized Honda Dealer. You can purchase up to 60 months on your Honda motorcycle. Roadside assistance provides the following:

Towing to nearest Honda dealer regardless of mileage
Towing to any Honda dealer or your home within 30 miles of breakdown
Coverage in United States, Canada & Mexico
Locksmith & Extrication assistance
Fluid delivery (up to 2 gallons)
Coverage for a total of 4 service incidents per year
Over 45,000 service providers

Were you a BMWMOA member, you can get towing up to 100 miles - I forget what it costs. One of the guys on a recent group ride lost his battery and had his bike flatbed trucked to his dealer of choice - about 75 miles. He thought the alternator had also gone south and ended up having more than a little work done.

I would be very surprised if you can find a towing package with 300 miles or unlimited towing for anything approaching a reasonable price. After all, why not buy a bike and have it 'towed' home 783 miles away? Seriously, it costs the tow-er money for a long tow and AAA towing is a loss leader. My auto mechanic tells me that AAA does not come close to covering the cost of the tow, but not having the AAA logo costs him business to garages that do display it.

Hmmmm??? I was stranded last fall on US 95 on the border of Nevada and Oregon, north of a community of McDermitt. I shredded the rear tire and the closest dealer with a tire was in Nampa Idaho. A deck truck was dispatched from Boise, and 180 miles each way was 100% covered by my RV plus coverage through CAA, the sister to AAA in the states. Despite the wait and cost of the tire, I had great service with many callbacks to ensure I was safe and to let me know the progress of the truck coming to get my ride.

If you get the Premium AAA Card, you can have one 200 mile tow per year. You will still have two tows left, but are maxed out at 100 miles each.

I don't have the Premium, so I'm only good for 100 miles for a tow.

So it looks like a US rider is out of luck if needed one 300mi tow if I'm reading this correctly.

There appears to be no assurance whatsoever that AAA or any other two company would allow three separate consecutive tows for the same incident.

ST Gui said:

So it looks like a US rider is out of luck if needed one 300mi tow if I'm reading this correctly.

There appears to be no assurance whatsoever that AAA or any other two company would allow three separate consecutive tows for the same incident.

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I would think that AAA would consider three consecutive tows in as many days (or fewer) abuse of their policy and might take some action. Only solution is to buy a vacation home in Canada and join the CAA. Seems like a rather expensive way to go, though.

If someone really thinks this kind of insurance is necessary, a bit of research will find a company who will insure you. The premium might be exorbitant, but that is what insurance and underwriters are all about. They make money based on the statistical probability of any one occurrence. Do you know any poor, broke insurance people?

SMSW said:

Only solution is to buy a vacation home in Canada and join the CAA

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I'll trade a house up here and even pay for a years CAA membership for a place where snow never hits the ground and therefore year round riding. Problem solved! Seems AAA should review policy and think about the motorcycle as a separate issue in terms of sparse repair facilities...or maybe they have and we are such a tiny portion of the membership.

So your saying that AAA (RV package) left you stranded and wouldn't tow you?
I understand the closest dealer was 300 miles but there wasn't any other motorcycle dealer or shop within that distance that could have offered what you required?

"Only solution is to buy a vacation home in Canada and join the CAA. Seems like a rather expensive way to go, though. "

You would still be out of luck. The highest level membership in CAA still only gets you 200 miles for a single tow.

PREMIER RV
Highest level of benefits with extended towing for adventurers who enjoy leisure road travel.
$18.38/month
or
$198/year
Up to 320 km (1 tow)
160 km (4 tows)*

If you want to read about a towing story from H***
(warning....long and probably boring)

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?139091-The-tale-of-2-broken-wheels-and-a-hold-up-by-towing-company-(long-read)

I understand that there has to be a limit to the average coverage and that 300mi might be beyond the pale to an insurer. Still not much consolation when you're stuck in the middle of BF Nowhere.

My ST buddy was stuck somewhere similar in MT with an ST that wouldn't start. My GW buddy called an in-law in MT for help. The response was one option: Set fire to the bike and claim the insurance. Dark sense of humor but we all laughed. Luckily a bump start worked and a new battery was had.

I am not sure that "stuck in the middle nowhere" really applies. From what I understand, it means that the 300 miles would not be free. You would still get towed to your destination but you would pay for 1/3 of the towing cost of a 300 mile tow.

drrod said:

it means that the 300 miles would not be free. You would still get towed to your destination but you would pay for 1/3 of the towing cost of a 300 mile tow.

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Ok I missed that bit.

Still doing research but here's what I found so far:

AAA's RV premium policy, for about $106/yr. (in California), will tow you 200 miles in a single tow. Although the policy provides for additional tows in a year, you can only use 200 miles max. per incident, which is pretty good. There's a catch: If you're not currently a AAA member, there's a 90 day waiting period before you can use the towing coverage. Fortunately for me, my wife is a AAA member. She can add me to her policy and I would only have a 7 day waiting period before the towing coverage kicks in.

State Farm offers a policy that includes towing to the "nearest repair facility." Not sure that that means. Is it any garage or shop that "might" be able to work on the bike, or is it the closest "authorized" repair facility? I'm trying to get that clarified and will report back.

I'm in a different position than most of you. I've traded in my ST years ago and I'm now riding a Ducati Multistrada (I LOVE it!!!) So it's not just a matter of getting towed to the nearest dealer. The nearest Ducati dealer could be--and probably would be--several hundreds of miles away. In some areas of the country, you'd have to travel through several different states to get to the closest dealer.

Mandel said:

...
I'm in a different position than most of you. I've traded in my ST years ago and I'm now riding a Ducati Multistrada (I LOVE it!!!) So it's not just a matter of getting towed to the nearest dealer. The nearest Ducati dealer could be--and probably would be--several hundreds of miles away. In some areas of the country, you'd have to travel through several different states to get to the closest dealer.

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Sounds like you might want a "tow vehicle" following you on your ride! 4:

"I'm in a different position than most of you. I've traded in my ST years ago and I'm now riding a Ducati Multistrada (I LOVE it!!!) So it's not just a matter of getting towed to the nearest dealer. The nearest Ducati dealer could be--and probably would be--several hundreds of miles away. In some areas of the country, you'd have to travel through several different states to get to the closest dealer."

Not to mention the much higher probability of needing assistance

Ooops - SS beat me to a friendly jab!!