Insurance costs! - England

[R250R]

Hi guys and girls.

I am in the process of becoming a sportbiker and a Ninja owner.

I have been online and made a few calls to insurance companies, most say they can't give me a quote because I don't currently own the bike or have a licence and other's have come back to me with quotes ranging from £2.600 up to £7.800 !!! A friend of mine owns an Aprilia 125 that does 120 mph (apparently), He's a student, the same age as me (19) and he pays £600 even though he parks his bike on the pavement outside his house and i've told the companies that it will be on my driveway under a carport with an anchor lock.

I think this is due to me not owning the bike yet and they are probably just throwing numbers at me.

Is there anyone who lives in England who is my age that can shine some light on this for me please.

[Lil_Green_Demon]

I'm not in England but how about you lie & say you already own the bike?


Btw, if your friend owns an Aprilia RS125, those things only travel at a top speed of ~65 mph. I don't know where he got 120 mph from. Correct me if I'm wrong, though, please.

[WhiteRice]

Maybe he meant 125 kph?

[R250R]

I tried to tell them that but then they asked for the registration # so I had no choice but to hang up on them

He said on friday that it does 120 mph and that its the fastest 125 on the road he knows off maybe he's lying but it could be tuned im not sure.

[Cuongism]

There's a 2 stroke version of the RS125 that tops around 110 mph (so maybe 120 modded). It's not street legal in the states so you rarely see them other than at the tracks. The US has the 4 stroke version that only outputs like 15hp vs the 2 strokes' 35hp. I would definitely trade the 250 for a 2 stroke RS125 if I can somehow make it street legal. About 100 lbs less than the 250 and a 150 rear stock.

Insurance sounds expensive there. How much does the bike itself cost?

[Alex]

Paging @akima....

[Liist]

Insurance there sounds more like extortion.

I'm a 19-year-old and I can get some decent coverage for $400 a year, at least that's what I'm quoted. But I didn't get insurance because I didn't need to. There's probably bigger problems if I do more damage than I can pay out of pocket.

[akima]

Hmm... my pager is buzzing

...

I'm 26 [and female... which probably helps with insurance]. My insurance is ~£300 per year and includes third party, fire and theft protection and break down recovery for here and elsewhere in Europe.

I used Confused.com to find the cheapest insurance company for me. The cheapest turned out to be bikesure.

The only courses I have done so far is the CBT and the Full Motorcycle License (not direct access). My bike is parked in the street, not in a garage. It has an xena alarmed disc lock attached to it (which reduced the insurance slightly). I've no prior motorcycle-no-claims bonus, but I have had a car driving license since I was 17 and never had any accidents... however I've only owned a car once and only kept it for a year.

When trying to take out insurance, what I did was prepare a quote with BikeSure in advance of passing my test. The quote was built under the assumption that I had passed my test. When I did pass my test the quote was ready to be activated straight away.

Hope that info helps.

[Matz]

Originally Posted by R250R

Hi guys and girls.

I am in the process of becoming a sportbiker and a Ninja owner.

I have been online and made a few calls to insurance companies, most say they can't give me a quote because I don't currently own the bike or have a licence and other's have come back to me with quotes ranging from £2.600 up to £7.800 !!! A friend of mine owns an Aprilia 125 that does 120 mph (apparently), He's a student, the same age as me (19) and he pays £600 even though he parks his bike on the pavement outside his house and i've told the companies that it will be on my driveway under a carport with an anchor lock.

I think this is due to me not owning the bike yet and they are probably just throwing numbers at me.

Is there anyone who lives in England who is my age that can shine some light on this for me please.

That sounds like a fully comprehensive quote you've got there, I wouldn't even bother going for that, any accident you have will almost certainly be a write-off to your bike, so expect even the smallest bikes to have huge premiums. Your better off just fixing the bike yourself if the accident was your fault as it'll probably cost you less.

Also don't bother calling them, go onto a insurance comparison site like confused.com or comparethemarket.com, you'll save yourself lots of money. Almost every company will charge you less if you buy their insurance over the internet, you can always phone them after you have found a quote and verify certain details or ask questions that weren't on the website.

When I first got into bikes, I decided on what bike I wanted and looked for insurance on it before I'd even passed my CBT, I just booked the test for a certain date and wrote that date down as day I passed my test.

[akima]

Originally Posted by Matz

That sounds like a fully comprehensive quote you've got there, I wouldn't even bother going for that, any accident you have will almost certainly be a write-off to your bike, so expect even the smallest bikes to have huge premiums. Your better off just fixing the bike yourself if the accident was your fault as it'll probably cost you less.

+1 Third-party, fire and theft insurance is the best value.

I think if you find a quote via compared.com and then call up the insurance company giving the compared.com quote details, they will probably charge less than if you just call up the company and ask for a quote. I think they realise that if someone is using a site like compared.com, they have to keep their quote price low so that they can compete with the other insurance companies.

[Matz]

Yeah they give you a reference number on the quote and if you phone up before the expiry date they have have to stick to that price. I went with Bikesure for my Hyosung, I think their actually a broker, the insurance company itself was KGM I think. Almost all their policies give you £50,000 of free legal cover, which came in handy for me

Just don't look for a specific company, just search for quotes, each has a simple page that tells you what it comes with, some have things like legal cover and cover abroad for a certain amount of time. Mine had the option for riding gear cover for only another £30 a year!

....and remember, if you go with fire and theft, to decide what excess your willing to pay if it gets nicked, there's both compulsory and voluntary excess and most companies will also charge at least another £100 on top of that if it's stolen from somewhere away from home (if that's where you normally keep it).

[Lil_Green_Demon]

@Liist

It's not how much damage YOU can do, it's how much SOMEONE else will do.
Ask me how I know.

[Matz]

I know what you mean, that blue bike in my avatar was hit by a car, I haven't even insured my Ninja yet.

[Ninja28]

I feel like I am getting a really good deal then, I just turned 20 with no safety course I pay $12.50 per month on my 08... Im on my parents plan, but if I wanted to do it on my own it was still going to only be $18.50 per month...

[C L]

Originally Posted by Ninja28

I feel like I am getting a really good deal then, I just turned 20 with no safety course I pay $12.50 per month on my 08... Im on my parents plan, but if I wanted to do it on my own it was still going to only be $18.50 per month...

with which company?

[Ninja28]

Shelter Insurance

[JLinde1339]

I'm in the states, and I pay $11 a month. Have auto insurance thru the same agent, but they are 2 completely different policies. When I found it was that cheap, that sealed the deal for me when deciding to buy a bike.
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[R250R]

The bike costs around £4.3k on the road its pretty much on par with the us pricing. Just heard of another 125 rider who's insurance comes in at under £1k fully comp including non insured drivers cover and a complimentary bike if it's stolen or is in the garage.

[R250R]

Haha that quote was for third party only with an excess of £800 voluntary + £175 default excess. I did it through Gocompare and ended up with quotes for £4.000, I havenbt got a licence yet so I think thats why.

[R250R]

Good to hear from someone in the UK.
Real helpfull answer ill get a quote for bike sure later on in the week im doing my test on Thursday and Friday and im thinking of renting a 125 cb or similair until february and see how that goes before buying the ninja .

[akima]

Originally Posted by R250R

im doing my test on Thursday and Friday and im thinking of renting a 125 cb or similair until february and see how that goes before buying the ninja .

I think renting the 125 is a fantastic idea. It would be horrible to mess up a Ninjette when learning to ride. I rented a 125CC for learning on. It was a lil Honda: fun bike. I found the Honda easier to manoeuvre at slow speeds than my Ninjette, so it was helpful for doing the test on. It was also lighter making it more forgiving if you mess up at low speeds: easier to hold up. You really have to pin the throttle on the 125 in order to get the speed needed for the module 1 avoidance and emergency braking tests.

Another benefit of learning on a 125 is that you get the feeling of stepping up to a bigger bike when you ride your Ninjette.

[R250R]

Originally Posted by akima

I think renting the 125 is a fantastic idea. It would be horrible to mess up a Ninjette when learning to ride. I rented a 125CC for learning on. It was a lil Honda: fun bike. I found the Honda easier to manoeuvre at slow speeds than my Ninjette, so it was helpful for doing the test on. It was also lighter making it more forgiving if you mess up at low speeds: easier to hold up. You really have to pin the throttle on the 125 in order to get the speed needed for the module 1 avoidance and emergency braking tests.

Another benefit of learning on a 125 is that you get the feeling of stepping up to a bigger bike when you ride your Ninjette.

I have recently ridden a 125 and im surprised at just how powerful they are!
How much difference is there between a 125 and a 250? I know it must be around double the power but would you say it 'feels' like double the power aswell?

[Matz]

Originally Posted by Matz

Basically, the Ninja's just a giant 125. I've had a go on much bigger bikes before and the first difference you notice over a 125 is the physical size of them and how much more difficult it is to lug em around! The Ninja though, feels big, but it's just as easy to throw around as a 125, you've got to remember that the engine inside is very small, there's a lot of hollow areas under that bodywork. That's a good thing though cos that flickability means it'll out corner nearly any other bike you see and look and feel just as big!

Speed wise, the biggest difference isn't top speed, it's acceleration. You've got to remember that the average top speed of a 125 is about 70mph and the Ninja only does about 100mph. However 0-60 is about 12-15 seconds on a 125, on a Ninja its about 6 and that's with my fat ass!
It makes the bike feel far more powerful than it actually is, going fast in a straight line isn't nearly as fun as powering out of corners!

I'm an insomnia stricken tool!
Just realised you already have a Ninja and it was an opinion on a 125 you were looking for! LOL
This is why I shouldn't be searching through forums and replying at half 12 in the morning!
I'm sure there's an answer in there somewhere

[R250R]

Originally Posted by Matz

I'm an insomnia stricken tool!
Just realised you already have a Ninja and it was an opinion on a 125 you were looking for! LOL
This is why I shouldn't be searching through forums and replying at half 12 in the morning!
I'm sure there's an answer in there somewhere

haha thanks for your reply I dont own a ninja at the moment I just put that in the hope that someday it would reflect reality.

[akima]

Originally Posted by R250R

How much difference is there between a 125 and a 250? I know it must be around double the power but would you say it 'feels' like double the power aswell?

I'd say it feels like it's almost double the power

The 125 felt a bit too light at times: I'd feel like I was being thrown and bumped around a little bit more. The Ninjette feels much more sturdy.

[jack_bm]

I paid a crazy amount for my ninja £1200 off road third party fire and theft! its so expensive because i bought it when i was 17 but insurance is such a scam, what i suggest you do is go to a comparison website and find a ninja on eBay where it shows the exhaust and put all of them details in and see what comes up and also say you've done your test

[Matz]

£1200! That's insane!
You should just go Third Party and spend the rest on chains to wrap it in! LOL

Originally Posted by R250R

haha thanks for your reply I dont own a ninja at the moment I just put that in the hope that someday it would reflect reality.

That's the spirit!

[jack_bm]

Originally Posted by Matz

£1200! That's insane!
You should just go Third Party and spend the rest on chains to wrap it in! LOL


That's the spirit!

Haha yeah i know it would have only made it about £1000 so i'd rather get it covered for fire cos if someone cant steal it with all the chains they'd probably end up burning it will be cheaper the next time i insure it ill wait till im 19 till i re insure it though so then i get 2 years no claims and my age against it so that will help, still a total rip off

[Matz]

Oh yeah I forgot about fire
......This is why I'm not in charge of anything!