Breakdown recovery recommendation

Hi,

I'm looking for a recommendation for a breakdown recovery company
that deals with bikes. Ideally I'd like to cover the family car too but will
have two policies if required. Has anyone has any recent experience of
companies that were particularly good with bikes? My bike's a six year
old blade that I service and repair myself and have done since I bought
it new. It's generally reliable.

The reason for the question is that I've been with the rac for 14 years
and I want a change because they're bloody useless and have just
wrecked my weekend.

I broke down at hilton services on friday night at 5pm heading from
Newbury to Lancaster. I stopped for a slash and some petrol and
couldn't disarm the alarm because the keyfob was full of water and fried.
I'd had it in the pocket of my hg jacket as I normally do but the weather
was particularly bad (although not quite as bad as the media portrayed it
where you'd be forgiven to assume that you were lucky to survive
without an ark). With the help of the guy from the mobile phone shop
(who had a screwdriver) I stripped it down, dried it under the hand
driers, bought a new battery but it was still f*cked and there was no
way I knew to bypass the alarm. Called the rac who sent a patrol out
to see me who had a go, called some experts but conceded defeat and
called for a tow truck to take me home at about 6 ish I guess. After
getting various etas for flat-beds I was finally told at midnight
(unbelievable eh?) that they couldn't recover me and that they'd put me
up in a hotel. Got to the hotel gone 1 and met the guy from a local bike
shop at 8 the next morning. He bypassed the alarm in minutes and I was
away.

The rac is obliged to pass on recovery contracts to any of their contracors
who support cars *and* bikes. It's only when they have exhausted all of
those that they then call the specialist bike shops. The guy from the bike
shop said he would have been able to come and see the bike early in the
evening but the rac policy meant that they didn't phone him until nearly
midnight at which point he couldn't come out.

Basically the rac are absolutely crap with bikes. I've been with them 14
years and they do a good job on cars but in the times I've called them
out for the bike (about 5 times I guess over the years) I've always waited
fecking ages but this is a new record.

I've complained but unless they invest in more trailers and/or change their
policy towards passing work on the bike shops then any compensation or
apology has no practical value whatsoever. I use the bike for commuting
and need the backup.

Anyway, sorry for the lengthy rant, thanks for any recommendations and
I hope this helps anyone choose a breakdown service (because I'm a
vindictive bastard and I'd like the rac to lose money because I sat in a
service station for 8 hours instead of meeting up with my mate from
school for the weekend).

Regards,

 

I had to be recovered by auntie carole's mob in January due to busting
the brake lever off the ephyr in docklands.

They were an absolute pleasure to deal with, didn't take too long to
arrive in a purpose made motorcycle recovery van complete with CCTV on
the bike so it could be observed not falling over whilst on the move.

Driver was a real star, the only recovery driver I have ever
encountered who wasn't a bit odd.


--
Dan L

http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6/7)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

Well, the problem is that the experience with CN breakdown mobs vary
wildly across the country because the breakdown recovery is subbed out
to local companies.

The last time I had to use them was when the VFR fried its reg/rect
shortly after I bought it. The CN mob pointed out that they also had a
workshop and would I like my bike fixed by them instead of a Honda
dealer? Nice sideline, that but given that they were a tad cheaper than
Honda I took them up on their offer.

Precisely a week later the engine died on me at speed on the M20. I
barely made it across the lanes to the breakdown lane without becoming a
bonnet ornament for an Eastern European lorry. Cause of failure - dead
electrics.

CN sent out the same mob and I had a major fight on my hands to get
them to recover me to the local Honda dealer in Maidstone (the incident
happened just outside Maidstone) instead of their premises in SE
London.

The Honda dealer found that the guys had removed the original connector
block for the reg/rect from the wiring loom as it was melted and just
plugged the wires back together without the benefit of any
insulation. It's a wonder it lasted that long.

 

I don't mind the fact that they subcontract out. My biggest problem with
the rac (and the aa according to the subcontractor) is the fact that
they will only contact specialised bike subcontractors after they have
offered the job to all their subcontractors who support cars *and*
bikes and they have all turned the job down. I understand that they
have to offer an incentive for a subcontractor to kit themselves up for
doing recovery work but if the situation arrises where there's loads of
car recovery people in the locality as there must be in the birmingham
area this must surely take a hell of a long time when they could simply
change their policy for bikes and just call a bike subcontractor and my
problem would have been fixed.

I guess what I'm looking for is a list of recovery companies that I can
email and specifically put the above scenario to them. I'll let you
know what I find out and also what the rac come back with.

Regards,

 

This is the case for most of the breakdown services. Despite owning a BMW
since 2001, I've been lucky enough not to need a breakdown service for a
while. In the past I've found the sub-contractors used by Green Flag to be
the best.

However, IMV you are just as well to pay the lowest price you can get for
such a service due to the variability of the sub-contractors.

Best value is to get a breakdown service bundled into your bike insurance
e.g. Ebike, Carole Nash.

If you are going to pay for a separate policy then go along to
www.quotelinedirect.co.uk and pay £59 for a Europ Assist policy - full
European cover.

 

ours is currently with Direct Line. the main vehicle is the bike but
Andy & I also have the personal bit which means we're covered in any
vehicle.

--
Adie
(replace spam with nickname to reply)

UKRM FAQ: http://www.ukrm.net/faq/
keeper of the ukrm faq for my sins

YZF-R1: ZX9R E1

MRO#11 BOTAFOF#7 BOTAFOT#130 DIAABTCOD#17 MIB#24 YTC#16 BOB#15 ex-UKRMMA#22 BOMB#11

 

Britannia Rescue send the appropriate subcontractor depending on the
vehicle. Which is ridiculous when you've run out of petrol and it takes
over 2hrs for the nearest bike specialist to get to you.

As I'd run out at 5am outside a petrol station it turned out to be
quicker to wait for the petrol station to open at 7am.

John

 

I'd go along with that - hence I'm paying just £32pa (since increased
to £34) to AutoAid ( http://www.autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/ ). That's one
of the ones where you pay the guy who comes out and then reclaim the
cost.

Fortunately I haven't had to use them yet so have no personal
experience. But from what I've heard they give you the option to call
out a local garage yourself rather than taking their chosen
contractor, which could be useful when you know it's a job for the
local Honda dealer.

David.

 

You're welcome. My work here is done.

All I have to do now it wait for the insulting compensation they offer,
bank it, tell them where to stick their membership, write a damning
daily mail-esque rant to MCN and join up with some other bunch of
useless twats.

I quite like the autoaid idea... I'll be looking in to that some more.

Someone else on pistonheads has also suggested a company called NCI
that does bike specific breakdown cover that looks interesting. Mind
you, the fact that MCN had a hand in it doesn't inspire confidence but
they can't screw it up as badly as the rac (probably). The bike guy
that came out and got my bike going said that the AA have exactly the
same policy as the RAC so I won't be phoning them.

 

My only beef with them is that they charge you full whack for
(automatic) renewals, but there's a hefty discount for new customers.

I'll chop back to the AA for a year and save my cash. (AA are cheaper,
even with the 'new members only' RAC discount)

P.