Over the last few months I've had to call the AA twice and the RAC once. I crashed my last bike on a major dual carriage way roadabout (A4 Bath road close to Bristol) on a Sunday afternoon. Called RAC - I had cover through Yamaha and through MCE. Took them 4 hours to get to me. They kept lying and saying half an hour each time I called. I called the AA a couple of times this month for the car - cover through Alfa romeo and my own cover. They came and fixed the problem within an hour each time. Going with AA in future for obvious reasons. I've got cover for me - so it doesn't matter it its the the bike or the car that's broken down.
AA for me. Ive had the occasional blip over my 20-30yr membership but on the whole I think they've performed very well whenever ive needed them.
I've been with the AA for many years now, I switched after the debacle period where the RAC thought it would cover the vehicle and not the person and I've never switched back. However, you mentioned crashing, the AA (and the RAC too I think) will not necessarily call out to an accident as its not actually a breakdown. I know this after being stranded on the A14 one Friday night when my stationary car was torpedoed by another car and written off. AA didn't want to know. So if they did attend you after an crash then consider yourself lucky they came out at all.
AA will be same for bikes. Always harder to get resources. Much of a muchness in terms of service. I know, I can assure you ;-)
The RAC have recently undergone a bit of a reshuffle when it comes to accidents, they will recover you from an accident however if it is your fault they will ask you to pay for it. As mentioned earlier an accident is not a breakdown, its your insurance compaines job to recover you from an accident, the RAC have to reclaim the cost from the insurance company and they are notoriously bad payers... Bikes are a pain in the arse for recovery companies as they require specialist trailers or vans to keep them secure, general patrols do not carry the equipment as bike breakdowns account for a small percentage of all callouts so it will take longer for them to go and collect it. My wife worked for the RAC in accident care, during the recent reshuffle they farmed the accident care business out to a 3rd party company and since then that side of the company has seriously gone downhill...
I had mechanical interruption of service last year, TBH the particular AA man that attended was an utter tool. He refused to look at the bike on the roadside, claiming it was too dangerous! He suggest I call the police and ask them to close the road so he could safely work on/recover the bike. I had to push the bike 1/4 mile to a farm entrance (he was kind enough to put my lid in his van) where he/we fixed the bike. If you are buying cover just be careful what you're actually getting (especially via your insurance policy), this is another area in the modern world full of trickery!
Always had RAC and on the several occasions I have called them in to recover/repair the bike they have always arrived sooner than they forecast.
Ran out of petrol on the bike due to a broken fuel warning light and they came within an hour - though the guy didnt know anything about bikes.
I've not had any personal experience of the AA, but I have used the RAC on a number of occasions. They have always been excellent I originally chose the RAC over the AA due to their "Relay" service. A break-down in Scotand needing recovery to the South would have required multiple breakdown truck loading/unloading, which would be the last thing I'd want to go through when trying to get home.
I've been an AA member for some years now.last year my wife's BMW 3 series touring had a failed water pump, it limped home but I called the AA, they arrived in half an hour, the chap was ex BMW main dealer so ran a load of checks and diagnosed it properly. As I have full cover he took me to the nearest Europcar, I had a hire car for three days paid for by the AA, and he took the BMW to the garage of my choice (10 miles away) unaccompanied. Fantastic service!
Was with the AA for years and then for no particular reason swapped to the RAC. That didn't last long after a near on 5 hour wait when I got a rear bike flat . Back with the AA and cant fault them. They rescued me and bike from deepest darkest Wales and have help Mrs C out with punctures on more than one occasion (She refuses to change a wheel!) We have everything but home start, massive bonus is garage cover which also cover the first £500 of repairs the event it cant be fixed at the side of the road and has to be dragged to a garage. You can claim that 5 x P/A I think we pay about £24 P/M for the both of us. Would not be without it
Been with the AA for many years. Always done enough to retain my membership. Not too swift on recovery, but not all their trucks are equipped to recover a bike. I had a chain snap once and when the recovery contractor arrived he told me we had to wait for an AA patrol to assist him with the loading as he wasn't allowed to do it on his own. It was getting cold and dark and we are talking about an XL185 here not a Goldwing and trailer, so after a short, sharp discussion the job got done without any delay. Another time I got a large AA flatbed truck big enough for two cars, when I had a rear puncture on the Ducati. He was equipped for recovery only, he didn't have a compressor or even a foot pump to stick some air in it to make it easier to wheel the bike up the truck bed. RAC - late 1990s on the way back from Brands WSB - M25, 9pm Sunday night, sent a contractor out to recover me - oil cooler pipe failed on 916 - oil all over back tyre - "sorry mate the computers are down, we can't verify your membership, if you want to go back home to Lincolnshire tonight that will be £500.00 on your credit card now or we will leave you here". A mate with a van came and fetched me for a lot less than £500, some letters were written and compensation was received. But it hasn't been long enough to forgive and forget yet.
Called the AA via Carole Nash last weekend. Puncture, nail in rear, ctr of tread. Guy turned up in 45 mins, struggled with a new glueless plug gizmo he hadn't used before, then we couldn't get the tyre to inflate cos the seal on the bead had broken and it needed big air to pop it on. After struggling for 30 mins we took the wheel out and he went to quik fit to inflate it. Excellent service. The AA guy(a biker) really persevered. But Carole Nash is changing to a different recovery firm this year. Carole Nash recovery has got me out of trouble a few times over the years including a dead bike in Lisbon(no compression) in 2008 when we were taxied to the airport and flown home the day after Portugal MotoGP.
