Travelling outside North America | GTAMotorcycle.com

Travelling outside North America

D

Delboy

Well-known member
I know there are quite a few people here who take their bikes out of North America.

I’m going to take a bit of a sabbatical from work in this spring/summer (I just need to decompress after all this COVID stuff, and having to spend the last 9 months with Her Indoors… LOL). I have been looking at looking at some trips with a friend. We are considering Canada’s North and Alaska or possibly Europe.

Of course, the whole thing is COVID dependent although I’m supposedly booked for my first COVID shot in January. We will see about that one. My concern with Canada at the moment is that my Brother told me that its looking like Q3/4 2020 as the earliest vaccines will be available en mass so I'm not sure how that will impact mobility.

Anyway, I’ve ridden in Europe a number of times, but I have always rented. Since this will be longer, it will be cheaper to ship my own bike but that means that I have to arrange insurance.

For those of you that do a lot of travelling outside the US and Canada, how or with whom do you arrange that? I would be looking for comprehensive on the bike with good liability and probably health as I’m sure if I take off from work my coverage will stop. Assume it would be 3 months

I know there is a bunch of other paperwork I have to obtain, but right now I’d just like to get a ball park budget going.

Thanks in Advance
 
Delboy said:
I know there are quite a few people here who take their bikes out of North America.

I’m going to take a bit of a sabbatical from work in this spring/summer (I just need to decompress after all this COVID stuff, and having to spend the last 9 months with Her Indoors… LOL). I have been looking at looking at some trips with a friend. We are considering Canada’s North and Alaska or possibly Europe.

Of course, the whole thing is COVID dependent although I’m supposedly booked for my first COVID shot in January. We will see about that one. My concern with Canada at the moment is that my Brother told me that its looking like Q3/4 2020 as the earliest vaccines will be available en mass so I'm not sure how that will impact mobility.

Anyway, I’ve ridden in Europe a number of times, but I have always rented. Since this will be longer, it will be cheaper to ship my own bike but that means that I have to arrange insurance.

For those of you that do a lot of travelling outside the US and Canada, how or with whom do you arrange that? I would be looking for comprehensive on the bike with good liability and probably health as I’m sure if I take off from work my coverage will stop. Assume it would be 3 months

I know there is a bunch of other paperwork I have to obtain, but right now I’d just like to get a ball park budget going.

Thanks in Advance
Click to expand...
Fly to Australia, quarantine for 2 weeks, then hire a bike and ride up the east coast from Melbourne to Cairns, taking detours through the Glasshouse mountains/Hinterlands anytime the opportunity arises.

EDIT: do a trackday at Philip Island while your at it. The penguins are pretty cool to watch too.
 
Delboy said:
Anyway, I’ve ridden in Europe a number of times, but I have always rented. Since this will be longer, it will be cheaper to ship my own bike but that means that I have to arrange insurance.

For those of you that do a lot of travelling outside the US and Canada, how or with whom do you arrange that? I would be looking for comprehensive on the bike with good liability and probably health as I’m sure if I take off from work my coverage will stop. Assume it would be 3 months
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, it will be difficult getting full comprehensive for your bike that works all over Europe, especially for foreign motorcycles. The only company I know offering this is TourInsure based out of Germany:

TourInsure - International motor insurance - Car, Camper & Motorcycle

TourInsure is the expert for international motor insurance and frontier insurance for your own car, camper or your own motorcycle.
www.tourinsure.de

I've heard it is very expensive. Not sure what the pricing is, we've never gotten comprehensive, just the mandatory liability insurance for foreign vehicles. This is called Greencard insurance. We normally get that from Mototouring:

mototouring.com

Green Card Insurance Policy

The green card insurance policy gives you the possibility to insure your NON EUROPEAN vehicle to travel through the whole Europe
mototouring.com

Last time we got coverage was in back in 2017, so a 3-month policy back then was €223 + €10 to courier the physical copy to wherever you are. Definitely get a physical copy, especially if you are crossing a non-Schengen border. I was busted at the Montengero crossing, had a hell of a time getting through. Police will probably also want to see a physical copy as well, if you do get stopped. Mototouring is based in Milan, so if you're going to be close-by, you can forego the €10 courier fee and pick it up yourself.

I've used them over a dozen different times, the lady who I deal with, Gloria, is very responsive. Highly recommend.

There is also a guy in Croatia who offers Greencard insurance, his name is Dooby. We've exchanged a few e-mails (not related to insurance). His rate for 3 months is €255. Never used him, so can't comment on his service.

EU

Providing tailor made insurance solutions for global travellers on motorcycles, 4x4 and expedition trucks. From green card insurance, comprehensive insurance or coverage for freighting your vehicle, you can be assured we will deliver each and every time.
www.lobagola-mototours.com www.lobagola-mototours.com

For health insurance outside of Canada, we used Blue Cross. Family insurance for the whole year was $164. But it will be different for you depending on age, number of travelers and length of coverage. Just a heads-up: Blue Cross (as well as all other Canadian health insurance providing travel insurance) will only insure you if you have valid OHIP coverage. For three months your OHIP coverage will be okay, but if it looks like you will be spending more than seven months out of the province, definitely apply for an OHIP extension. More info here:


They'll give you an extension up to two years. After that, you'll have to find ex-pat insurance. PM me if you need that. If you're close to that point, another thing to note is that Canadians are only allowed to stay in the Schengen Zone for 3-months. There are ways to stay in Europe longer than 3-months by ducking in and out of Schengen countries. More info here:


Other than that, there are other options if you are risk-averse and like to be over-insured.

Your health insurance probably won't cover Emergency Medical Evacuation. We've gotten a MedJetAssist coverage.

Premier Air Medical Transport and Travel Protection | Medjet

Medjet is the premiere global air medical transport and travel security membership program for individuals, families, groups and corporations. Starting at $99.
medjetassist.com

I think getting it for Europe is overkill, they have pretty high standards of medical transportation. We only got it for South America and then decided for the rest of the world not to renew. It's fairly expensive >$1000 for an annual membership (at least back in 2012).

Good luck, and have fun!
 
one thing to add: most Canadian private health insurance carrier don't (can't) offer covid coverage
as long as the Gov has a do not go travel advisory in place for your destination, they cannot cover it

I used a US ins company: Safety Wing, for this winter as they do cover covid, and includes emerg evac back home
wan't crazy expensive - 800 for 6 months

one suggestion if Europe is still not in good shape next year:
South Africa...it's on my short list, but will probably rent a bike
Africa in general is doing well managing covid
 
J_F said:
one thing to add: most Canadian private health insurance carrier don't (can't) offer covid coverage
as long as the Gov has a do not go travel advisory in place for your destination, they cannot cover it

I used a US ins company: Safety Wing, for this winter as they do cover covid, and includes emerg evac back home
wan't crazy expensive - 800 for 6 months

one suggestion if Europe is still not in good shape next year:
South Africa...it's on my short list, but will probably rent a bike
Africa in general is doing well managing covid
Click to expand...
be careful in planning for SA, i have a friend from there. With a lot of the country in civil strife, it's not safe to ride in a lot of the country. It was on my short list in '17 and i opted for Thailand because of this.
 
Evoex said:
be careful in planning for SA, i have a friend from there. With a lot of the country in civil strife, it's not safe to ride in a lot of the country. It was on my short list in '17 and i opted for Thailand because of this.
Click to expand...

Over the last couple of years, I've spent 6 months motorcycling around South Africa. If you stay out of the big cities, it's actually quite a nice place to visit and ride around.
 
Lightcycle said:
Over the last couple of years, I've spent 6 months motorcycling around South Africa. If you stay out of the big cities, it's actually quite a nice place to visit and ride around.
Click to expand...
hopefully it's improved since i was planning for it then.
 
J_F said:
do you keep a bike in SA, LC?
or do you rent?
Click to expand...

We ended up riding all over Africa for close to a year and a half, so at that length of time it's cheaper to buy motorcycles instead of renting. Border crossing are easier with a local vehicle and the shipping on our Canadian bikes was crazy expensive.

If you are looking to rent, let me know which city. We lived in Cape Town and Pretoria for quite a few months and know a lot of the good shops and rental places.
 
I am too scared for my personal safety to ride through developing countries. I won't even go visit.
I truly do envy you guys!
 
happy to be in the rental cage today
h1a7iQP.mp4

h1a7iQP.mp4
https://imgur.com/h1a7iQP
 
J_F said:
highway still closed today, had 2 choices
drive back to where I'm staying - 6 hours
or roll the dice on the detour - was only 80 km from my destination

damn I need to get my bike down here
was a long day to get there on the detour
but the scenery is stunning


https://imgur.com/GMaxRT5
Click to expand...
Well I know it wont be a riding thread, but for all of us stuck up here in the snow, your adventure is looking good enough to warrant it's own thread.
 
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if you guys want...sure

made it tonight to one of coolest places I've seen

Vilcabamba EC
small town in the south
in a stunning valley with a micro-tropical climate

eclectic mix of nationals and hippie expats

would be a great place to get lost if someone needed to get lost

Sent from my Mi Note 3 using GTAMotorcycle.com mobile app
 
J_F said:
Vilcabamba EC
small town in the south
in a stunning valley with a micro-tropical climate
eclectic mix of nationals and hippie expats
would be a great place to get lost if someone needed to get lost
Click to expand...

Vilcabamba! Great town!

We stopped by here on our ride down south.

Stayed at a funky place called the Izhcayluma Lodge just outside of town. If you don't have a place yet, check it out.

Amazing scenery for riding as well!

P1000224-L.jpg
 
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