Can I throw in a vote for UM coverage? Cost me like $5 more a month on my insurance, and paid my wife around $25k when she got smashed by an uninsured drunk. Call your company and ask about it; going without is like buying nice shoes and going without laces because they cost $1 more.

Yes you can't say to much about UN and Uderinsured on a bike. I lost my leg 18 months ago by someone who had the state limit of 20,000 I had 100,000. i was lucky I had a seperate policy from my auto on my bile. I was able to double up my $ 100,000 on my bike and my $100,000 on my auto's for $200,000. Also I don't care what it cost you. Don't try to deal any insurance company without a lawyer. Not even your own. I had the same insurance for twenty two years and they still tried to screw me. When buyiong bike insurance , don't put your bike on same policy with your auto's you may save a few hundred that way but your screwed if you go down. Thanks Dan O!

Hi. Just wanted to add a little info to this forum. I recently "retired" from State Farm Insurance (I had to quit because my husband had a motorcycle accident and is now a quadriplegic so I'm staying home taking care of him). Two years ago, a group of us were riding down in southern Ohio, nice twisty roads, beautiful July day, he goes into a curve too fast, runs out of curve and we went flying. He held on to the bike as it flipped over the high side. The last thing I remember before I passed out was the tour pack going over my head. I broke my collar bone in 2 places, tore a rotator and herniated 3 discs in my neck. He had a few scratches but nothing broken. Our State Farm Motorcycle policy doesn't cover "Medical" for the operator of the bike, but because I was a passenger on his bike, my injuries were covered under the uninsured/underinsured coverage. I always tried to impress the importance of UM coverage to our policyholders, but in the 18 years I worked for State Farm it never came up that it would cover a passenger on a motorcycle. But it makes sense that it does - since there is no medical coverage for an operator/passenger and a spouse can't be "liable for his spouses injuries" under liability, he is basically "uninsured". So after our accident, I never let anyone that was purchasing a motorcycle policy leave the office with out UM coverage. Even when they said "I have Aetna, or Blue Cross, etc health insurance, then I told them my story and how my UM coverage took care of me. I settled my claim after my husband had his serious accident last Sept and I feel I got a pretty fair shake.

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I just wanted to add my two-cents and another aspect to Peggy's comment on Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage. I too was insured by State Farm who we have been with for years. I never knew what coverage I had, but my agent took care of making sure I was covered. Unlike Peggy's situation, I had excellent medical coverage, which Aetna covered all 3+ Million dollars of. Can't say enough good about that company. My issue is that in the State of Pennsylvania and many other states, the minimum accidental medical coverage required is only $15,000. Even though the other driver was clearly at fault, that's the maximum they are required to pay out. If you want to sue, you will probably starve before it is ever settled. When my wife spoke to our agent (I was in a COMA then), she was informed that we were covered under our "Underinsured" portion of my motorcycle coverage. The bottom line is that we were able to survive finan cially, mainly due to that "unknown" clause. My suggestion to all motorists is to review your coverage and make sure you have this coverage. You may not think you need it now, neither did I.

I am saddened by Peggy's husbands injuries and wish them well.

Regards,

Ron

This issue IS an important one. My wife and I were "hounded" by a friend about checking what coverage we actually had after buying our Electra Glide. She made us aware of how much of a joke some companies treated the term "full coverage". There experience had been that after their accident, it was clear that she, as passenger, would be OK, but even though she could not have been hurt had he not been driving, his medical as the driver was a joke.
I'm thankful she opened our eyes to that detail that "hides" in policies. 5000 is nothing in the world of bike losses, yet that's all the coverage I had. To make things worse, as it has been stated, states minimum required coverage of medical only makes the company money as far as I see it. It doesn't protect the injured party's health or welfare, and sure doesn't pay the bills.
In my case my attorney showed me that we both had 100,000 per accident coverage. Under insured, I was told, would be of no help. All that could be done was to request the full surrender of their policy, to meet the needs of my expenses, and whatever balance would be my settlement.
It didn't drag out, because there was nothing to hold out for. So I got a "Paid Vacation" I didn't ask for, and have ongoing problems with more time off work.
I now know the one thing that could have helped me more would have been to "bump up" my under insured coverage. It is Very reasonable cost wise compared to actually buying a policy with higher numbers. You only need to increase your policy's ability to assist another's liability to help pay higher losses.
Since my accident, I have one friend who saw my situation unfold, and has since insisted his agent bump his auto uninsured coverage to the maximum. He had to tell them my story for them to understand why it was so important.
This issue should be of the HIGHEST PRIORITIES to any one who rides, or knows someone who does. PASS IT ON !!! for piece of mind, if nothing else.

On July 4th my husband and I were rear-ended by an auto at 60 miles an hour. We were in a line of traffic - at the end - going about 10 miles an hour when the driver of a car, he did not own, hit us going 60 miles an hour. He never hit the breaks. He dragged me 300 feet on his hood before he was able to stop the car and he ran over my husband who slide the opposite direction about 300 feet. I woke up on the hood of his car with a crushed left pelvis, left leg twisted the wrong way, several cuts and bruises, internal bleeding, a concussion, my lower back muscles torn from my back and neck injuries as well. I was hit so hard that my helmet was knocked off of my head a flew down the road.

Our motorcycle became embedded into the front of the car he was driving - the one he did not own. He also did not have a driver's license, expired out of state plates, and lied about texting on a cell phone. My husband was knocked off of the bike and then ran over by the car. Both of his shoulders were dislocated, he broke his sturnum, his right leg, his right arm, his pelvis in the center, ripped off his right foot, which was saved.

We were lifelighted to St. Lukes of KC. MO were we both underwent emergency surgery to save our lifes. I spent 21 days in a drug-induced comma only to wake up and not understand what happened to us for a week after.

We spent 2 and half months in hospitals. We are home now and both back at work fulltime but we are still healing and hobbling around. They were able to put by hip back together and save my life which I am thankful. We both are still struggling terribly with post tramatic stress syndrome plus daily dibilitating pain.

While things do improve everyday for us it is still a slow process which is frustrating for us being young parents our children are 14 and 8.

We have found out through this how important it is to have the highest coverage possible on yourself and your bike. The guy who hit us did not have insurance so we are stuck with relying on our own bike insurance, health insurance, and our lawyers wits; which have been very good so far. So take everyone's advice and take a moment and look at your coverage before you take your next ride.

On July 17, 2008, I was the passenger in a fatal motorcycle accident. My boyfriend is the one who was driving and the one who died. There were no other vehicles involved - we were traveling too fast to be able to take a curve in the road safely. A car was turning onto the road in front of us and he crashed us into a field, no doubt thinking that I had a better chance of living if he did. We crashed through a fence, boulders, and a street sign, sending me 95ft and him 75ft, ripping his helmet off and killing him. I suffered multiple injuries and was not expected to be out of the hospital for at least 4-6 months. I thought he had insurance on the bike, but apparently he had let it lapse. I was days away from medical at work, so I had to file bankruptcy on almost a quarter million dollars worth of bills. I carry full auto coverage, but of course it wouldn't pay anything. I cannot tell you how important it is that if you are going to ride, you NEED to be responsible about it! I had help from family for the first six months, but since then I have been doing it completely on my own - the emotional part I have done on my own the entire time. It is extremely important to be responsible - it is such a huge mess for others to clean up if you aren't.