Insurance needs in Central America...?
 

Hi folks me again.

Well I did a marathon 22hr drive to Athabasca AB and purchased a 2006 Wee with 67k Kms for our CA ride, n store, n fly home, n fly back, n repeat trip idea.

So now I'm kicking the planning into the next phase.

Question:

I know our BC Canada insurance is no good in Mexico and we will be purchasing MX bike insurance (bought from Sandborns last year when we rode Baja and the mainland), for the ~week we will be riding in MX before we store the bikes and fly home.

Should we keep MX insurance on the bikes when they are in secure storage or would it be pretty much useless if anything happened to the bikes given we are not there to make a claim to the insurance company if they happen to get stolen or damaged while being stored?

Also when we go back to ride the bikes again our BC Canada insurance will have expired, that should not be a problem as long as we have local insurance correct?

Also, the storage option we are looking at in Puerto Vallarta may be a private parking space behind a locked gate with a security guard, will a bike cover over the bikes be enough to protect them from the elements or should we be looking for covered storage?

I can't speak with any authority here, but I can ask a few obvious questions:

Does your Sanborn insurance cover theft or damage to the bike? Read the fine print. But in any case, if you're returning within the TIP period, surely leaving the bike insured will save some trouble and probably some money as well....?

Will letting your BC insurance lapse void your registration? Does that matter to you? Should it?

Personally, I'd be comfortable leaving a bike under a fabric cover, provided I was sure to secure the cover itself against wind, rain, tipover, and curious eyes. But most covers don't stand up to continuous exposure to UV, ozone, and probably other pollutants, and the fabric becomes weak and prone to tearing. You might think about that.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

PS: one additional consideration involves the Vstrom pickup filter/screen, which can be prone to clogging. Since you just bought a medium-mileage bike with an unknowable history, you might have a look before taking it south.

When you bought Sanborn Mexico insurance for Baja I am pretty sure it was only the Mexico PUBLIC LIABILITY cover. Read your policy !!!
Collision ,fire theft and all risks is NOT usually offered for bikes and if you did get it you would have paid dearly .

If you are leaving the bike IN Mexico for the long term it makes no sense to have such expensive insurance draining your bank account.

I suggest you get an ANNUAL DRIVERS LICENSE LIABILITY insurance policy. These are written out to the name and number on your drivers license and cost a pittance compare to the Vehicle Dedicated liability policy.
Sanborns may well write a DL policy but you need to ASK for it .
To save a bundle get on the internet to Home Page and look up ADAvis Insurance , two companies that sell the DL policy at a significantly affordable price. I get my annual policy from MexUs , renew regularly and it lets me sail into Mexico at whatever date I wish using any vehicle |I own, bike or car .
For storage purposes the annual DL Liability insurance is pointless but at its low cost it does not matter, you still save money compared to the buying of Vehicle dedicated policies bought for each short visit , and you will not have the repeated need to buy a new policy.
Theft /fire insurance is possible but weigh the probability and costs of that hypothetical total loss.

If your home province insurance is expired while riding in Mexico it does not matter- it is useless there anyway, and you could never claim on it from Mexico. Just get it renewed as as soon as you get home to BC if you want to ride a bike there

Do consider and study the ramifications of the length of your absence in Mexico and the potential problems should you allow your 180 day TVIP to expire while the bike is still stored in Mexico

Sjoerd covers my first point far more completely and authoritatively than I could.

As to the second point, it's true that your BC insurance will be useless in Central America and Mexico, but it's possible that your valid registration will be helpful, perhaps essential (should you find yourself in any form of legal difficulty, for example). I'm under the impression that when your BC insurance lapses, so does your registration. Letting home registration lapse is common, but not risk-free. Best you do this after considering possible cost-benefit ratios.

Mark

I knew I could count on you guys for telling me what I needed to know!

I saw some info about doing the fuel filter by pass thingy, but it looks a bit tricky, so I'm going to take the fuel pump assembly out and get as much guck off the pre-screen as possible as one precaution.

Annual Drivers Licence Liability coverage eh..... I'll check out your suggested sources SB, thanks!

I don't plan on returning to BC with the bike so it looks like I can let it lapse with no issues, but I'll check with my local insurance company to be sure.

On our return trip to MX we'll be going back before the TVIP expires, riding around for another two weeks, cancelling the TVIP and then storing the bikes in Tapachula just north of GT as suggested. Then the next trip crossing back into GT and purchasing another MX TVIP and riding around MX some more and possibly storing the bikes in Quinta Roo state or Tapachula again, till we return.

Much thanks folks.

Hola folks, just a note to let you know we survived our second MX ride and I gave it a 15/10!


It was awesome and we made it to PV with 3 days to spare. We changed our route a bit coming south so we could stay at Turkey Creek's (Tom and Lynne's) motel on the MX118 just south of Douglas AZ.


The Uly was having problems running on only 1 cyclinder. Tom helped us as best he could but no luck. So the rider was going to head back to Bisbee where Tom's mechanic is but as luck would have it we ran into 3 MX motorcyclists just south of Tom's place and we followed them into Parrel, where their mechanic fixed him up (broken wire going to fuel controller). They were great and it was one of the best memories of the trip.


That MX 23 south of Durango was the best road I've ever ridden!!! There was only a few short gravel sections to Jesus Maria and paved the rest of the way.


We did find the one hotel in Jesus Maria (thanks Sjoerd) but it took a bit more effort to find the folks that run it (see the store on the corner right side of the road before you get to the hotel).


It was a fantastic time and our bikes are stored with a friend of the fellow that runs Bike Mexico Bike Mexico - Guided Motorcycle Tours and Rentals in Puerto Vallarta - Bike-Mexico - Guided Motorcycle Tours and Rentals in Puerto Vallarta We highly recommend you stop by and visit with Jurgen and Eli, they will treat you well and Jurgen has some great connections in PV and they offer a Bed n Breakfast spot as well.


Our TVIP's expire on April 05/17 so the plan is to return the beginning of March and ride another two weeks and do as Sjoerd suggested, storing the bikes in Tapachula.


So if anyone knows of a storage spot there please do let us know. Also if you have any must ride roads between PV and Tapachula please let us know!


Thanks again.