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A cross country bike tour can be extreme fun but it is important that you have the correct motorcycle insurance that covers the trip. Some people make the mistake of thinking that their standard motorcycle insurance will cover them. All insurance policies come with many conditions and stipulations and if you go outside of these you risk invalidating the whole policy. Taking your bike on a cross country tour might lead to an accident where you find that you are not covered by your insurance; for that reason it is important that you fully understand any policy you have or are thinking of getting.

Why Might My Motorcycle Insurance Not Cover a Cross Country Tour?

There are a lot of options when it comes to purchasing motorcycle insurance. Not only do these policies differ in price but they also differ in what they cover and what they don’t cover. With some cheaper policies it can be incredibly easy to break the terms and for this reason they are best avoided. There are a number of ways in which travelling or going cross country might invalidate your policy. These can be listed under a number of headings such as; change in usage, modification to the bike, and travelling abroad.

Change in Usage

Many policies will expect you to notify the insurance company if you are intend to use your bike differently than in the past. So if you originally told the company that you only intended to use the bike at weekends but now intend to use it every day you will probably be expected to inform them. In most cases you will also be expected to tell them if you plan to go on a long trip or use the bike for any type of extreme sport. People always worry about informing the insurers in case it ends up costing them more money; failure to do so though could easily invalidate the whole policy. In a lot of cases the insurer won’t charge you so long as your change in usage is reasonable.

Alterations to the Bike

If you alter the motorcycle in any way then you are almost certainly expected to let the insurers know about this. If you want to change the performance of you motorbike by tampering with the engine you need to understand how this affects your insurance. If you want to do something like add on a trailer for a trip this is also something that will need to be discussed with the policy provider.

Travelling Abroad

Those hoping to travel cross country further afield will usually have to purchase separate motorcycle insurance for this. There are a number of different policies available and so it is worth shopping around. It may be that your current provider has a special price for this type of additional cover for their customers.

A cross country bike tour can be a great adventure and something to remember for years to come. Just make sure that your motorcycle insurance is up for the trip.