How to get insurance for your motorcycle

By Réhann Coetzee

A motorcycle is a large financial investment and it is therefore a good idea to have it insured.

The sad truth is that not all insurers truly understand motorcycles, and that is why it might be best to have your pride and joy insured by a specialist.

As a general rule, your annual premiums will cost around 8% of the value of your bike. In other words, for a R100 000 bike, the premium will be around R667 per month, or R8 000 per year.

If you want to insure the accessories of the bike, such as a luggage system or panniers and topbox, that would cost around 10% of the value of the accessories per year. Other accessories such as rider gear – helmet, boots, jacket, etc – will cost around 12% of the value per year.

There are factors that could increase or decrease this, though.

If you are younger than 30, these rates might be higher. The safety of your bike will also affect the insurance costs. Does the bike have a security system or a tracker installed? Where is the bike parked overnight? How secure is its parking spot?

How often do you ride? Some insurance brokers won’t want to insure a bike that is only ridden on breakfast runs once a week, because the rider is considered inexperienced. And surprisingly, riders who commute daily might be considered safer riders because of their experience.

Like with anything else, shop around for insurance. Find out which insurers or brokers are considered bike specialists and get quotes from them. A knowledgeable and good broker is even more important than the insurer that insures your bike.

Be truthful about your license, your skills and experience, what you will use the bike for, and where it will be parked.

New bikes are not cheaper to insure than older bikes. The reason for this is that the insurance premium is based on the value of the bike – as explained above – and a new bike would be worth more than an older one. Remember that the insurer does not insure the reliability or the maintenance cost of the bike. The value of the bike is insured for eventualities such as accidents and theft.

Insurance might be a grudge expense but being without insurance can become a very costly and unpleasant experience.