Thunder Roads LA Magazine July 2017 TRLA-JULY-Final-Web | Page 28

As we’re getting a bit further into the summer here in the Louisiana, there seems to be no shortage of water falling from the sky. In fact, we seem to have fallen into a bout of surplus. If this happened every once in a while, I could maybe see finding something to do indoors. The problem is, if we wait for the rain to stop falling to go out and have some two-wheeled antics. I wouldn’t recommend holding your breath. Instead, we do what you do in the Bayou State. We adapt, improvise, overcome...and figure on having a big time, soggy or not. Chances are, if you have any designs on putting on miles, you’re bound to run into some less than ideal weather. I don’t just mean a little rain here and there either. All in one day in the wind you may run into a light drizzle in the early morning, scorching heat and humidity at lunch time, and torrential downpours in the afternoon. This kind of thing doesn’t have to spoil a run though. All we have to do is be a little prepared. We’ve all heard the mantra, “Dress for the slide, not the ride”. That’s all about planning ahead so that a bad day doesn’t have turn into something much worse. Handling the weather while riding motorcycles, isn’t too much different. What if you get caught in a monsoon? Are you gonna get wet? I don’t mean a little wet either. I mean the kind of wet where you can’t hardly swing your leg to get off the bike because you’re stiff cold and are carrying a thousand pounds of water in your leathers. What if the temperature drops twenty degrees on top of it? Think about it for a minute. What would happen? Would your ride be ruined? Would your girl have the red-ass? Would you even be able to safely ride your machine? If you haven’t thought about these things yet, you should. For conversation sake, I’m just going to look at staying dry...or maybe getting wet depending on how it shakes out for you. This is pretty important for a few reasons. First, being wet in an unplanned fashion is not fun. That’s just comfort though. Second, from a functional point of view, you can put yourself and whomever you ride with in danger if being wet messes with your ability to ride. Your feet may slip off of the controls. You may not be able to see through a bunch of water blowing in your eyes. Hell, just the distraction of being cold and wet, combined with slick roads may be the difference between a good story and an obituary. Third, I don’t care how hot it gets here, if you get wet and then go riding at highway speeds, hypothermia is a real possibility...and let me tell you, it can make for a really bad day. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but while leather is a tough material to make a riding jacket out of, not a lot of those are waterproof. Even oiled up, water will find a way through some seam somewhere and then you’re in for a less-than-warm ride. Jeans and chaps aren’t too water repellent either, if you weren’t already aware. They’re pretty darn good at wicking cold and wet into places I’d just assume it not be though. Having wet feet sucks too, so what your do with your footwear is a concern. Oh yeah, and not being able to see is not a good long-range plan, so keeping water out of your peepers is a must. Sometimes those cool-guy shades keep the wind away, but funnel water right into your eyeball when it rains just right. Most of us don’t have the simoleons readily available to go out and buy a full waterproof riding clothes setup. More power to you if you can. As for the rest of us, it’s not as simple as getting a rain suit or just dealing with being wet either. I’ve been on countless rides where we all stop to put raingear on only to find that someone has to actually take their rain suits out of the original packaging, winding up getting as much water inside as out as they hop around trying to get the stuff on. I’ve been on countless more where somebody thought they would tough out two hundred eighty miles through torrential rainstorms. They were sadly mistaken on that notion. The bottom line is that yawl need to come up with a plan how you’re gonna handle it and then go out and test it out. How else are you gonna practice? If you choose a rain suit, practice putting it on a few times at the house so you know how it all has to go on. Go sit on your bike in the driveway with the thing on and take a look for places it might snag or maybe weld onto something (melted plastic is a wonderful addition to a fine chrome finish). If you’re gonna carry a change of clothes, pack it up and put it in whatever pack or saddlebag you have...better be water tight though (garbage bags work great). Then, go ride in the rain...on purpose! I’m not saying go jump on and ride a hundred miles the first time. Just make it a point to not let rain stop you from taking your scooter up to the store, into work, or the like. As motorcyclists, we should be practicing every time w e ride. Every time we shift, stop, or fold into a curve, we should be trying to get better. All of that doesn’t amount to a hill of beans if you only do it in the bright and shiny. On top of that, if you get comfortable running in the rain, think of how many more untapped days of riding there would be! So, go out and embrace the weather in this beautiful state. Give that rain some hell and tell it I sent ya. Until next time, keep it between the lines and shiny side up. Shovel on. 26 Thunder Roads Magazine Louisiana | July 2017 | www.thunderroadslouisiana.com GLENN MCGOVERN MOTORCYCLE INSURANCE: HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH FOR YOU? By: Glenn C. McGovern, Motorcycle Attorney and MSF Instructor Email: [email protected] Motorcycling riding is not without its risks. The chances of one being injured on a motorcycle are much higher than being in a crash in a car. The injuries sustained in a motorcycle crash are usually more severe due to lack of the structural protection automobile occupants enjoy. Some wise motorcyclists know he/she must manage these risks. This is especially true due to the increase in distracted driver crashes and drug and alcohol impaired automobile drivers. That is why a wise motorcyclist has an endorsement, has taken initial Motorcycle Safety Foundation Courses, takes recurrent training annually, wears the best available protective gear all the time, including the best helmet, ballistic jacket, ballistic pants, full fingered gloves, eye protection, and boots above the ankle. One other important, (but often neglected aspect), risk management task is to make sure you have sufficient motorcycle insurance not just the state minimum. This is not just to protect you financially in the event of a crash with serious bodily injuries, amputations, traumatic brain injuries or death, but to protect your family in the event you have large medical bills and cannot work due to disability. I’d like to talk about some mistakes made by almost all motorcyclists (99% I see weekly) that I have seen over 40 years of handling motorcycle cases. MISTAKE NO.1 TRUSTING YOUR DEALER OR INSURANCE AGENT Most insurers do not want to write motorcycle polices for more than the state legal minimums. In Louisiana, you are only required to have the following coverage’s: • $15,000 of bodily injury coverage per person. • $30,000 of bodily injury coverage per accident. • $25,000 of property damage coverage. If you buy a motorcycle from a dealer, he knows you are concerned about the monthly payments and the will ALWAYS offer you a cheap motorcycle insurance policy with ONLY the minimum coverage’s to keep your payments low and get you out the door to close the sale. NEVER buy your insurance through your dealer. The dealer gets a commission from the insurance broker, who is usually out of state. The dealer does not care about protecting neither you nor your family. The dealer and the referred insurance broker just want to sell you a motorcycle and a cheap motorcycle insurance policy. To con you into doing this they often say (i.e. LIE) the inadequate policy provides FULL COVERAGE. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FULL COVERAGE! THE TERM FULL COVERAGE IS A MYTH AND A LIE TO LULL YOU INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY. Always talk to your attorney about coverage’s and get him/her to explain it to you BEFORE you buy your motorcycle insurance. You cannot even trust your agent as discussed below in the next section. NEVER TRUST YOUR INSURANCE AGENT Insurance agents work at the whim of insurance companies. Insurance companies know that motorcycle injuries are usually very serious and costly. Only 3% of the public has ever been on a motorcycle. Most policies written are on other areas of coverage that are more profitable. I have seen insurance agents mislead motorcyclists in to buying cheap insurance and promoting it as full coverage. To me and you full coverage would seem to mean all the protection available. Here is a list of what insurance coverage’s you need to consider and buy: • Bodily injury to someone else or damage to someone else’s property • MOST IMPORTANT-ALWAYS NEEDED-Bodily injury to yourself because of an accident with an UNINSURED MOTORISTS or UM insurance. • Damage to your motorcycle caused by an accident • Theft, fire, vandalism & other losses-even if the motorcycle is in storage • Custom motorcycle work, such as paint or upgraded components • Attached side cars • Emergency roadside expenses • Damage to protective gear • Trip interruption expenses • Medical expenses • Excess or umbrella insurance policy YOU NEED AN INSURANCE POLICY WITH ALL THESE COVERAGES TO ACTUALLY HAVE FULL COVERAGE! What the insurance agent means by “full coverage” is not the maximum protection but the MINIMUM insurance policy limits you have to carry under Louisiana state law. These limits have not been changed for decades. They are wholly inadequate to protect you and your family. If you get hit by a motorist with no coverage or just the minimum coverage from The General or Go Auto or other TV advertising insurers that only sell minimum coverage $15, 0000 liabilities limits policies, you will probably never recover your $100,000 to $600,000 in medical expenses. The insurance agent does not care about you. The insurance agent does not want his insurance company to write policies they don’t want to write but to do business in Louisiana the insurer is required to write to sell other insurance in the State. INSURANCE OPTIONS YOU HAVE You have three options: #1 Really bad option: Buy No insurance- This is not a good option for many reasons. One it is a criminal act and illegal to operate a motorcycle with no insurance. This is really not a cheap option. If caught, your motorcycle will be impounded and you will pay storage fees, fines in excess of $800 and court costs. This does not include criminal defense attorney fees. You also will not be able to sue and recover for the first $15,000 in damages if you do not carry any liability insurance under Louisiana’s “no pay, no play” insurance law. You cannot title your motorcycle without proof of curren t insurance. #2 Bad option: Minimum Insurance of $15,000/$30,000/$25,000- (also commonly mistakenly referred to as FULL COVERAGE). As discussed above YOU HAVE NO UNINSURED MOTORISTS COVERAGE and the other driver may have no insurance (40% chance in Louisiana the driver is uninsured) or inadequate $15,000 liability limits. Your medical bills and lost wages will exceed $15,000 in even most minor motorcycle crashes. You can sue for more but the driver will probably file bankruptcy making recovery difficult. #3 The best option: Purchase all coverage’s available including $250,000/$500,000 liability coverage’s with uninsured motorists and an umbrella policy to provide coverage from $250,000 to $1,000,000. You should buy coverage’s for: • $250,000/$500,000 Bodily injury to someone else or damage to someone else’s property for which you are legally responsible • $250,000/$500,000 Uninsured motorist’s coverage. MOST IMPORTANT AND USUALLY NOT PURCHASED BUT ALWAYS NEEDED-Bodily injury to yourself because of an accident with an UNINSURED MOTORISTS or UM insurance • Damage to your motorcycle caused by an accident including vintage or special rare motorcycles. • Theft, fire, vandalism, and other losses — even in storage for the winter • Custom motorcycle work, such as paint or upgraded components • Attached side cars if applicable • Emergency roadside expenses • Damage to protective gear • Trip interruption expenses • MEDICAL EXPENSES-this is very affordable for the coverage’s offered. • EXCESS POLICY OR UMBRELLA POLICY-Umbrella policies are cheaper . The costs of an excess or umbrella policy can provide more complete protection for you and your family if you are disabled or killed and cannot provide for them. Umbrellas are surprisingly affordable for the extra coverage. CONCLUSION Can you afford to be in a crash situation where you have to go bankrupt and lose your possessions due to a $500,000 or more medical bill you cannot pay because you were hit by uninsured or underinsured motorists with only a $15,000 liability policy? Don’t let yourself be duped by your dealer when buying a new motorcycle and getting cheap insurance from the dealer or by your insurance agent. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FULL COVERAGE! You cannot afford to be without all the insurance coverage’s discussed in Option #3 including uninsured motorists and a policy of at least $250,000/$500,000 or $500/000/$500,000 and an umbrella policy to raise your liability and UM limits up to $1,000,000. www.thunderroadslouisiana.com | July 2017 | Thunder Roads Magazine Louisiana 27