Insurance...your opinion please

[BikeSwimLaugh]

We recently switched all our insurance over to State Farm and my wife went and included EVERYTHING....even the quads, all 5 of them.

My 400EX has a yearly cost of $143 (value $4k)
The Kymco MXU300 cost $112 (value 3k)
my daughers 90EX cost $99 (value 2.3k)
2 little chinese quads for $73 each (value $500 each)

Okay, I already cancelled the little quads; no darn sense spending $73 per year to protect a junky little $500 quad...that's a no-brainer, but what about the Honda-stock?

Am I worried about theft? Not really...and certainly not here at my home where I store everything...and given as infrequent as we seem to be using these toys, I'm not super concerned about the quads being stolen while out & about during trips in the desert...but I have to admit; it sure seems like someone could come along at night and take them and I do have some friends and people I've met who have had their rides stolen, but I've met countless people who also say it's super-safe and they've never heard of anything. Course, these economic times may lead to more theft and such and picking on lone-camping people out in the desert certainly seem easy enough.

More then anything, the agent convinced us of the liability: if some friend riding the quads got hurt or if we somehow did some damage while riding them....you know the routine; they convince you that your estate, home and savings are worth protecting.

I had my XR350 for over 20 years and never had an issue...but then again, if something horrible happened with the trailer or a quad got stolen, I'd sure be pissed to lose my 400EX....your opinions please...thanks!

[riotact]

Yes,I would keep it on the ex for $12/month for sure.I'm actually doing the same now too.If something were to happen and someone ripped you off in the middle of the night you would be kicking yourself.Its bad enough for someone to rip you off then the kick in the ***** is you cant replace it if you dont have insurance.It is money well spent,at least in my book. :cool:

[mjc400ex]

I have just about the maximum coverage for my 400ex. It covers me if one of my friends hurts themselves while riding it and for theft.
I was against it at first but then I figured that my friends are morons so they could always figure a way out to hurt themselves.
Its really a small price to pay to protect you from what could possibly be a huge lawsuit.
Better safe than sorry!
That's why you wear a helmet right?

[BikeSwimLaugh]

Wow, fast responses and wise too!!

I was expecting more along the lines of "Hell no, why bother...I've been riding for years and never needed it, etc, etc"

You know, the quads that are most likely to have someone get hurt on is the little Chinese quads, those are the ones that our friend's kids tend to jump on & ride.

I had an incident happen about one year ago. We were up in Lake Arrowhead over near the rifle range where we staged the quads. There was an upper section and lower section and we were letting the kids ride just on the lower section. I specifically told one little girl, Hannah, to ride ONLY in the lower section....those directions were very VERY clear!

I however, along with my older daughter, were going up & down from the lower to the upper section on a hill. I suddenly turn around and little Hannah had gone up the hill, turned around and drove a small quad into a log and went over the handlebars! She was crying and complained that she COULD NOT LIFT HER ARM.....yeah; not good!

My wife went over and said "Hannah, if you can't lift your arm, we need to take you to the hospital..." Well, Hannah straightened her female self out and was able to lift her hand just fine. F-in drama queen!! :(

I immediately asked "Hannah, I specifically told you to stay down in this area...why, oh Lord why, did you disregard those directions????"...so she says "My dad told me it was alright". It's the classic move of asking another adult until you hear the answer you want.

Hannah was okay and I know our friends aren't the sue-happy kind....but what kind of world do we live in where anyone can sue for anything? I'm not sure how it would have panned-out if things got letigiously ugly. But you guys make a good point: if anyone ever got hurt riding or involved with these quads, it could be my butt on the line.

Okay, I'm calling back the agent and re-instating those little Chinese quads back onto the policy as well.

Good advice guys...good advice! But for the record, it's yet another parastiic financial drain that makes me wonder how I can work so hard, make so much and yet we have less then I expect at the end of the year: all these policies, subscritpions, cable, inernet, gardener, gym, etc, etc, etc.....have a VERY compounding effect, but such is life, eh? :)

[CJM]

I figured I didnt need insurance, but in Nj if your caught riding (riding anywhere but private property is illegal here) and they can impound them for lack of it. Its about 250 a year for the middle of the line coverage for me and my 00 EX.

As for letting other people ride them, you found out just why I only let a select few even near mine let alone ride it.

[mjc400ex]

I ride in Jersey too (Sussex County area).
I have my quad registered & insured because I know of some people that have had their bikes impounded for run-ins with the police.

My friends always hop on my quad while I'm sitting down or something so I would rather be safe than sorry.

[cletus-87]

i got full coverage on mine and it costs 120 bucks a year with a $50 deductable. worth every dime if you ask me.I flipped mine down a dune bout a month ago and broke the plastic all to he!!, bent the steering stem,broke the headlight and the starter switch, and insurance took care or all of it. accidents happen even if you dont think they will and with out some insurance your bike may be sitting awhile unless you got extra cash around to fix it. just my 2 cents

[brewster426]

i had full coverage on my 350 rancher..i sunk it in a hole at the bottoms. got water in the motor, the whole 9 yards. insurance paid me 3500 dollars for it because it totaled out. they payed for my lift kit, wheel spacers, wheels and tires. and i didnt have to show reciepts or anything. i would definately go for the insurance.