I recently moved to Chicago, and bought a bike.
It's now shifting to winter, and i've come to grips that i'm not going to allow the bike to remain on the street and get killed with the weather we get here, so it's going into Lake Shore Harley storage for the winter. the storage unit has me locked into a contract until April 1, 2015, obviously i can take it out if we get some sort of freakishly warm day, but that would cause me to have to pay the 1-time storage fee all over again.

question: do people discontinue or cancel their motorcycle insurance policy in the winter? I'm obviously not going to be riding, what prevents me from just cancelling my policy and picking it up again come spring?

thanks in advance

 

Most insurance companies assume you won't be riding in the winter, and price accordingly. They usually charge you a yearly premium, so you can't cancel and renew.

What happens if you cancel and storage unit burns down?

 

I take some of the unneeded coverage off my bike when it goes in storage. At the storage facility it is covered under their policy for damage. And of course I don't need the coverage for damage to others property or bodily injury while it's in storage.

Sometimes the amount if any you can remove is limited based on having a lien holder on the bike. Also in my state, if you have a plate on the bike, you must have insurance. So you can't take all the insurance off without turning in your plate too.

 

Nope, my insurance stays on year around even though I also can't ride during the winter, never know when something unforseen might happen to it.

 

In many case it is more expense to start and stop coverage than to just ensure year round. Not a dumb question at all.

 

Every state has different insurance laws...


You have to be careful when you remove liability from any vehicle as your states DMV may suspend your registration and penalize you for not carrying liability.

Some companies will let you suspend coverage for certain amounts of time... So you may have the option of suspending everything except for theft and fire while the bike is being stored. If you do not want to re-register the bike as non-operational then you can just take the liability to the basic limits to save cash that way.


Hope that helps

 

Even though it's going to a Harley dealer for storage, it will be in the hands of strangers. You should not trust their insurance. If you want something done right, do it yourself. Cheap is expensive. Why not go to a storage facility and get your own unit where you will be the only one with access?
I would never suggest removing or lowering your insurance coverage for any reason unless you can cover afford to cover any loss.

 

Unless you have it in writing that it's covered under their policy I wouldn't bet on it....on second thought even if you do have it in writing I'd not bet on it since the person telling you that may believe it's covered. As an insurance agent I can tell you typically that is not the case. Cycle insurance is pretty cheap typically so I'd at least keep liability, comprehensive, and collision. You can save some money and drop uninsured/underinsured motorist and medical if you'd like.