I've got a significant purchase in euroland, so I'm watching it move with interest! Having paid for a bike at £1 to 1.12 euros last year.
Ouch! The mate I was riding with here fortunately bought his house in Italy before the pound tanked. His neighbours just after... They lost a massive amount on it.
yeah, it wasn't like a house or anything really expensive! One of the Irish guys working with me is looking at a 200k loss on his Dublin place, the rent doesn't cover the mortgage and he couldn't sell the house even if he wanted to. I'm a bit of a fan of the BoE, having done a couple of contracts for them, but every time Merv opens his mouth, he destroys any credibility we've been able to build up and the pound crashes...
200K... That's not funny at all. I know a lot of guys I've worked with who've legged it from Ireland recently. They've all gone out to the middle east as they just can't see Ireland recovering for a long time.
I've used their service in Austria, and it was excellent. The bike was home before me after my crash. I think the poor service is more related to the country you choose to visit. I've had nothing but bad experiences myself in France, I'll never go back if I can avoid it.
As an aside; the recovery policies you get with your insurance are also pants. We broke down about 50 miles from home but the policy only covers within 15 miles! What's that all about? Now I never take the offered cover and stick to the AA and hope for the best.
AA just like most will not come out to the same fault twice (short time spam between callous) however unlike most AA has a total callout limit on some if not all policies. Learned hard way.
Quotes are often given to put peolpe off, as its a lot of hassle and often when they get home they the try and claim i should have been coverd snd refuse to pay...go figure eh And just because its a private firm doesn't mean rules dont apply. With some spectial licences you can recover based on time not distance driven, but if you want it to be cheap (relatively speaking) you will wait maybe 2 weeks until they fill a large transported and drag the lot at once. Hence wait a few days until local amigo can repair and pay for accomdation is often cheaper and better outcome Not like I know what I'm talking about
One word as the best solution for all of this, pan-Europe: ADAC They cover YOU, regardless of what bike/car you happen to be riding/driving. Repatriation to home base included (yes, I have called on them for this when I was at the Ring once), and I have also used them in England where they partner with the AA 'Gold' service. Brilliant service, unbeatable value.
Cheers for the tip. I'll try them next time. As an aside. Chas Mortimer quoted me £300 + VAT to pick the bike up and transport it to either my home or my local dealer. Flat tyre or no flat tyre. I've used him a few times before and I've always had a great service.
Strange you should have this problem (almost said "funny" - but I know it isn't) I had almost exactly the same issue in 2004. Got a puncture in the rear of my new 749 on a Sunday near Vitry-le-François in France on my way from GB to home in Switz. Was also covered by Ducati Assist (or whatever it was called then). Managed to limp into Vitry le François where everything was unsurprisingly closed. Took a hotel. On Monday, brilliantly, everything was still closed (cos garages were open Sat or something). Did lots of ringing around with the yellow pages from phone booths because it was costing a fortune on my mobile. Finally, think it was the Tuesday, I found the tyre I wanted in Rheims (80kms away - you are 100 kms from Stasbourg). Ordered a taxi and went and got it. Went to the local tyre place which had quoted me a week to get it, and got them to fit it. Got going again on late Tuesday afternoon and got home at some silly hour that night. Billed Ducati Assist for the tyre (not sure they paid that), the taxi and the two nights hotel and food. They paid up OK, but I had to do all the work. I'm not sure I expected anything different. Didn't even consider repatriation or anything that extreme. It must have helped speaking fluent French, and I could have got the same result in Germany or Spain. Not so sure about Italy. It's a bastard when it happens, but not sure that insurance can fix everything.
I'm after breakdown cover & had a look on ADAC's site but it all seem's to be in German, am I missing something of looking in the wrong place?
Does Zurich Relax exist in England (Britain if you prefer)? I have it here - been brilliant. They mistakenly gave it to me for a year as a promotion - the year my 916 got nicked at the -Bol d'Or. Have also called on them a few times since. They must hate me. (I think they do).
ADAC thing is a bit of a cross-club loophole, which they try to close but sme peolpe still manage to get it Luca - work for a co with yellow & black in its logo
