Keeping myself in check

[Greg]

I know there is at least one other prominent rider here that does this exact same thing and for the exact same reasons. I won't out him (or her) .... but here goes:

One way I keep my riding in check is that I've never had more than liability insurance for any of my bikes. I've always paid cash for my bikes, so I'm not tied to a financial institution and obligated to carry full coverage. For me this behavior has positive results.
1. It keeps my endorphins in check and I'm constantly aware when I'm on the bike that I'm paying myself for any f*ups I incur.
2. If anyone uses the argument against me, "You shouldn't ride that way as it costs all of us in higher rates" ... I can reply, "That may be true for some, but not me" .....



Works for me, but YMMV.


Greg

[flyinlow]

Mine is more emotional than financial.

I've only had two crashes, a minor one about a month ago where a car hit me in Uptown, and the other was down by Welch village, totally my screwup. Bike was totaled and they took me into Red Wing to have me checked out. Some minor injuries, but my wife had to come and pick me up.

The look on her face alone was all I needed to remember that when I really feel like pushing it, I think about the impact of me being seriously hurt has on those around me.

I've told this to the "other" forums as well. If you don't care about yourself, that's fine, but think about the other people who will have to take care of your sorry ass when you're all banged up, or worse, paralyzed.

[Greg]

errr, I'm not sure where this disconnect is, but we're not on the same page. I'm fully (life insurance, health insurance, short & long term disability as well) covered personally. I'm talking about the cost to repair the bike.

[PKPK]

I also pay outright for the bikes but I do carry collision because my annual mileage varies between 15-20k and alot can go wrong in all those miles.  Plus something could happen that is not your fault but your insurance winds up having to pay for it anyway (deer or a hit and run.)

I do drop collision when the value drops to where the gap between a total and my deductible makes no sense to pay the extra for collision. 

[vince]

I thought I was the only one to practice these things. I would go to parking lots and do this. I was doing this at two different track days and that why I got two of the black flags. I was told I was scaring every one. I was doing wheelies also but they did like that I was locking up the front tire or throwing the bike sideways coming into the corners.
As far as insurance goes liability cost about $90 a year for most anything. I buy all of my bike cash also and my racing was the same way. But I buy full coverage because over the years I have had two bikes stolen and it was nice to have them replace. Also my last series crash that almost did me in it was nice to have the bike repaired. I have a lot of bike and the insurance only cost me about $1000 for all of them so it its cheap.

[Elk]

I pay cash also.

Bike and other vehicles fully insured. 

I understand the thinking that assuming the financial risk of a crash keeps one in check.  However there are soooo many ways to crash or lose a bike I have found it is worth keeping them insured.

[Ray916MN]

I'm with FlyinLow (Mike).

I pay cash for vehicles and liability coverage only, but what keeps me in check is thinking about my kids and wife while riding.

Don't really care about my bikes. I can replace those. Don't want to cause pain and heartache for my loved ones.

[aschendel]

my strategry is full coverage, try not to push over 80%, life insurance, disability insurance, and lots of practice / awareness training.

we have an agreement that if i get hospitalized i'm done.  <EEK>  although i'd try to talk my way out of that if we end up there

a.s.

[flyinlow]

errr, I'm not sure where this disconnect is, but we're not on the same page. I'm fully (life insurance, health insurance, short & long term disability as well) covered personally. I'm talking about the cost to repair the bike.

The topic was keeping yourself in check, so I documented the how and why I do that. I too am fully insured, but I also carry full coverage on the bikes, even though they are paid for. Its a minimal cost, but honestly, I don't think about the cost of repairing a bike when I'm out riding. I think way more about the personal cost of crashing and injuring myself and how that would impact those around me.

[tk]

I know there is at least one other prominent rider here that does this exact same thing and for the exact same reasons. I won't out him (or her) .... but here goes:

One way I keep my riding in check is that I've never had more than liability insurance for any of my bikes. I've always paid cash for my bikes, so I'm not tied to a financial institution and obligated to carry full coverage. For me this behavior has positive results.
1. It keeps my endorphins in check and I'm constantly aware when I'm on the bike that I'm paying myself for any f*ups I incur.
2. If anyone uses the argument against me, "You shouldn't ride that way as it costs all of us in higher rates" ... I can reply, "That may be true for some, but not me" .....

Works for me, but YMMV.

Greg

I agree with Greg and follow the same procedures he outlined.

[PKPK]

This subject came up this week on an ST board.  A fellow was hit by a driver in a rental car.  Problem is, the rental car agency isn't obligated to cover anything because the driver was not the person who rented the car.  The drivers own insurance is basically saying tough luck because of the interpretation of events.  The rider did not carry collision, so his own insurance has no claim to cover and won't help him make a claim for collision from the other party. 

One thing that is coming out of this mess is the benefit of having collision in the event of another drivers fault.  Your own insurance will be obligated to cover your cost, then go after the other party to recover their loss.  Plus uninsured and underinsured will also kick in here.  Without collision, you have none of this working for you.

[flyinlow]

Had a similar thing happen to me at the beginning of September. Guy driving a rental hit me, totally his fault (had witnesses). When I spoke to the adjuster for the rental car company he told me he first had to confirm the renter was using it for business, since he used his business discount to rent the car. Most of the time they its not an issue. I asked what if he is not, and was told I would then have to go after the renters personal insurance company. In this case, he was on business, so everything went smoothly.

If he hadn't, and I had an issue with his insurance company, my insurance company would have handled it and then went after his insurance, but only because I had full coverage on my bike. As PK said, if I only had liability, it would have been much harder to get anything.

[Ray916MN]

The rental car insurance thing is funky.

I hit a deer (actually the deer hit me - ran into the side of the car) in Washington DC in a rental car while on business. I had rented the car with a Platnimum card and tried to use the credit car insurance to cover the incident. Found out that MN law requires MN liability insurance to cover you while driving rental cars out of state. Even though I only carry liability insurance, my insurance covered the damage to the rental car.

Pretty interesting. Made realize how much of a rip off rental car insurance is.

[flyinlow]

When I finally got the answer from the rental car insurance guy (Avis) he said he had to hand me off to another company, Crawford and Company. Minnesota does not allow Avis to handle claims directly in the state so they have to give it to a company that is set up in the state in order to handle the claim.

More goofy government red tape.