Roadside Assistance

[Eh2Zee]

Not exactly Wrenching - but related... Do any of you US-based riders have any experiences/recommendations pertaining to Motorcycle roadside assistance/towing?

 

I am not sure whether to go with AAA's premium service or BMWMOA's premium service.

 

Experiences anyone? I am in California.

[Chris K]

I use the KOA RV Roadhelp. It runs $99 your first year and $109 after that and covers cars motorcycles and RV's. They will tow you to the nearest authorized dealer regardless of distance. I have only used the towing once when my fuel pump controller went out but it saved me enough to pay for a few more years of coverage.

[OoPEZoO]

I use the KOA RV Roadhelp. It runs $99 your first year and $109 after that and covers cars motorcycles and RV's. They will tow you to the nearest authorized dealer regardless of distance. I have only used the towing once when my fuel pump controller went out but it saved me enough to pay for a few more years of coverage.

 

+1......KOA roadside assistance rescued me from a West Virginia mountiainside when my transmission input shaft stripped. It didn't make sense for them to tow me to a dealership, so I just had them get me back to a hotel in "civilization". Then called a buddy with a trailer to come get me.

 

I also like them because they cover me with my Jeep as well. I offroad rather frequently, and spoke with them about recovery if anything ever breaks on the trail. I was told that they will come get me anywhere they can get a tow rig. So as long as I cen get back to the trail head or the parking lot of the offroad park, I should be good.

 

The other thing I liked about them over AAA was that they would cover one other driver as long as they lived under the same roof. AAA will only cover a spouse. This isn't a big deal now as I am married, but when I was initially looking for coverage I was only engaged. AAA wouldn't cover my fiance.

[tallman]

Compare coverage areas.

 

My AAA RV gold plus didn't cover west of Missriver.

Added Allstate/Koa.

 

Also have an inexpensive rider on insurance that covers towing.

Should cover 500+ miles if I ever need it.

[Danny caddyshack Noonan]

I recently cancelled AAA because it has nothing to do with them in NorCal. It is all sub'd out instead of the car plan that uses their tow providers.

 

No experience using any of those for a bike though.

[eddd]

 

Allstate/KOA worked well for me the one time I needed them. johnlt had a good experience with them last fall as well.

 

With four motorcycles, a car, a truck, my toyhauler all covered it is a good deal.

[smiller]

AAA has one advantage in that they will tow you to the destination of your choice vs. the closest destination capable of servicing the vehicle, as is the policy with most others. But AAA also has a big disadvantage in that there is a towing limit of only 100 miles (at first it looks like 200 miles, but read the fine print... 100 miles for RVs and motorcycles.) That just plain isn't enough, especially for a BMW. Most of the competition offers unlimited miles.

[dirtrider]

Afternoon-

 

One thing I can tell you for sure is that neither AAA RV Gold or KOA will go off road to recover a motorcycle.

 

We had a GS-A fail an antenna ring about 15 miles from the closest county road & neither would go off road to recover.

 

I'm here to tell you that towing a GS-A through 6" deep sugar sand & up & down single track steep hills is an all day ordeal ( and a top notch stress test).

 

[Skywagon]

Is this the KOA service you are describing...sounded good on the post above but want to be sure I am on the right stuff...

 

 

http://rvservices.koa.com/rvresources/rvroadhelp/

 

 

Thanks,

[OoPEZoO]

Is this the KOA service you are describing...sounded good on the post above but want to be sure I am on the right stuff...

 

 

http://rvservices.koa.com/rvresources/rvroadhelp/

 

 

Thanks,

 

Yup, that's it

[elkroeger]

I had AAA for years. Worked out pretty good, especially back in college when my car was a clunker. Although I guess not all that much has changed....

 

I finally got rid of it, as I wasn't using any of the benefits, except for the maps and camp books. Seemed like a tow once every 10 years would be a lot cheaper. It seems to me the primary factors are how much you're on the road, and how prone to failure your bike / car is.

 

As an alternative, I found my insurance company (USAA) has towing for an extra $8 per car, per year. They have the same type of 800 number to call, you say where you are, and they send a tow truck.

 

The down side is that it's only "available" for cars. No bikes. But after getting the paperwork in the mail it seemed easy enough to call, have them send the truck, tow the bike, and then I'd just pay the driver myself. The paperwork says something like "charges must be approved prior to reimbursement...". So in the end, I wouldn't even apply for reimbursement.

 

Seems a little goofy, but the main thing for me was to call from wherever, and have them dispatch a truck. I don't need all that other junk.

[dirtrider]

Morning elkroeger

 

One of the problems with using a car towing service to haul a motorcycle is they probably won't send a motorcycle-device equipped truck.

 

Without proper equipment your bike will probably end up dangling off a hook swinging in the breeze & bumping things on the rear of the truck.

 

[Glenn Reed]

One of the benefits of being a member of AMA, is the towing service. It covers not only your bikes, but cars as well, and for family members. I don't have the particulars in front of me, but as a "throw-in" benefit, it seemed like a pretty good deal.

 

Last year my wife and I were on the bike, on our way home from a visit to Annapolis and the bike just stopped. I didn't know what had happened, but it was making really nasty noises, so we unloaded. Called #1 son to come pick up the wife, and AMA for the bike. They sent a flat bed with a driver who knew how to strap down the bike. We brought it back to the dealer (Bob's) and dropped it off. (Turns out the alternator belt had failed.)

 

My experience was very positive.

[na1g]

Here in MA (AAA Southern New England), AAA doesn't do motorcycles. I don't know what that means to you if you have AAA that does include bikes and you need a tow here. Might be worth checking other areas of the country to see what your are actually getting covered and where.

 

I'm still on my 3-year BMW towing on my 2011 RT but am starting to think about what to do when that expires.

 

BTW, AMA's towing is free with an auto-renew membership but has limited distance coverage.

 

pete

[elkroeger]

Yeah, I thought about that dirtrider. I kinda figured it wouldn't be hard to request a flatbed when I call. Haven't had the chance to try out my scheme, knock on wood, but you're right, I should work out the details of my mooch plan.

 

That reminds me... I need to do my HES unit.

[simskid]

I would like to find the BEST roadsde assistance plan , for the towing. I can't find ANY that dont have a towing limit. AMA, AAA, Good Sam, Allstate, etc

 

If someone has better info than me please let me know.

 

 

[smiller]

I would like to find the BEST roadsde assistance plan , for the towing. I can't find ANY that dont have a towing limit. AMA, AAA, Good Sam, Allstate, etc

 

If someone has better info than me please let me know.

Neither Allstate (RV Roadhelp plan) nor Good Sam have a towing limit, they both state unlimited miles to the closest facility capable of servicing the vehicle.

[enfoman]

I opted for the roadside help RV plan from Allstate last year because of the unlimited miles. I broke down last year about a mile from my house and the driver of the truck brought me back Home where I could service the bike due to a loose plug connection to the fuel pump. My only complaint was that it took me several attempts to call and find a foreign person with enough English skills to have a conversation.

[marcopolo]

I would like to find the BEST roadsde assistance plan , for the towing. I can't find ANY that dont have a towing limit. AMA, AAA, Good Sam, Allstate, etc

 

If someone has better info than me please let me know.

Neither Allstate (RV Roadhelp plan) nor Good Sam have a towing limit, they both state unlimited miles to the closest facility capable of servicing the vehicle.

 

Any idea how they interpret "...closest facility capable of servicing the vehicle"?

[smiller]

Any idea how they interpret "...closest facility capable of servicing the vehicle"?

I've only used them once for a truck (this was Good Sam, an almost identical program to RV Roadhelp, and both probably work the same) and they had some kind of automotive service database. But it seemed they were using it mostly because a customer broken down in an unfamiliar area would likely have no idea where to have their vehicle towed. Their selection was terrible, in fact I wasn't even sure if it was an auto repair business, but I found a preferred alternate that was a similar distance and there was no fuss in using my selection over theirs. I got the feeling that I could make the choice as long as my choice wasn't 50 miles further away than their choice or something.

 

With a BMW bike hundreds of miles from a dealer I'm not sure what would happen. If it was just a flat then they would probably want to send it to the closest facility advertising that they can repair a motorcycle flat, OTOH if it was a 1600GT that wouldn't start then I can't imagine that anyone would say they could fix it but a BMW dealer so I imagine that's where you'd go regardless of distance.

[marcopolo]

Any idea how they interpret "...closest facility capable of servicing the vehicle"?

I've only used them once for a truck (this was Good Sam, an almost identical program to RV Roadhelp, and both probably work the same) and they had some kind of automotive service database. But it seemed they were using it mostly because a customer broken down in an unfamiliar area would likely have no idea where to have their vehicle towed. Their selection was terrible, in fact I wasn't even sure if it was an auto repair business, but I found a preferred alternate that was a similar distance and there was no fuss in using my selection over theirs. I got the feeling that I could make the choice as long as my choice wasn't 50 miles further away than their choice or something.

 

With a BMW bike hundreds of miles from a dealer I'm not sure what would happen. If it was just a flat then they would probably want to send it to the closest facility advertising that they can repair a motorcycle flat, OTOH if it was a 1600GT that wouldn't start then I can't imagine that anyone would say they could fix it but a BMW dealer so I imagine that's where you'd go regardless of distance.

 

Thanks. Although I now live north of the border, there's a chance my wife may be posted to Washington, D.C., this summer (for four years), so I now have a keen interest in some subjects that I didn't pay much attention to before, roadside assistance plans being one of them.

[simskid]

Digging in a little deeper it looks as though Allstate has truly unlimited towing to a place that can service your bike. Good Sam has unlimited towing to one of their network providers and a 100 mile limit to your choice of providers. I doubt if a BMW shop is one of their network providers.

 

I think I'm going with Allstate.

 

 

[smiller]

Digging in a little deeper it looks as though Allstate has truly unlimited towing to a place that can service your bike. Good Sam has unlimited towing to one of their network providers and a 100 mile limit to your choice of providers. I doubt if a BMW shop is one of their network providers.

I think you're over thinking this. Logically, if a BMW dealer is the only facility capable of servicing the vehicle do you think any towing provider would refuse service to you simply because the dealer 'is not on our list of providers'? Plus, all I can find on the Good Sam site is the statement 'Unlimited Distance and Dollar Towing to the nearest service center' and not anything about a restriction to one of their 'network providers' (nor was any such limitation expressed to me when I told them where I wanted my vehicle towed.) Nor can I find anything about 100-mile limit to the destination of your choice (although that would be great if correct.) Can you provide a link to where you got your info?

[simskid]

smiller,

 

You're probably right, I'm overthinking it. Here's what the member brochure says for the towing for Good Sam. You can go right to their website to see. Just worried I wounldn't be able to get to the shop I would want to.I'm probably wrong.

 

"Towing Service

Our 24-hour, 365-days-a-year dispatch center is available with

one toll-free call. There are no pre-set mileage or dollar limits.

When a Member, Associate, or Extended Family Member calls

for service, Good Sam Platinum+ Roadside Assistance pays 100%

of the towing fees for the delivery of the vehicle to the nearest professional

service center capable and willing to repair the vehicle

OR we’ll pay for the towing fees for the delivery of your vehicle

to any other destination of choice within 100 miles of the disablement

location."

 

I didnt see any of that language in the Allstate stuff I reviewed, but I may have missed that as well.

 

 

[smiller]

Well that's really exciting if they (Good Sam) will tow you unlimited miles to the nearest capable service center or up to 100 miles to the destination of your choice as that policy combines the best of AAA and the best of their competitors. Can you provide the link to that info? I'm not doubting you, I just want to have it as a reference because I use Good Sam and can't seem to find that info on their website.

 

And just FYI be warned... I used to use Allstate RV Roadhelp and they were fine, but on the one occasion I asked them to tow the vehicle to somewhere other than their choice they refused(!) There wasn't even an option to pay the difference, it's their way or the highway. I've found Good Sam to be more flexible, and especially so if the '100 miles to the destination of your choice' option is a written policy.

[simskid]

TRy this. this is a link directly to the member benefit brochure.

 

http://www.goodsamroadside.com/images/pdf/B20000-GSRA_PLTp_MBB-1.pdf

 

If that doesnt work just go to theri website and look at the member benefit brochure.

 

Be Safe

 

Thanks

 

 

[simskid]

...also, thanks for the heads up re Allstate. This is the most I could find regarding their plan. I currently have Good Sam but I'm worried when I'm up in the middle of no where Ontario who's gonna give me a hand if I need it.....

 

https://www.allstatemotorclub.com/amc/plans/plans.faces

 

 

 

[scout6]

Susan and I have been using the "free" AMA (American Motorcycle Association) roadside service that you get when you allow annual renewal of your AMA membership. Used it twice, and it seemed as good as the Crosscountry service from BMW and the assistance for a small annual fee from USAA insurance.

[smiller]

TRy this. this is a link directly to the member benefit brochure.

 

http://www.goodsamroadside.com/images/pdf/B20000-GSRA_PLTp_MBB-1.pdf

 

If that doesnt work just go to theri website and look at the member benefit brochure.

Ah, I see the confusion. I have their RV Plan (covers my RV plus motorcycles) and you are looking at their premium auto plan (which also covers motorcycles but not large RVs) and that plan does indeed have the option to tow to the destination of your choice, which is excellent and a feature that really differentiates Good Sam from RV Roadhelp. I think this makes Good Sam the new standard bearer, at least IMO. Anyway thanks for pointing that out, I wasn't aware.

 

[malcolmblalock]

Several years ago I did a fairly exhaustive search for roadside assistance that would cover my bike. To me, the best was Good Sam Roadside Assistance because it had no mileage or cost limit. So far (knock on wood), I haven't had to test it. At $113 per year, it's not cheap, but I believe it's worth it if the bike had to be towed several hundred miles.