Vastly different rates for similar bikes??? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Vastly different rates for similar bikes???

plutoz

plutoz

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Been shopping for a small displacement bike, couple that have I've been considering are the KTM 390 Duke and Kawasaki Z400. Both naked ~400CC bikes.

Was leaning towards the Kawi after reading some reviews / watching some videos, but then I went to check insurance rates with TD Meloche Monnex since their website is one of the easiest to get a quote from without talking to someone, and I have my V-Strom 650 insured through them for a reasonable price (I shop around each year and no one has beat them yet). I expected the quote to reflect about $1 per CC like most bikes I've looked up. I live in a safe, suburban area and am married & a mature rider so my rates are usually pretty good...

Quote came back for the KTM as expected - $414 for the year

Kawasaki Z400 on the other hand $632 per year(!) almost as much as I'm paying for the V-Strom

Seeing as these bikes are often compared to one another in reviews this makes no sense to me. I also checked the Ninja 400 and it was the same as the Z400.

Just for fun I checked the rates for the BMW 310's (I'm not really considering either) and again found vastly different rates

G310R $640/year
G310GS $401/year

It's the same freakin' motor!

Insurance makes no sense to me! I know it isn't really that much money in the scheme of things but it adds up and when you've got multiple bikes you have to consider insurance as part of the cost of ownership. At this point I can't justify the Kawi over the KTM. I will make a few calls this week to get more quotes but I have doubts I'll find anything very different.
 
You just figured it out, insurance people are in the money moving business,
they have no clue about riding motorcycles, treat them as such.

Yamaha makes a nice bike in that size too I would think.
 
plutoz said:
G310R $640/year
G310GS $401/year

It's the same freakin' motor!
Click to expand...

There's more to insurance premiums than just the motor.

It's also dictated by the kind of rider that buys these bikes, how likely they are to be crashed/stolen, etc.

The G310R has a naked streetbike look. The kind of rider that would be attracted to it is a lot younger than the buyers of the G310GS, which has an Adventure styling, and attracts an older crowd.
 
Thanks for mentioning the Website.
I usually avoid getting quotes via website as I find them to be a pain to use and they quotes are not accurate. I prefer to speak with someone.

However I tried the TD site and it was easy to use and the quote was good. Really good actually. Approx $100 cheaper than I was quoted 2 weeks ago by an agent over the phone..

I have saved/printed this quotation and will be calling them to get it issued.

For comparison. Here is the quote details.
36 Yr male, married, Milton, Full M,
$703.00 / year, 2008 FZ6. Full Coverage.
1mil liability, 0 Deductible.
​
 
Vastly different rates — haha yes, get used to it. This is the baffling state of insurance here in Ontario.

Shop around long enough and you'll find, as I do each and every year, significant differences from one insurer to the next.

Under 600cc sport/naked, you could try RidersPlus or Allstate. If you have 6 years+ riding experience under your belt (that is, 6 years from obtaining your M2) reach out to Paul South, email: psouth@surnet.net for a quote.

Good luck!


Sent from my SGH-M919V using GTAMotorcycle.com mobile app
 
Ask them what is the cheapest motorcycle you could possibly insure. They really hate that.
 
oioioi said:
Thanks for mentioning the Website.
I usually avoid getting quotes via website as I find them to be a pain to use and they quotes are not accurate. I prefer to speak with someone.

However I tried the TD site and it was easy to use and the quote was good. Really good actually. Approx $100 cheaper than I was quoted 2 weeks ago by an agent over the phone..

I have saved/printed this quotation and will be calling them to get it issued.

For comparison. Here is the quote details.
36 Yr male, married, Milton, Full M,
$703.00 / year, 2008 FZ6. Full Coverage.
1mil liability, 0 Deductible.
​
Click to expand...
let us know how that goes because many times the online quotes are not honoured once you ask to bind it. As you mentioned they usually aren't accurate.
Also it's a joke that brokers have to be licenced and do continuing education every year but the public can pick their coverage online with no advice or knowledge of insurance. What do you mean by full coverage? Did you buy the highest AB or income replacement limits? 1 million liability ain't enough. Hope you don't lose your house and savings if you ever have a big enough claim. ( happened to a member on here a few years ago by the way, lost everything he had, I won't name them but they can step up if they want and talk about it )Look into a personal umbrella or at least buy 2 million.
But I'm sure when joe public buys the worst coverage and has an uninsured or improperly insured claim they will just accept responsibility and not sue someone ...yeah right!
 
Lightcycle said:
The G310R has a naked streetbike look. The kind of rider that would be attracted to it is a lot younger than the buyers of the G310GS, which has an Adventure styling, and attracts an older crowd.
Click to expand...

If it were that simple I'd expect the Duke 390 to cost just as much than the Z400.

J_F said:
claims history would likely be the difference maker
Click to expand...

Or perhaps lack of claims history or crash/repair data? The Z400 is a relatively new model - first available in 2019. Duke 390 has been around for years.

Trials said:
Yamaha makes a nice bike in that size too I would think.
Click to expand...

They have the R3 / MT-03 (new in North America for 2020) but I haven't read much about it. Only 321cc which I think would put it at a slight performance disadvantage vs the ~400cc models. I didn't bother getting an insurance quote for either model but perhaps I'll read up on it a bit more.

D-J said:
Under 600cc sport/naked, you could try RidersPlus or Allstate. If you have 6 years+ riding experience under your belt (that is, 6 years from obtaining your M2) reach out to Paul South, email: psouth@surnet.net for a quote.
Click to expand...

I did try RidersPlus website and it gave me a much higher quote, can't remember exactly what it was. Will try contacting Paul to see if he has anything better. Thanks.
 
KTM 390 and the R3 are similar in HP. Yammie is a twin, the duke is a thumper.

For whatever reason, I just like the look and feel of the R3. Great little zipper and can manage the freeway when needed.


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TD's online quoting system is actually pretty good. I think it's because they're a direct insurer, unlike the broker sites.
 
So I called TD today regarding the online quote I did yesterday. I wanted to ask more questions for clarity as it was about $100 cheaper than the previous best quote I got from them a few weeks ago.

I was on the phone with the rep fro about 45 minutes. But I was not too impressed as I think it could have been handled in about 15-20 min.
The rep I had was clearly not familiar with Motorcycles insurance and how to process a quote. Asked the same question multiple times and even asked me what type of motorcycle license are there? She also said she was not familiar with quoting motorcycle insurance. Putting me on hold multiple times.

Nothing against the rep, she could have been new to the job but she tried her best and was polite.

What sort of surprised me was that they could not find my other quotes that I had created with them at the beginning of Feb. Even after providing the quotation number and client number with which were mailed to me.

She ended up doing a new quote and it was on par with the one created at the beginning of Feb, so that good.

As for the quote I created online yesterday. The status of that is still unknown, as I gave her the quote number and she could not find it in the system.
She said she would look into it and call me back.

Ill update once I have more info.
 
CHRIS63 said:
I used the online quote at td for the first time, almost spat out my coffee
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When I said their system was pretty good, I meant accurate - as in that's what they will sign you for and not make excuses. I didn't mean to imply they were cheap.
 
Relax said:
TD's online quoting system is actually pretty good. I think it's because they're a direct insurer, unlike the broker sites.
Click to expand...
Wonder why I can never get quotes from it or quotes from them over the phone. They give me the run-around and tell me I need to fill out and mail them forms and that they will get back to me in several weeks after their underwriters take a look.

This for someone that has had a clean record for 20 years of driving and that qualifies for their university discount. Kind of pisses me off when I read several threads on here where people get quotes immediately.

TD are a bunch of clowns.
 
K20EF8 said:
Wonder why I can never get quotes from it or quotes from them over the phone. They give me the run-around and tell me I need to fill out and mail them forms and that they will get back to me in several weeks after their underwriters take a look.

This for someone that has had a clean record for 20 years of driving and that qualifies for their university discount. Kind of pisses me off when I read several threads on here where people get quotes immediately.

TD are a bunch of clowns.
Click to expand...

Strange. Did you answer any of the questions that would red flag you, like lapse in insurance, past claims, modifications?
 
Relax said:
Strange. Did you answer any of the questions that would red flag you, like lapse in insurance, past claims, modifications?
Click to expand...
Nope, I have neither of those, no flags at all.
I might try it again when it comes time for renewal. I suspect their premium might be slightly lower than riders plus.
 
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