I can't find an insurance to insure me and this bike!!! Import bike problems... | GTAMotorcycle.com

I can't find an insurance to insure me and this bike!!! Import bike problems...

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halffttime

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I've gone over a list of more than a dozen insurance companies. Not one company had this bike in their system. It's an import sport bike, 1991 KAWASAKI ZXR 400. I don't own it yet but plan on seriously buying it, finding insurance is the only thing that's holding me back right now.

I've only gotten 2 possible insurers. The first one (Dalton Timmis) gave me a quote for $3300 for the year, but it must be paid in whole. I'm not sure how legit this insurance quote is, or this insurance company for that matter. It sounds a bit fishy, making me pay for everything in one shot. The bike wasn't in their system, but the guy i spoke with said he entered it "manually" into their system. Kinda strange how none of the other companies I called had this ability... anyone with experience with this company?

The second (facility insurance - through a broker) wants me to get an appraisal on the bike first before I can be given a quote.

Does anyone have any experience about finding insurance for an import bike? HALP!
 
15 year rule on importing something - I know there is a thread around here somewhere talking about importing, you should do a quick search for it.

When you do a quote, just tell them that you are planning on importing it from Japan (or which ever country it's coming from).
 
markopas said:
15 year rule on importing something - I know there is a thread around here somewhere talking about importing, you should do a quick search for it.

When you do a quote, just tell them that you are planning on importing it from Japan (or which ever country it's coming from).
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bike is imported already and being sold at a small dealership. the dude told me that it's already registered in ontario too. the main problem is that the bike isn't in any of these insurance company's system. i figure a few of these people i've spoken too are clueless and just telling me that their company doesn't insure import bikes just to move on to the next caller...
 
halffttime said:
I've gone over a list of more than a dozen insurance companies. Not one company had this bike in their system. It's an import sport bike, 1991 KAWASAKI ZXR 400. I don't own it yet but plan on seriously buying it, finding insurance is the only thing that's holding me back right now.

I've only gotten 2 possible insurers. The first one (Dalton Timmis) gave me a quote for $3300 for the year, but it must be paid in whole. I'm not sure how legit this insurance quote is, or this insurance company for that matter. It sounds a bit fishy, making me pay for everything in one shot. The bike wasn't in their system, but the guy i spoke with said he entered it "manually" into their system. Kinda strange how none of the other companies I called had this ability... anyone with experience with this company?

The second (facility insurance - through a broker) wants me to get an appraisal on the bike first before I can be given a quote.

Does anyone have any experience about finding insurance for an import bike? HALP!
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Im guns guess your probably dealing with nuak in scarbs. My import fzr is insured with State Farm. My agent is on the forums and her name is lilian. She'll be able to hook you up if you qualify. When you do call, tell her Darryl sent ya and that it's an imported bike right from the get go to remove the confusion.
 
Statefarm is the only one I know that will insure import bikes. I was planning on picking up a sweet 1992 CBR 400 last season but instead decided to go down to a quarter litre (kicking myself in the pants now)

Last season Nuak was willing to take trade ins but it seems this is not the case this season. I was actually very interested in the zx400R as well but the VFRs and CBR250rrs is what my heart is set on. See if you can negotiate the price lower because in all honestly his pricing is pretty high
 
Triptronix said:
Statefarm is the only one I know that will insure import bikes. I was planning on picking up a sweet 1992 CBR 400 last season but instead decided to go down to a quarter litre (kicking myself in the pants now)

Last season Nuak was willing to take trade ins but it seems this is not the case this season. I was actually very interested in the zx400R as well but the VFRs and CBR250rrs is what my heart is set on. See if you can negotiate the price lower because in all honestly his pricing is pretty high
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the asking price right now is $5300, but on autotrader, they've listed it as $4900. i asked him about it and he seemed surprised about it, he got out of it saying that $4900 is without the plate, certified, etc... so it definitely sounds like it can be negotiated even lower. i would love to pay $4900 flat for everything. if anything, do you think that $400 difference without it being plated and certified is worth the $400?
 
deejizzle said:
Im guns guess your probably dealing with nuak in scarbs. My import fzr is insured with State Farm. My agent is on the forums and her name is lilian. She'll be able to hook you up if you qualify. When you do call, tell her Darryl sent ya and that it's an imported bike right from the get go to remove the confusion.
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just went to the website, it is lol. i didn't even know what the dealership was called, i just found it through kiijiji. nice to know that it is a legit dealer after all...

i've contacted state farm already but they won't insure me. i don't have the g1 license for at least 5 years that's required... yea it sucks
 
halffttime said:
the asking price right now is $5300, but on autotrader, they've listed it as $4900. i asked him about it and he seemed surprised about it, he got out of it saying that $4900 is without the plate, certified, etc... so it definitely sounds like it can be negotiated even lower. i would love to pay $4900 flat for everything. if anything, do you think that $400 difference without it being plated and certified is worth the $400?
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4900.00 without safety certification? I also was quoted 4900.00 taxes in which I assumed everything including certification etc.
 
$5g for a 20+ year old import? Holy cow. I mean the bike looks nice and I understand the temptation and it's your money, but if this is your first bike I'd hate for you to lose 1/2 the season waiting on some obscure part to arrive from overseas, or ?
 
halffttime said:
for what bike? at the same dealer? with anton?
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I was quoted 4900.00 (lowest price) for the 1990 VFR400, black/red CBR250rr and the Zx4r from Paul (Upal) not Anton. He never mentioned excluding safety cert (sneaky) Also the parts for the Honda bikes are more readily available on Ebay in comparison to the ZX4r
 
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It's not unheard of to pay more for grey bikes, they are typically in mint condition, the stigma attached to them has definitely helped retain the bikes value.

Any insurance company should be able to insure the bike if it has already been registered, just because it doesn't show up on their system doesn't mean they can't insure - from my understanding they just need to classify the bike close to something that is already sold in NA.

There is a thread of Grey Bikes already started here: http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforum/showthread.php?170414-Grey-Bikes

As for insurance rates, that will always vary from company to company, age, bike and driver abstract and location that you live.
 
Call Erb &Erb, my VFR is insured through them. Just say its comparable to the ninja 400 but wasn't sold in North America.
 
halffttime said:
I've gone over a list of more than a dozen insurance companies. Not one company had this bike in their system. It's an import sport bike, 1991 KAWASAKI ZXR 400. I don't own it yet but plan on seriously buying it, finding insurance is the only thing that's holding me back right now.

I've only gotten 2 possible insurers. The first one (Dalton Timmis) gave me a quote for $3300 for the year, but it must be paid in whole. I'm not sure how legit this insurance quote is, or this insurance company for that matter. It sounds a bit fishy, making me pay for everything in one shot. The bike wasn't in their system, but the guy i spoke with said he entered it "manually" into their system. Kinda strange how none of the other companies I called had this ability... anyone with experience with this company?

The second (facility insurance - through a broker) wants me to get an appraisal on the bike first before I can be given a quote.

Does anyone have any experience about finding insurance for an import bike? HALP!
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Dalton Timmis is legit. Few friends have insurance through them.

As for upfront payment, they do that with bikes that are more risk, riders that are new, higher risk rider, or any combination above. Bonus, you have 3% if you pay upfront vs paying monthly. Some companies will want it quarterly, or pay for 8 months, etc.
 
klr_guy said:
$5g for a 20+ year old import? Holy cow. I mean the bike looks nice and I understand the temptation and it's your money, but if this is your first bike I'd hate for you to lose 1/2 the season waiting on some obscure part to arrive from overseas, or ?
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You realize that the VFR400 is not a stand alone model and shares many parts with domestic VFRs?
 
RetroGrouch said:
You realize that the VFR400 is not a stand alone model and shares many parts with domestic VFRs?
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Not many at all actually and more parts from cbr900's fit than other vfr's. Also, it doesn't take weeks for anything to arrive. I order stuff from gf racing UK, wemoto and forum members and its usually 5 days or less from the UK.
 
I'm trying to find adjustable levers for my FZR400 and that is already a no-go. Sigh.
 
I was toying with the idea of importing an RS250 but ran into problems finding quotes. When I asked 2stroker about it he said he had a hard time getting insurance for it so I just decided not to bother.
 
Keep calling around. Some agents are more helpful than others. I called around 10 different insurers till I finally got someone willing to insure my mc22. 4 of them State Farm agents - some who said they can't insure off the bat. One who couldn't do anything cause they couldn't find it on the system, and finally one who asked me to bring it in, took photos of the bike and the etched vin and submitted it manually to their underwriter.
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