Anyone else had to Insure their Spyder as a 2-wheel motorcycle? Any success changing its designation to a 3-Wheeler?

[Blueox25]

When I took the paperwork for my new-to-me Spyder F3-T to my insurance company, they insured it as a 2 wheel motorcycle with a higher premium. AAA California. The agent noted that the original purchase paperwork listed the Spyder as a motorcycle and she couldn't change it.

Has anyone encountered this situation and had success changing the two wheel designation to three on the DMV documents? The insurance premium would be lower as a consequence.

 

[kbirdsong]

When I took the paperwork for my new-to-me Spyder F3-T to my insurance company, they insured it as a 2 wheel motorcycle with a higher premium. AAA California. The agent noted that the original purchase paperwork listed the Spyder as a motorcycle and she couldn't change it.

Has anyone encountered this situation and had success changing the two wheel designation to three on the DMV documents? The insurance premium would be lower as a consequence.

Try getting a quote from Progressive. They were loads cheaper on insurance for me. And likely getting the California DMV to do anything would be a feat to accomplish. BTW we moved from Ventura so I am very familiar with the CA DMV.

 

[racoon]

The California Highway Patrol differentiates between two-wheeled and three-wheeled motor-driven cycles. 2-wheelers require an M-1 endorsement, while 3-wheelers require a Class C driver license. M-1 is the motorcycle driver's license, Class C is a standard non-commercial driver's license.

You need to get the official document corrected, and then update your insurance.

The only problem I had getting insurance for my Spyder RT was that the agent entered "CANAM" into the computer, and not "CAN-AM". Once she corrected that, her system found it.

 

[mecsw500]

I use Progressive. They cover my 2017 Range Rover, and also my Kendon trailer, and my 2026 Spyder Sea to Sky, whether on the trailer or the road. Quite a few companies didn't know how to handle the Spyder let alone the trailer with a Spyder on it, for that matter. Progressive knew what a Spyder was so they didn't care to see what the title described it as.

So far I've not had any problems with them and the price is better than Liberty Mutual and AAA were for me.

At my age I just take out the maximum coverage for all of these three items as the additional cost for the highest coverage is a relative small premium increase.

I'm paying about $2000 per year for the Range Rover, the Kendon trailer and the Spyder, with maximum comprehensive cover including rental car coverage and $250 deductibles. We are in Salt Lake County, Utah but outside of the SLC metro area. I don't take recovery as I have AAA for that. It also includes a $1M Umbrella policy. I imagine, like for everything else, that California might be considerably more expensive for some major metro areas.

The crazy thing is the Spyder is about the same portion of the bill as the Range Rover. The trailer part was cheap. The $1m umbrella part of the policy was about $300. My daughter works for another state's insurance certification bureau and she strongly recommends the umbrella policy, especially for under $30 per month.

So all in all I found it's quite competitive with other companies after I did a bit of shopping around. So far I haven't had to use it, thank goodness, so I've no idea what their claims process is like.

 

[BajaRon]

This is very strange situation. But I can forsee giant issues if there is a claim when you are insured for 2 wheels and you show up with 3. It's the agent's fault, but you may end up with the suffering stick in your corner.

I agree with others who advise getting this fixed ASAP.The key here is the same as it always is. Find someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[mecsw500]

The other thing is when I took out the Progressive insurance, I did everything online. I keyed in the vehicle make and model as well as the VIN number. It recognized the make and model, though it lumps all RT's together LTD and S2S. It takes the VIN number so they cannot deny they don't know what it is. They state the vehicle is a Motorcycle/ATV so they seem to group 2, 3 and 4 wheel recreational vehicles together.

I looked up the Kendon trailer and the extra premium for that was $87 per year and was for towing behind any vehicle, not just my Range Rover.

 

[Little Blue]

Progressive Ins has a glitch with their online motorcycle sign up service. I called them and they said everything was good. My Spyder is listed as being a 2 wheel bike.....oh well some times they don't know.
That's the way it goes.

 

[Blueox25]

Would it be possible for a forum member in California to check their pink slip to see how their Spyder is titled correctly? On my pink slip, directly above the VIN# it says MOTORCYCLE. Under the VIN and under Body Type Model, the designation RS is printed. This is consistent with all of my other motorcycle pink slips, but this is my first Spyder, so I don't know what is correct. I have an appointment with the DMV to correct this error and hope to be able to guide the representative to make the correct changes.

Incidentally there has already been a consequence of this mis-title: The AAA insurance agent informed me that my wife will not be allowed to drive the Spyder since she does not have a M endorsement on her license and the Spyder is a motorcycle, and if she does and has an accident, AAA may refuse coverage.
I tried to explain that in California, she does not need the endorsement (although it is a good idea), but she stated that we might end up in court.
I need to get this fixed.