Roadside assistance, do you have it or ??

[Stig / Major Tom]

Neil suggested, and I agreed, that the subject of roadside assistance might be an interesting thread for the forum.*



Yep, one sunny afternoon ride I needed it - discovered our AAA policy needed the RV rider, which I didn't have.
With towing 5 miles to the dealer, and RR new tire - that ride cost me a touch over $500.
Tire was unrepairable - with a large slash from scrap metal in the road.

After that adventure I added roadside assistance to our policy with Progressive.

I've had two other flats from screws - #1) got my son out of bed to fetch me my tire repair kit from my other scooter's top case!
#2) near enough to home to return and do the repair in my garage.

Do you have roadside assistance. If so - who do you recommend?

Stig

*I apologize for not being able now to split this off as a new topic. Things have changed here, and even the teenager whom I have on retainer could not find the way to do it.

[Tromper]

Yup.  Even used it a couple times when I blew a belt.
Comes with my bike insurance.

[Iahawk]

excellent idea for a topic to discuss.. ...I don't' have any towing insurance for my bike...need to look into it. On the AMA site I recall it saying they would provide towing up to 30 miles or so?  My concern is being farther away from home than that...and also riding a 40 year old bike (Nighthawk) or 28 year old scoot (Helix) that likely no shop will touch.

Any thoughts on riding an older bike far from home? I've never had a problem with any of my bikes (out on the road, at least!). I suppose I need to check with my auto insurance to see about towing options. That $500 of Stig's for a blown tire hurts.

[Neil955i]

My cover is with the RAC* as they have a nice touch whereby it's you the rider/driver that's covered, not the vehicle!  So whatever I'm riding or driving I have that peace of mind.  The only downside can be response times, the last time we needed them was 2 years ago in a fully laden car with two dogs on a desolate motorway crossing the Pennines here in northern England.  Took them over an hour to get to us then the relay back home (three different tow trucks!) took a total of 7 hours to cover 75 miles.  That was a blown turbo in the supposedly mechanically reliable German-engineered Mercedes!  We're back with Land Rover now.



* The Royal Automobile Club - jealous aren't you?

[randyo]

I have AAA  Premier RV   so it covers motorcycles and my GF's  short bus camper, mostly, I've used it on mt Tacoma (twice last year, and 3 times in'22. so much for Toyotas being reliable

[Neil955i]

I have AAA  Premier RV   so it covers motorcycles and my GF's  short bus camper, mostly, I've used it on mt Tacoma (twice last year, and 3 times in'22. so much for Toyotas being reliable

OK Randy, no cellphone you claim, so how did you contact them? 😂. Let me hazard a wild guess, GF has one? That’s cheating 🤣

[randyo]

OK Randy, no cellphone you claim, so how did you contact them? 😂. Let me hazard a wild guess, GF has one? That’s cheating 🤣

couple times was in my own driveway, once I was at Lowes buying lumber, went back into store and used their phone, another time at a convenience store. I'm not afraid to knock on a door. they won't let me use one, I can act crazy enough to get them to at least call police, from there, they will call for me. I was knocking on doors to use a phone long before the advent of the portable phone, it's a skill that doesn't go away, I can still drive 3 on tree car too. Yes, GF has a flip phone

[Neil955i]

couple times was in my own driveway, once I was at Lowes buying lumber, went back into store and used their phone, another time at a convenience store. I'm not afraid to knock on a door. they won't let me use one, I can act crazy enough to get them to at least call police, from there, they will call for me. I was knocking on doors to use a phone long before the advent of the portable phone, it's a skill that doesn't go away, I can still drive 3 on tree car too. Yes, GF has a flip phone

Good on you Pal.  You're right, some skills don't leave you!

[Stig / Major Tom]

Just remembered a time my son's R6 chain snapped.
He was so far out in the boonies - they used tracking to find him.
I had the same problem when my Forza went flat - no idea what the name of the road was.
When I got home my teen showed me how to find myself......but by then I was exhausted, and didn't care. Spending $500 wore me out!

That was the day I discovered that no one in the USA carried the correct tire size for the Forza. Had to go up in width....close thing with the shocks.

Added roadside assistance to the scooters. $10 for the year, for each scooter.
Covers battery jump, fuel, towing (locksmith and tire changing - which isn't happening with a scooter)

The worst part about having a guy collect me at 5:45AM, out in the sticks, roadside in the dark rain - would be answering his first question, "what in the name of Mike are you doing out here on a scooter!?"

I'll have time to come up with something better than going for coffee.....

Stig

[Neil955i]

The worst part about having a guy collect me at 5:45AM, out in the sticks, roadside in the dark rain - would be answering his first question, "what in the name of Mike are you doing out here on a scooter!?"

I'll have time to come up with something better than going for coffee.....

Stig

How about "I'm an insomniac mass murderer with low tolerance for daft questions?"  Only kidding   

[stuo]

The problem with AAA RV/motorcycle coverage is that the vehicle that comes to your aid is probably not equipped for motorcycles: it's going to be the flat bed rig designed for autos and you have to either push or ride your bike up a 30 degree oily, slippery steel surface only to have it slide back down on its side before the driver can get the bed horizontal because the tow truck driver has no experience with two wheeled vehicles, which was my situation both times I needed a tow.

The second tow went a bit better because I was able to tutor the puzzled driver on what I learned from the first debacle. We pushed it up the sloped bed just far enough to get both wheels off the ground, then he worked the controls to get the bed horizontal while I held the bike upright, then I moved it forward for him to secure it. He confessed that he wasn't supposed to allow me on the truck bed but he agreed there didn't seem to be a better plan.     

[randyo]

The problem with AAA RV/motorcycle coverage is that the vehicle that comes to your aid is probably not equipped for motorcycles: it's going to be the flat bed rig designed for autos and you have to either push or ride your bike up a 30 degree oily, slippery steel surface only to have it slide back down on its side before the driver can get the bed horizontal because the tow truck driver has no experience with two wheeled vehicles, which was my situation both times I needed a tow.

The second tow went a bit better because I was able to tutor the puzzled driver on what I learned from the first debacle. We pushed it up the sloped bed just far enough to get both wheels off the ground, then he worked the controls to get the bed horizontal while I held the bike upright, then I moved it forward for him to secure it. He confessed that he wasn't supposed to allow me on the truck bed but he agreed there didn't seem to be a better plan.     

yep been there done that, before I had AAA, had to "ride" my SV650 a couple miles in urban traffic to nearest Suzuki dealer when I was touring, now I have a home made wheel chock and a couple ratchet straps and a couple cam lock straps as part of the emergency gear I carry

[monkeybongos]

I can act crazy enough to get them to at least call police

A video of that would be entertaining.   

I have Progressive insurance and roadside assistance, which I added after getting a flat on the Rebel 20 miles from home. 

Have used it 5 times in 5 yrs, quite satisfied w it.  And pleasantly surprised they haven’t raised my rate after using it that many times.

[klaviator]

Roadside assistance comes with my AMA membership.  I have yet to use it.  I have needed assistance a couple of times but I was less than 5 miles from home so I called my wife and she drove my pickup truck to me.  I always have a ramp and tiedowns in my truck.

[randyo]

Roadside assistance comes with my AMA membership.  I have yet to use it.  I have needed assistance a couple of times but I was less than 5 miles from home so I called my wife and she drove my pickup truck to me.  I always have a ramp and tiedowns in my truck.

close to home on my bike, I call my dealer to come rescue me