Small displacement motorcycle insurance

guzzirider

guzzirider

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I have had a discussion with a person who is under the impression that you can not insure a motorcycle under 150cc in Ontario.
To me this sounds ridiculous. I once had a Honda 90cc insured but that was in 1968.
Not interested in opinions but want to hear from small cc riders on wether this is true or not.
 
I have a Suzuki SP125 (street legal DR125), and a Yamaha QT50 - both are under $250/year.
 
I can tell you that it is nearly impossible to insure <150cc dirtbikes.

Two years ago I bought my kinds KLX140s, but I absolutely could not get insurance. OFTR even told me my only option was to ride dirty, and a few insurance guys (I think one of them posts here) told me I was SOL. I called dozens of companies and was told by many about a 150cc limit, the others just didn't seem to know why their company doesn't insure them.

So I had to return them to the dealer at a $500 loss without them riding them at all. I then lucked out and found a dealer with 2 KLX230s coming in, and bought those. Insuring those was a piece of cake and very affordable. Makes no sense.
 
Mad Mike said:
I have a Suzuki SP125 (street legal DR125), and a Yamaha QT50 - both are under $250/year.
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How long have you had them? I know some guys who have smaller *dirt* bikes insured, but only because they were grandfathered in by their companies.
 
NuggyBuggy said:
How long have you had them? I know some guys who have smaller *dirt* bikes insured, but only because they were grandfathered in by their companies.
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Mine are street legal dirt bikes.

klx 140 is off road only.
 
Blue plated (on road) bikes have no issues. It's only green plated (off road).

Source: My partner and I have GROM's.
 
NuggyBuggy said:
I can tell you that it is nearly impossible to insure <150cc dirtbikes.

Two years ago I bought my kinds KLX140s, but I absolutely could not get insurance. OFTR even told me my only option was to ride dirty, and a few insurance guys (I think one of them posts here) told me I was SOL. I called dozens of companies and was told by many about a 150cc limit, the others just didn't seem to know why their company doesn't insure them.

So I had to return them to the dealer at a $500 loss without them riding them at all. I then lucked out and found a dealer with 2 KLX230s coming in, and bought those. Insuring those was a piece of cake and very affordable. Makes no sense.
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Let's see - you wanted to insure your off-road only motorcycles for use by (I'm assuming) minors. What could possibly go wrong in this scenario ? If I were an insurance company I'd duck you too.
 
NuggyBuggy said:
How long have you had them? I know some guys who have smaller *dirt* bikes insured, but only because they were grandfathered in by their companies.
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I put the insurance on them 2 yrs ago.
 
TK4 said:
Let's see - you wanted to insure your off-road only motorcycles for use by (I'm assuming) minors. What could possibly go wrong in this scenario ? If I were an insurance company I'd duck you too.
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Insurance is just numbers. If they are happy to write policies for the same riders on 230 cc bikes, I can't see 140's being higher risk. Charge me the 230 price and let them ride.
 
TK4 said:
Let's see - you wanted to insure your off-road only motorcycles for use by (I'm assuming) minors. What could possibly go wrong in this scenario ? If I were an insurance company I'd duck you too.
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It's an absolute pain in the ass. How can you get your family out trail riding when you can't get insurance for the small bikes that the kids would start out on. There is an entire thread on this in the Off road part of the forum.
 
I'm still questioning the need for insuring an off-road bike for kids.
 
Wingboy said:
I'm still questioning the need for insuring an off-road bike for kids.
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As in kids should be free? Or kids should be in a more controlled environment?

Some of the most dangerous riders around here are <16. The <10 yo kids are much safer (although they still need to work on paying more attention to traffic).
 
Wingboy said:
I'm still questioning the need for insuring an off-road bike for kids.
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You can't ride on any crown land without insurance. That include Ganaraska, Limerick, Calabogie etc. OPP love to write no insurance tickets. So mom and dad can ride their 450s with insurance but the kids can't ride anything smaller than a 150 because insurance companies won't insure them
 
My understanding is that if insurance is legally required for an activity (such as off-road liability when not riding on your own property), then insurance companies are legally required to provide it, although perhaps at outrageous rates. This is why 'facility' policies exist for high-risk drivers that insurance companies otherwise don't want to deal with.

Aside from the regular sort of collisions with other people on the trails, the most plausible worst case I can imagine where you'd want some liability coverage for a kid is if the carb leaked and caused a wildfire.
 
Ash said:
My understanding is that if insurance is legally required for an activity (such as off-road liability when not riding on your own property), then insurance companies are legally required to provide it, although perhaps at outrageous rates. This is why 'facility' policies exist for high-risk drivers that insurance companies otherwise don't want to deal with.

Aside from the regular sort of collisions with other people on the trails, the most plausible worst case I can imagine where you'd want some liability coverage for a kid is if the carb leaked and caused a wildfire.
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Correct,

If the insurer covers that model, they have to offer you insurance for it.
 
I was paying about $250 a year for a moped I rode to the beer store maybe twice. Now it hangs from the garage ceiling.
 
Thanks for all the response.
I will apologize for not making it more clear I was only interested in street legal motorcycles.
It is clear that if you blue plate the bike over 50cc for street use, insurance is no issue.
If you are "off road" plated you are f***ked.
Price is a matter of shopping around.
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