AA breakdown cover

[Professor]

I am thinking :-k of joining the AA in its basic form (roadside recovery
only) and I have the following questions.

1. Am I correct in thinking that AA membership entitles the member to
the recovery of their motorcycle?

2. Does the AA have recovery vehicles suitable for the
transportation of motorcycles? The story with Grinch's bike made a
deep impression on me.

3. Does anyone have personal experience of using the AA for the
recovery of a motorcycle?

[Kate]

Any particular reason you are only considering the AA? For the car, I've had AA, RAC, GreenFlag and now have NCI who do cater specifically for bikes.

[Topaz]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the AA do not recover after an accident.

I could be wrong though.

A.

[adam]

has the breakdown cover that came with your bike expired?

[valleyboy]

Im looking at some form of cover.. my main point would be recovery after an accident.. and punctures.. and taking me home / to a garage after any of the above
as its very unlikely for it to wanna break down for no particular reason.. my usual problems have been not checking the kill switch.. which has been pointed out by my mate on one or more occasions!
Most other things I could attempt to suss out myself.. so its accident recovery I would be more interested in...

One thing I have found out though, i used the AA cover that came with the bike when I bought it, the bloke that came wouldnt toucht the bike.. i had to basicaly load it myself... luckily, my mates dad arrived, and one of our labourers helped put it on the back.

[Professor]

The reason I am considering the AA is that they are the biggest
recovery service. I thought that there is a greater chance of them
having recovery vehicles suitable for the transportation of
motorcycles. I may be wrong but after Grinch's story I am becoming
paranoid.

Joining for the sake of the bike only seems unreasonable. I would
rather have all the vehicles that I drive/ride covered.

I think the breakdown cover that came with the bike was for one year
only.

I also saw somewhere in the AA's small print that they do not
recover after an accident and this worries me.

[Professor]

Im looking at some form of cover.. my main point would be recovery after an accident.. and punctures.. and taking me home / to a garage after any of the above
as its very unlikely for it to wanna break down for no particular reason.. my usual problems have been not checking the kill switch.. which has been pointed out by my mate on one or more occasions!
Most other things I could attempt to suss out myself.. so its accident recovery I would be more interested in...

One thing I have found out though, i used the AA cover that came with the bike when I bought it, the bloke that came wouldnt toucht the bike.. i had to basicaly load it myself... luckily, my mates dad arrived, and one of our labourers helped put it on the back.

You are probably right that accident recovery should be our main concern.

As to recovery due to a puncture, I have this included in my insurance.
But again, after Grinch's incident I would think hard before asking for
assistance.

[valleyboy]

I was told by the AA bloke, that ALL their recovery vehicles are equiped to take motorcycles... The yellow trucks with the arm on the back that is used to jack up the front wheels of a car is used..

there is an addapter that they bolt onto the arm, you load your bike from the side, and the wheels lock into some stays on the thing.. and they then tie it down... and lift the arm.. it dont look right at all though! it works...

make sure you put some rags where they tie it.. or you end up like me with paint rubbed off down to the frame!

cos the thing BOUNCES a lot!

[Sid Squid]

Breakdown services should be a last resort, carry the obvious spares and a temporary puncture kit and you'll only need a tow in a small amount of cases. I've never needed to be recovered for a puncture, if you carry a puncture kit you'll have the bike going again quicker than you'd get off the phone to the breakdown service.

FWIW, Having dealt with lots of broken motorbikes and the people who've had them recovered, I'm led to think the RAC gives the best allround service.

[lurcher]

theres a ad for nci insurance in ride mag(july)which beats the aa and rac on price and state that they will be there in 40 mins,worth a look tel no 0800 7836026 or www.ncionline.co.uk hope this helps

[Professor]

theres a ad for nci insurance in ride mag(july)which beats the aa and rac on price and state that they will be there in 40 mins,worth a look tel no 0800 7836026 or www.ncionline.co.uk hope this helps

The website is nice and it is encouraging that they offer the possibility
of covering bikes as a separate type of motor vehicle. As to price,
they are not particularly cheap.

[Anonymous]

The advantage of the AA, at least the level of cover I have, is they will cover any vehicle you have. RAC used to be vehicle specific..has that changed? So bike, car and any car you may be travelling in* will be covered.

*(certainly used to be the case).

[Cloggsy]

RAC used to be vehicle specific..has that changed?

Think so... They didn't ask me for vehicle specifics when I signed up... Didn't cost me a bean either, good ol' Tesco clubcard points :wink:

[Professor]

The packages that the RAC is currently offering do not appear to be
vehicle specific. And they are cheaper than the AA.

I didn't realise that one can pay for RAC membership with Tesco points.
We have loads of them.

[Anonymous]

Interesting, that piece of 10 year old info always put me off RAC :lol:

BTW dont forget in the event of an accident your insurance company can deal with the bike (probbaly not so good if your a fixer-upper)

[Professor]

Interesting, that piece of 10 year old info always put me off RAC :lol:

BTW dont forget in the event of an accident your insurance company can deal with the bike (probbaly not so good if your a fixer-upper)

What is a fixer-upper?

[Anonymous]

Interesting, that piece of 10 year old info always put me off RAC :lol:

BTW dont forget in the event of an accident your insurance company can deal with the bike (probbaly not so good if your a fixer-upper)

What is a fixer-upper?

Those who do their own repairs. Unlike me who just looks stupid and ends up with a bill or has to claim for it. What I mean is it just occurred to me that say you have a solo accident so theres no other party involved, or its a minor but disabling (bike) accident, you may wish to sort things yourself and so not get the insurance company involved by using their recovery services etc. In which case you may need your breakdown service, but only if they cover accidents.

[Han]

I was recovered by the AA after a puncture and they were great. They were there in 20 mins and took me the 80 miles back home. I couldn't have fixed it as the valve had come away from the tube. Not a bad word to say about them.

[norvidick]

The AA will recover your bike after an accident but you have to pay for it check out clause 13 of thier agreement as that is what hapened to a member of the Suzuki owners club I think he had to pay £80.00 to take it six miles to his home.

[Stig]

I'm covered with the AA and after one particular accident I got the AA to recover the bike home 5 miles. It cost me £60. That is still cheaper than getting a local road side recovery to do the same job.

I won't go with the RAC, quite simply because they contract out a lot of their work to local garages.

A particularly bad experience, where I broke down and needed recovery. A local garage came to recover me on behalf of the RAC. It was a nightmare that wouldn't end. The end result was 6 hours to go 50 miles, and have the "Mechanic" drop my bike off the side of the trailer and for the bike to hit the road upside down. :x :x

[Stig]

Oh and you can actually get accident recovery added to your policy.

[Professor]

The AA will recover your bike after an accident but you have to pay for it check out clause 13 of thier agreement as that is what hapened to a member of the Suzuki owners club I think he had to pay £80.00 to take it six miles to his home.

Clause 13 of the AA's Terms and Conditions does indeed clarify this
matter. Thanks!

[Professor]

I won't go with the RAC, quite simply because they contract out a lot of their work to local garages.


I didn't know this. I always thought the RAC are big enough to avoid
having to contract work out.

[Sir Trev]

It depends on where you are and the time of day as to how many genuine patrols are available. About 75% of the time I've had a "real" RAC patrol come to rescue me and most of the rest have been bike specialists who know what they are doing.

All regular patrols have bike kit, unlike 15 years ago when there was olny two patrols covering all of London when my 250 ate it's reg/rec. I've also had a subbie actuually mend a snapped clutch cable as a get-you-home, and another take my electrically dead 250 (same one) from Norwich back home to Berkshire.

Personal cover too and 95% of the time I've had prompt responses. I've stuck with them for 19 years now.

[cmit37]

I am with RAC and I went with the home start or whatever the name is. I noticed I had a flat tyre(took a few hours to deflate) at home on a Sunday afternoon and since I feel that I did not go for the cheapest option I called the RAC to come and offer a solution. They said that they could not repair punctures on my bike but somebody could drive over and give me a lift to a garage. I thought - OK and they said they would be over in a few hours. Got a call later telling me that unfortunately their people were busy and they could not come but if I wanted to they could show up the next day at some point. Not having an air pump I asked them if somebody could come from 7am on Monday morning to either take it to garage that could fix it or pump up the tyre so that I could ride it to the nearest garage if that would be easier for them to do. The person at the end of the line said that somebody would be over at 7am in the morning to pump up my tire. I got a call the next day at 8.30 am telling me that they were sorry but all their mechanics were busy but if I waited around someone would come along during the day. I told them not to bother and took the public transport to work that day. I came home in the evening with the air pump, pumped up the tyre the next morning and rode-off to the nearest garage.
I have to say that I am very disappointed with the service RAC had provided(what service) and I will not be wasting my money with them again next year.

[tee jey]

FWIW I'm with Green Flag (or May Day through the Caravan Club) and would recommend them as No 1.

1. Personal cover for me and the misses covers either of us in any car we are travelling and this also includes my bike.
2. My daughters car is the name vehicle and is covered for any driver so she is in effect covered for free which is a bonus as she is a poor student and it gives us piece of mind when shes out. All this for £90 (Does not include home start coz if it don't start I take another vehicle). I believe the Green Flag service is better than the AA and RAC because they use contractors rather than their own staff and the contractors are always eager to please as they want to retain the contract as their living and business depend on it.

The problem witth the AA is that they relay you from area to area so you spend time waitng in motorway services for the next vehicle to collect you. Recovery from Scotland involved 5 changes. Green Flag will take you all the way with one vehicle.

[Professor]

Thanks to everyone who shared with me their thoughts and
experiences. I will now have to digest the info.

I have never been a member of any breakdown cover scheme and I never
felt the need to join one. I always managed to deal with all the
minor car problems myself. But since I bought my bike 2 years ago I
am becoming progressively more and more paranoid.

[mudge32]

Yep RAC...fine for the car...completely useless for the bike!!

Sent a patrolman with a car-trailer when they knew I was on the bike :evil:
I wouldn't mind so much, if this hadn't happened on all 3 occasions I've had to call them out!!!

[Fruity]

Let me just add... the AA also contract work out!

I've been covered with the AA for the last hmmm 22 years on and off. Last year when the bottom end went on the bike not my sv, (6pm) I called the AA out and explained I'd need relay as the bike wasn't going anywhere. At 10pm stuck in the middle of nowhere over in East London/Essex a small AA van pulled up, I explained the problem so he said "sorry love, you'll have to wait for the relay truck" #-o After more than 10 phone calls to the AA, at 2am a poxy recovery truck arrived...it wasn't an AA truck, it was a dirty flea ridden one they had contracted the work to. I was so annoyed by time I got dropped home covered in bites from his cab I swore I'd not renew my membership. They knew I was a female, on my own in an unlit run down part of East London, yet they left me sitting waiting for their assistance.

But ... after looking around they seemed to be the best of a bad bunch lol.

[Professor]

Having read all the replies to my original post as well as private
messages I bought AA breakdown cover Option 200 (full recovery)
jointly with Mrs Professor. Many thanks to everyone who replied!

[Skip]

if you carry a puncture kit you'll have the bike going again quicker than you'd get off the phone to the breakdown service.
I removed the rear seat section of plastic from my K1 and cable tied a can of Holts Tyre Weld to the frame and then squeezed the plastic back over the top - havent lost any underseat storage and the SVs toolkit contains all I need to extract it again should the worst happen :D

Oh and I am with Carole Nash insurance, and will hopefully never have to be recovered! [-o<

[Professor]

Just received my "Welcome to the AA" letter. The amazing thing is
that the AA offers to provide the same letter in other versions,
in particular, large print, audio and Braille. I understand that a blind
person can, in principle, join the AA so as to be covered as a passenger
but nevertheless I would guess blind people form a tiny percentage
of those joining the AA. I think it is political correctness gone mad.

[Anonymous]

I think it is political correctness gone mad.

I was just reading about the red and blue teams at Trafalgar day, thinking of this. Utter utter nonsense.

Anyway, your homework on this has been a great help Prof.

[valleyboy]

Does anyone know how much it costs to add accident recovery??

I'll be joining the AA shortly, and Im more worried about having an off and needing to get somewhere than a normal break down...

[Professor]

Does anyone know how much it costs to add accident recovery??

I'll be joining the AA shortly, and Im more worried about having an off and needing to get somewhere than a normal break down...

You are right, Gareth, that recovery after minor accidents is the
most important issue for us. Unfortunately, my understanding is that
you can't add accident recovery to standard AA packages. It seems
that you have to pay after the accident happens and the price
depends on the distance you need your vehicle transported.

[valleyboy]

Ahh well, I may have to just bite the bullet then..
with the way my luck has been recently, I could really have done with such an option! hehe

Ive had a 25% off letter posted to me as my AA cover that came with the bike is about to run out.... so I think I will use that shortly..
no harm in asking over the phone as well I suppose :)

Thanks Professor!

[Professor]

no harm in asking over the phone as well I suppose :)


Let us know in due course what they tell you.

[Warren]

anyone have any experience with carol nash breakdown recovery ?

[Stig]

Does anyone know how much it costs to add accident recovery??

I'll be joining the AA shortly, and Im more worried about having an off and needing to get somewhere than a normal break down...

I called the AA after an unfortunate drop at a petrol station and broke my front brake lever. I didn't tell them that it was an accident, just that my brake lever had broken, they recovered me home as a normal breakdown at no extra cost.

So it's always worth a try if the damage isn't to bad.