According to a new report just released by the Public Accounts Commitee, almost 1 in 4 motorcyclists are opting not to buy road tax for their motorbike, leading to suggestions that the whole road tax system for motorcyclists is a total joke.

In 2006 38% of rider s selected to flout the road tax rules and ignore buying road tax, a figure which is up 8% on the 2005 figure. This figure compares to 5% of all road users (up from 3.6% in 2005) and combined, the cost to the government in lost revenue is 214 million pounds.

Public Accounts Commitee chairman, Edward Leigh has accused motorcyclists of being criminals and stealing the government's money by refusing to pay for road tax and has even suggested that riders who do not buy road tax are often linked with other forms of crime.

The target for the DVLA to reduce overall road tax evasion to was 2.5% for 2007, and now it looks unlikely that this will be reached.

Its been suggested that motorcyclists to evade the road tax rules and refuse to tax their bikes should have their bike impounded with heavy release costs, and also have a number of penalty points put on their licence. Its even been suggested that persistant offenders ie those that regularly are late or do not tax their bikes, will be made to prepay their road tax in advance.

Its worth pointing out that if you do ride without road tax then your bike insurance is technically invalid as your bike is not legally allowed to be used on the road. This is a grey area, but its worth thinking about, just in case you happen to have a fault accident, or if your bike is stolen at the petrol station for example. For the sakes of the cost of 6 months road tax, is it worth the risk not to spend this amount compared to the cost of losing your pride and joy.

However, maybe if we didnt all feel so ripped off about everything this government tries to do to us then we wouldnt be so likely to break the rules in the first place.

Article by Dan.

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A report by a leading UK data firm has concluded that the internet is the number one place to to find the cheapest bike insurance quotes.

The report, carried out on behalf of a leading motorcycle magazine asked the public a number of questions, including;

1. How do you research your bike insurance?

2. How many bike insurance brokers or companies do you contact?

3. Do you use a comparison website and if so which one is best for you?

3. Whats the most important thing you consider when buying bike insurance?

4. What time of day you search for your insurance?

5. Where do you find the cheapest bike insurance quotes - on the web or over the phone?

The results of the study show that over 75% of motorbike riders research their bike insurance costs online, although interestingly, over half of those still transacted over the telephone.

The average number of companies contacted was 3 and this was done by a combination of quotes on the web and on the phone.

45% of riders have used a bike insurance price comparison website, with over 80% of those having used The Bike Insurer comparison site.

92% said price was the single most important thing they considered when buying bike insurance.

73% believe that the internet is the place to go to find the cheapest bike insurance. This was compared to less than 50% in a similar survey carried out in 2006.

Article by Dan

Bike Insurance from The Bike Insurer

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We are very pleased to announce that we have reached agreement with Money Supermarket to be the main provider of bike insurance on their website.

Money Supermarket have arguably the biggest site for comparing financial products in the UK and this agreement allows The Bike Insurer to target their large captive audience who seek to get cheap bike insurance deals.

Commenting on this deal, Alex Stone, Director and founder of The Bike Insurer said; "We have always enjoyed working with Money Supermarket and this represented an excellent opportunity for the 2 brands to compliment and work with each other to find the best deals for their customer base. We hope that this is a long term and strategically beneficial deal for everyone concerned, but most importantly, as there is a bigger choice and more options for cover on The Bike Insurer website than any other bike insurance website in the UK, Money Supermarket customers now have the chance to save even more money on their bike insurance."

Article by Dan

Bike Insurance from The Bike Insurer

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If you live in the midlands or south east of the country and are looking for a motorcycle training course then look no further. Our friends at Camrider, one of the biggest and certainly most respected training firm in the UK, have come up with a mega deal to kick off the new bike season.

For the bargain price of £339 (normal price £500) you can get a 4 session started course (direct or standard) and whats more, recommend a friend and they can get the same course for just £200 (or you make them pay £339 and you pay £200!)

What do you get for your hard earned??

You get a 4 session course, which will be tailored for any rider - totally new, born again, or experienced.

The only extra you will need to sort on top of this is the final practical test and any additional training (if required) to follow on at the end.

Whats included in this offer?

CBT and certificate

Free hire of either a 125 or 500cc bike for 4 sessions

Third Party Fire and Theft Insurance

Fuel

Helmet, gloves and waterproof clothes (if required)

All training from DSA and MRTA motorcycle training instructors

Guaranteed class sizes - never more than 2:1

86.4% first time pass rate average

You can book online or call one of the Camrider team on 0800 387198, but make sure that you book before the deadline of Jan 24th although we have been told that they will allow you to take your training upto March 7th.

About Camrider:

Originally started with a Princes Trust grant by a very decent chap called Bernard Adams, he was someone that I have a great deal of respect for, for many different reasons. Bernard always thought he was the best rider in the world but then one day, on his brand new VFR 750, he left the disclock on his bike and rode off. Until he fell off a foot later. Hilarious, but he didnt think so.

Since then, Camrider has become one of the UK's most well known motorcycle training centres, with 7 training sites in the midlands and south east of the country.

Article by Dan

Bike Insurance from The Bike Insurer

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Suzuki GB are offering an awesome deal on a number of their models for the start of the 2008 bike season.

All you have to is give em a quid and ask very nicely if you can pay 0% interest over the next 30 months in exchange for a nice shiny V-Strom 1000, DR-Z400SM, GS500 or GSR 600. Make sure you get one soon though  cos this deal ends on the 31st March.

The only problem with this kind of deal is that its usually on bikes that tend not to be the biggest sellers in the range anyway and in this case Suzuki is offering  a very good deal on some bikes that need a bit of a helping hand.

Dont let this deal catch you out though. You should still be hammering your local dealer as hard as you can on the price you pay for the bike 'cos when it comes to resale time, none of these bikes are going to hold their value that well and its not like you can offer the same deal to the next buyer. Its fair to expect that if you buy one of these bikes now, then so might a number of other riders and with the average length of ownership of a bike being 17 months, there might well be a few on the market when you decide to sell yours.

A few years ago, I set up a cheap bike insurance offer for Yamaha to help em shift a few hundred R1's that were kicking about before the new model came out a few months later. Great promotion at the time and they sold all of them in a matter of weeks, but when it came to used values, they were destroyed and buyers, who got a great deal when they bought their bike were left facing having to slash the cost of their bike as loads came onto the market at the same time.

Forewarned is forearmed, apparently!!!

Article by Dan

Bike Insurance from The Bike Insurer

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This is a mega video I just saw of the duel between the all new Kawasaki ZX-10R and Yamaha's iconic R1, which incidentally I owned for 74 miles last year before a collision with some oil, a Ford Fiesta and a beat field!

Anyway, the ZX-10R is a beast of a bike and its got mega power, producing 170 bhp compared to the R1's measly 162 bhp. With a top speed of 184 mph its also pretty quick in a straight line.

Maybe the R1 is a better looking bike, but who cares what it looks like when it goes like either one of these 2 do.

So here it is, check it out, courtesy of our friends at MCN. The 2008 Kawasaki ZX-10R versus the Yamaha R1.

 Article by Dan

Bike Insurance from The Bike Insurer

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Iconic bike manufacturer, Ducati, have presented plans to launch 10 new model bikes by 2010, according to the latest news from Milan, Italy.

According to reports, there are 3 new bikes for 2008, the stunning 848, 1098R and the Monster 696 with another 3 new bikes next year and finally, 4 new models to be released in 2010.

Its unclear at the moment what the bikes will be in 2009 and 2010 but its believed they will all be top end bikes, meaning the Monster 696 is the only budget level bike in the firm's armoury.

We'll keep you upto date when we know more.

Article by Dan.

Bike Insurance from The Bike Insurer

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Latest figures just released by the Motor Cycle Industry Association show that motorcycle, scooter and moped registrations were up by 8.6% in 2007 against the previous year, which is the biggest rise in registrations in 7 years.

In total, 144,583 powered two wheelers were registered in 2007 compare to 133,086 registrations in 2006.

The biggest rise was in motorcycle registrations which were up by a huge 9.4%, next came scooters which were up by just over 9% and then moped which was up by 4%. The best selling of all models was the Yamaha YBR 125 which sold a staggering 2,272 units.

Not suprisingly , the biggest growth area in 2007 was in the adventure sport category which was up 32%. This area has been well publicised recently by the adventures of Ewen McGregor and Charlie Boorman in their Long Way down trip through Africa, which received a lot of television coverage.

A 13.4% increase in the registration of naked motorcycles can at least partially be contributed to the fact that commuting through London in a car or on public transport has never been so expensive or difficult and with a bike a lot of the hassle and cost is removed.

A big increase in the sub 125 cc category shows that there are more new people entering motorcycling for the first time too. This is substantiated by the fact that 3 of the top 10 best selling bikes in 2007 were from this category.

We already posted a thread previously which shows the cost of bike insurance is coming down too, so really its good news all around. All we need is the weather to stay mild, as it has been so far in 2008 and then maybe we can see some great figures like this again.

Article by Dan

Bike Insurance from The Bike Insurer

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Lots of people call us to tell us they are confused about bike insurance and are not sure what the different levels of cover mean, why their mates can get insurance cheaper than they can or they want to know what a voluntary excess is.

At The Bike Insurer we try and help you get over all this jargon by constantly telling you throughout the whole quote process what certain terms mean, such as voluntary excess for example.

What we cant do though on the quote forms is tell you why your mate is paying £200 less than you for his bike insurance, when really you think that if anything you should be paying less than him. So below Ive just shown a few reasons why this may be. Hopefully once you've read this you will be a little less confused about your bike insurance.

Scenario 1:

John is age 36 and rides a Honda CBR 600 and he got it at the start of the season last year. Its a 2004 model that he paid £3000 for. At the time he hadnt ridden for a few years but had been driving during this time. John lives in Bristol and he keeps his bike in his garage at home. After much searching around for his bike insurance, John ended up paying £257.

Scenario 2:

Andy is 40 and also rides a Honda CBR 600 which is a couple of years older and he has just bought it for £2200. Andy has just got his full bike licence but he has been riding off road for a few years, and he considers himself to be a pretty competent bike rider. Andy lives around the corner from John and although he is older has ended up paying £445 for his insurance, which he thinks is unfair as he is a) older and b) his bike is not worth as much.

On paper it looks like Andy should get a better deal, but if you delve into the details then there are a couple of things which sway into John's favour.

1. John has been riding on the road a year longer and has earned himself a no claims bonus discount, which can be as much as a 40% saving.

2. John elected to add a voluntary excess of £500 to his bike insurance, which basically means that in the event of a fault claim, he is responsible for the first £500 of the claim cost. John was happy to do this as he is happy in his own skill as a rider and doesnt believe he will have a crash. He also lives in a safe area where his bike is garaged, and he hasnt known of any other bikes being stolen.

Although Andy is older and the bike is worth less, these factors do not count as much as the no claims bonus entitlement or voluntary excess discount, which can also be as much as 29%.

The moral is, when you get your quotes, go back and play around with your answers. If you are happy to have a bigger excess, compare that price to not having such a high excess. Also, a common mistake people make is on mileage. When you get your car insurance, most people average around 1000 miles per month, or 12000 miles per year. On a bike its different. Try and work out how many miles you will do per year and then get a quote for that, for example;

Kevin rides his bike from March to October, mostly at weekends. When riding he probably rides about 150 miles over the weekend. Over 32 weekends he rides about 4000 miles per year, allowing for a couple of weeks when he cant ride because its raining and then a couple more because he is away on holiday. Limiting your mileage can save over 15%, which is money that should be in your pocket.

Next time you're feeling confused about your bike insurance, and wonder why its not as cheap as you think it should be, just go back and change some details, and as long as you are happy with your choices, and they suit your requirements, dont pay more than you have to.

Article by Dan

Bike Insurance from The Bike Insurer

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Does anyone know anybody who works in bike insurance in the United States?

I am looking to talk to someone in the know there about opportunities and need to speak to the right people.

If so, please can you email me at customer.services@thebikeinsurer.co.uk and I will be eternally greatful?

Thanks,

Dan

Bike Insurance from The Bike Insurer

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