Road side assistance, BMW or AMA?

[dancogan]

I go with Good Sam. They will tow RV's, all of your vehicles, motorcycles, etc. for you, spouse, children, etc. No mieage limit. Costs me about $130/yr, but first year is less. Look here: http://www.goodsamroadside.com/rv/platinum-ra/index.cfm

[walt3022]

I had a bike die in northern Nevada last Spring. I tried to use the MOA Platinum insurance and discovered it wouldn't do squat for me. The person on the other end of the line was curt and not at all helpful. I was in a tiny town without much at all. I asked that the bike be taken to a larger town - anywhere in that town - as my expectation was that services (a shop or the good folks in the Anonymous book) would be available. Nope. I needed a specific address where I would be looking to go, or there would be NO towing. Well, not having any experience or contacts in that town, I was SOL. I rented the only truck in town and hauled my bike home -- and completely burned through my tour budget. :-(
I subsequently went with the "regular" MOA membership when I renewed. The Platinum plan I'd been paying for was simply a waste.
So, I guess I'm now in the market for an emergency towing service, too.

[bikerfish1100]

I had a bike die in northern Nevada last Spring. I tried to use the MOA Platinum insurance and discovered it wouldn't do squat for me. The person on the other end of the line was curt and not at all helpful. I was in a tiny town without much at all. I asked that the bike be taken to a larger town - anywhere in that town - as my expectation was that services (a shop or the good folks in the Anonymous book) would be available. Nope. I needed a specific address where I would be looking to go, or there would be NO towing. Well, not having any experience or contacts in that town, I was SOL. I rented the only truck in town and hauled my bike home -- and completely burned through my tour budget. :-(
I subsequently went with the "regular" MOA membership when I renewed. The Platinum plan I'd been paying for was simply a waste.
So, I guess I'm now in the market for an emergency towing service, too.

100 Main St. Every town has one. And if it turns out to be a vacant lot... "gee, i guess i had bad information. just set it down there, i'll take over from here."

[98lee]

I had a bike die in northern Nevada last Spring. I tried to use the MOA Platinum insurance and discovered it wouldn't do squat for me. The person on the other end of the line was curt and not at all helpful. I was in a tiny town without much at all. I asked that the bike be taken to a larger town - anywhere in that town - as my expectation was that services (a shop or the good folks in the Anonymous book) would be available. Nope. I needed a specific address where I would be looking to go, or there would be NO towing. Well, not having any experience or contacts in that town, I was SOL. I rented the only truck in town and hauled my bike home -- and completely burned through my tour budget. :-(
I subsequently went with the "regular" MOA membership when I renewed. The Platinum plan I'd been paying for was simply a waste.
So, I guess I'm now in the market for an emergency towing service, too.

Another reason to have a GPS. You can look up places anywhere (restaurants, motels, repair shops). You can always modify the tow by negotiating with the driver when you get into the town.

Sorry about your bad experience. The lady that handled my incident was very friendly and helpful. The tow service could not have been better. I'm sure every service has their good and bad times. I think a lot of the national services want addresses for their paperwork. If you had given them one (when traveling by motorcycle, sometimes you are required to be resourceful), I'm sure you would have been happy with the service.

[PGlaves]

Another reason to have a GPS. You can look up places anywhere (restaurants, motels, repair shops). You can always modify the tow by negotiating with the driver when you get into the town.

We were riding in the absolute middle of nowhere in South Dakota on a state highway - 23 or so miles north of an interstate interchange where there was nothing but weeds when Voni's bike suffered total electrical death. We called the tow service. They sent a driver with a trailer equipped for motorcycle rescue.

He had been told to haul us to the Harley dealer in Pierre. Since it was Sunday (why is it always Sunday?) and the dealership wouldn't be open till Tuesday I told him to just haul it to the nearest decent Motel. I told him that if I couldn't fix it in the motel lot the Harley shop wouldn't be able to do it any time soon either. He offered to just haul us to his shop but I didn't want company at that moment so Voni convinced him to just drop us at a motel. This was just before the start of our ill fated 49 State/10 day ride where my beloved K75 got totalled.

Fuller story here: http://web.bigbend.net/~glaves/ridereport.htm

[JDOCKERY132445]

I have never had towing because I can fix most anything on the side of the road; but when I married Barbie, she had AAA. We added the RV coverage and the 100 mile option. We also have the added personal injury insurance which was cheap and pays directly to you, like AFLAC. We have used it once. It was something I could have handled on the side of the road, but she was with me and I don't like non-mechanics watching and commenting while I work.

Like Paul said, my problems always seem to happen when there is no shop around [weekends], or like the HES going bad on my way to the MOA this year...no cell service in the Kentucky mountains.

Yes, I had a spare HES; but 2 hours in the rain and heat on the side of I-64 with no help is not fun.

[Lakerider]

I didn't read all through these but can vouch for AMA. I get it with my membership ($39) if I allow them to auto-renew on my cc. I haven't used them for the moto but sure have in the car and they were great. The same type of folks who do AAA show up to tow. I am a believer.

[lbarbee]

I did much research on this recently. After all was said and done, I stayed with my AAA RV Plus package. 100 miles unless you upgrade to premier (200).
Feature for feature I couldn't find anything better or cheaper.

Towing is $3/mile currently.

The uhaul truck rental is actually cheaper.

[cycleman2]

I go with Good Sam. They will tow RV's, all of your vehicles, motorcycles, etc. for you, spouse, children, etc. No mieage limit. Costs me about $130/yr, but first year is less. Look here: http://www.goodsamroadside.com/rv/platinum-ra/index.cfm

I currently have AMA for other reasons but can also suggest Good Sam, they have a good plan for all vehicles, and they tow them to where they can be fixed, not necessarily the closest garage.

[Trojan]

I did much research on this recently. After all was said and done, I stayed with my AAA RV Plus package. 100 miles unless you upgrade to premier (200).
Feature for feature I couldn't find anything better or cheaper.

Towing is $3/mile currently.

The uhaul truck rental is actually cheaper.

Likewise. Just upgraded to premier. They'll take the bike, or any of my cars, up to 200 miles to any place I designate, together with the other benefits as well. Since I already had AAA and enjoy it, an easy choice for me to make the upgrade to include bikes, and to bump it to the 200 mile premier plan.
John

[ralwhite]

I purchased my R1200RT in April this year at Street Cycles in Falmouth Maine. In August while returning to southern Maine from Acadia National Park in the middle of no where I got a flat. I called BMW Roadside Assistance and they had a tow truck pick me and my bike up in less then one hour and flat-bedded me back to Street Cycles which was over 120 miles away. Street Cycles happens to be the only Motorrad dealer in the state of Maine.

As a side note a local stopped to offer me assistance while I was waiting for the tow truck. He ended up dropping me off at a restaurant 200 yards down the road. When the waitress came to my table she informed me that he called her to say that my dinner was on him. Awesome!!! A bad experience turned into a good one.

[bikerfish1100]

I purchased my R1200RT in April this year at Street Cycles in Falmouth Maine. In August while returning to southern Maine from Acadia National Park in the middle of no where I got a flat. I called BMW Roadside Assistance and they had a tow truck pick me and my bike up in less then one hour and flat-bedded me back to Street Cycles which was over 120 miles away. Street Cycles happens to be the only Motorrad dealer in the state of Maine.

As a side note a local stopped to offer me assistance while I was waiting for the tow truck. He ended up dropping me off at a restaurant 200 yards down the road. When the waitress came to my table she informed me that he called her to say that my dinner was on him. Awesome!!! A bad experience turned into a good one.

ayuh. Mainiacs are good peeps.

[lbarbee]

I had a good experience with BMW RA also (back in 08). However, as I recall, I had no option to renew once the initial period expired. I think they changed providers. Can someone refresh my memory? Who is the provider, can you join after the fact, what are the features and benefits?

[acejones]

I purchased my R1200RT in April this year at Street Cycles in Falmouth Maine. In August while returning to southern Maine from Acadia National Park in the middle of no where I got a flat. I called BMW Roadside Assistance and they had a tow truck pick me and my bike up in less then one hour and flat-bedded me back to Street Cycles which was over 120 miles away. Street Cycles happens to be the only Motorrad dealer in the state of Maine.

As a side note a local stopped to offer me assistance while I was waiting for the tow truck. He ended up dropping me off at a restaurant 200 yards down the road. When the waitress came to my table she informed me that he called her to say that my dinner was on him. Awesome!!! A bad experience turned into a good one.

You should consider getting a tire plug kit and a compressor and learning how to use it. Relying on a tow service for flats isn't a real good idea.

[ralwhite]

You should consider getting a tire plug kit and a compressor and learning how to use it. Relying on a tow service for flats isn't a real good idea.

Advice well taken. I rode bikes for 12 years in my younger days without a single flat. 3 months with my new bike and it happened. I'm surprised that I haven't heard anything about run-flats for motorcycles. They'd probably be too harsh anyway.