My Bike & Insurance Question

[Porkchop]

So for those of you that aren't Facebook friends and didn't see a couple nights back, I sold my VF500F. Its a decision that I instantly regretted, but it was something that probably needed done. I owed the mother some money and was getting some pressure from her to sell it. Plus her boyfriend that helped me get it running again said I should probably get it up while it was running great during the spring buying rush. So I got her up Easter day at 2am and had 7 replies by 10am. I had it up for $1500. I ended up selling it for $1300 to the first guy that showed up. I had a guy offer $1400 a day later, but cash talked that first day.

So now I'm bikeless and its warming up agian. I had a buddy buy a GS500 last night and I rode it home for him, which was cool to see the difference from a modern P2 500 and a vintage V4 500. During the process of buying his bike, I was talking to one of my best friends who has a 2006 636. He recently just got out of open heart surgery 2 mondays ago, and the doctor just told him that he wont be able to ride for almost 8 months. Of course to do open heart, they cracked his sternum and broke 3 ribs. So if he went down, he risked rebreaking everything. His front fairings need replaced from another idiot that ran into something. I straight up asked him if I replace his fairings for him, maintain the upkeep, and insure the bike... could I possibly ride the bike this summer. It has already been sitting since October, and it probably wouldn't be good to sit all the way until next March or April. Suprisingly, he said yes.

My main question is, if we would decide to do that, how would we go about insuring the bike. Can I insure a bike titled under his name under my insurance? Or would I just have to give him money to insure it under his name? The problem with that would be if I would godforbid get in an accident, it would either be his insurance is fucked, or I just bought myself a trackbike. Most likely the latter....

[pauldun170]

In new York, the registration ( or maybe it's the title ) has to be in you name for you to be able to insure it.

Could be wrong...

[derf]

As far as I know you can not own a bike but still insure it, my brother did it with my old ninja,. and I did it with his old kz400 in NJ

[Porkchop]

Hmm, might be state by state rules. Might hVe to call up old progressive and ask....

[Captain Morgan]

Just call the insurance company and ask them. It likely depends on state laws. I've insured a vehicle without owning it before, as has my sister. I live in Indiana, she lives in Georgia. So that's two states where it's legal, at least.

[Rangerscott]

Technically "you" are the one insured. Companies just rip us off by having us insure every single vehicle/bike.

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by Rangerscott

Technically "you" are the one insured. Companies just rip us off by having us insure every single vehicle/bike.

That's only partially true.... They rip us off by making us carry liability insurance on every vehicle we own. Comprehensive and collision coverage is vehicle specific and is not mandatory. Per the insurance company or state anyway....

[wildchild]

This is how I do it in WI. I get the insurance in my name because the bike is in my name then I ask the insurance to add another driver to the policy. the rate of ins goes by whoever has the worse driving record.

I have done this for many years. My g/f rides a bike that is in my name or did. now it's in her name. also she had a wreck in a car that was done same way. no problem with ins at all and my rates did not go up because of it.

[Particle Man]

Originally Posted by pauldun170

In new York, the registration ( or maybe it's the title ) has to be in you name for you to be able to insure it.

Could be wrong...

Naturally in NY (and insurance in general) it isn't as simple as that.

In order to insure a vehicle in NY (and many other states for that matter), you have to be able to demonstrate Insurable Interest which is generally done by being on the title but can also be done via being the registrant. It's determined more by individual carriers' underwriting guidelines than anything else.

This is a question not easily answered - your best bet is to contact your insurance company (or better yet, a local agent who deals with multiple carriers) to walk you through your options. They'd also work out the policy guidelines like who would get the check in the event of damage, etc.

Short answer is, it can be done but depends on through whom you're trying to insure the bike.

A better solution would be to be added as a driver on his policy but that may have a long-term impact on his rates even after you've been removed from the policy.

[Krabill]

I had a friend who was going to let me borrow one of his extra bikes that he had no insurance on (fly and ride type of thing), so I called my insurance agent to see if I could take out a policy on it. His answer was that the insurance I had on my bike covered me on his bike even if he didn't have a policy on it. Not sure how that would work if you don't already have a bike policy.