Was: Decisions, desicions. Now: Ouch! Pricey insurance!

I've just been on to Bennetts site for a few online quotes.
2 years ago I paid £180pa for comprehensive insurance on a grey import '86
SRX400. It was insured as a daily rider.
Today, a '93 VX800 comes out at about £450. Just about bearable then.
A '00 SV650, an '03 Sachs 800 Roadster and a '98 SZR660 come out at around
the £750-850 mark. Ouch!
A '98 TL1000S, '98 VTR1000 and a '98 1100 Sport Injection come out at
between £1150 and £1500! Double ouch, with added pain!
It's probably a stupid question, but how old/what type of bike do I need to
get the insurance down? Is there a 'magic' year that drops the price?
I only want to ride at the weekend, and it'll be garaged at home. I'm 33 in
a few weeks, no NCB for a bike, but no accidents and a clean licence.
Maybe I'll get a Vision Met-In instead...
Dale Turley
http://www.practicalclassics.btinternet.co.uk
'39 Standard Flying 8
'66 Singer Vogue IV (Brit Difrunt)
'71 Triumph Herald 13/60 convertible (Brit Rusty!)
'73 Austin 1800 MKIII
'01 Peugeot 306 Meridian
'02 Citroen C3 1.4HDi 16v Exclusive

 

Really, the only thing to do is get a couple of years NCB behind you.
Insurance is a bit of a minefield - I've paid next to nowt for my 400
insurance for a few years now, facts being that I am older, have
shedloads of NCB and have had a full bike licence for 20 years and
something now.

It looks like one of the reasons I secured a lower premium was to not
have the option of riding any other bike on the policy (this might be
worth looking into), but I've never bothered before as my car insurance
covered it. Not from the 17th of this month it doesn't, so having had to
look around for different quotes in order to have the opporunity to ride
other bikes it seems to double my premium as it is (TPFT), but if I take
a FC quote it only adds an extra £20 to the doubled premium anyway, and
that includes protected NCB.

You need to consider whether you want (or need) FC as opposed to TPFT,
the option to ride any other bike, and whether or not you are likely to
be taking a pillion.

--
Lesley
ZXR400SP
"Not bad for a Scouser"
SBS#11[with oak-leaf cluster]
BOTAFOT#101A UKRMHRC#12
BONY#54P BOB#18

Un-cork me to reply

 

MrT was seen penning the following ode to ... whatever:

Well, you can get yourself a classic bike - depending on the
insewerance company/broker that'll either by > 10 years old or > 15
years old - but you wont get a policy that'll build up an NCB that
way.

It's the no NCB part that's the problem for you. If you want a modern
bike then you'll have to bite the bullet and get something a bit
smaller and boring to build up one before you move on to bigger and
faster bikes.

 

""Well, you can get yourself a classic bike - depending on the insewerance
company/broker that'll either by > 10 years old or > 15 years old - but you
wont get a policy that'll build up an NCB that
way.""

Yeah, I normally ride what you'd call 'classic' bikes (well, old knackered
ones because I'm a tight git!), but I fancied experiencing modernity and
reliability for a change ;-) The problem with classics is that there's not
many singles or twins worth having over 250cc that do the business (carry a
pillion, etc).

""It's the no NCB part that's the problem for you. If you want a modern bike
then you'll have to bite the bullet and get something a bit smaller and
boring to build up one before you move on to bigger and
faster bikes.""

Hmmm...
I'll have a good look (i.e. see if I fit on them) at the middleweight/direct
access bikes: Honda CB500, Kawasaki GPz500 and Kawasaki ER5. Maybe their
insurance will be more realistic. My main worry is, will they pull my bulk
on a two-up jaunt?
Thanks guys.
Dale

 

MrT was seen penning the following ode to ... whatever:

There should be plenty of non-working Brit ones about . What about
an older BMW boxer with or without a fairing? Or one of the '80s
Japanese singles like an XBR500 or SRX660?

Probably depends if you're in a hurry . All of these have about
50bhp, which in today's world doesn't seem to be a lot but should
still be enough...
Oh, you probably want to consider the BMW F650 as well...

 

You should see the premiums go down with some NCB. For reference, I'm
about 10 years younger than you, and it costs about 450 for fully comp
insurance on my SV650S, but that's with 4 years NCB.

You can reduce premiums by sticking the bike in a garage, not taking
pillions, fitting security, setting a limit on the number of miles you
do, and others. You might also look at Motorcycle Direct, as they do
discounts for being in the BMF.