Best Breakdown Service

[cjm1985]

Hi everyone,

I've recently booked my CBT and I'm planning on getting a Scooter within the next week or so. I'm trying to find out who provides the best breakdown service should the sh*t hit the fan when I'm on the road.

Could someone please tell me who the best Recovery people are for Bikes? I've read elsewhere that the AA are pretty poor.

Thanks in advance!

[Rogerborg]

Mmm, we've read plenty of rants from folk who've had useless car repair/tow vans sent out just so that they can hit their self imposed "X minutes to attend" target.

Thing is, you'll get the best advice from someone who rides very badly maintained bikes, so take that for what it's worth.

What I'll note is that you'll have to rule out the otherwise cheap Auto Aid because they don't cover motorcycles/scooters under 150cc. Sad times, it's otherwise a pretty good value service considering what they offer.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[c_dug]

I've been recovered a few times by my Adrian Flux breakdown, they tend to give a shout to the closest recovery firm, Adrian Flux have been good, but...

...Motorcycle SOS, one of the firms I've been lucky enough to have been collected by twice now, are bloody excellent!

Honestly based on the two times they picked me up from the side of the road, they will be getting my money directly in future. Pretty sure this is their website https://www.sos-motorcycle-recovery.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid=69
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[talkToTheHat]

I have been with the RAC a while now. Had some epic fast responses and their own people have always got me going. Various cables fixed and the like. One rac tech was happy to follow me home when we got the bike running but i had no way of starting it if i stalled. I had a boatload of problems when the 535 was new and maxed out my personal membership (7 callouts). One of the callouts was for a friend's mondeo (and trailer full of reenactment supplies ) that died after ignoring the oil light

Had an arse of a contractor in leeds who took 5 hours to show up for an electrical fault, then refused to transport bike because he got the bike to run briefly, then again a fortnight later they said id be waiting for 4 hours for a contractor just as the snow started falling in a carpark in keighley. Colin Appleyards to the rescue. I don't recommend breaking down just as the rest of the country sees a snowflake and is therefore stuck or discovers they have a dead battery.

RAC personal has worked for me as i have an old bike and ride plenty of other people's bikes.
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Bandit. does. everything.

[Taught2BCauti...]

Was a member of the AA for over 20 years without ever needing to call them out, then they let me down 3 times in the space of 5 weeks.

Now with the RAC and had great service from them twice - including phone calls and text messages telling me how far away the driver was, and first-time fixes on both occasions.

Still thinks it's down to luck-of-the-draw with most services though, especially if they use contractors.
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Honda Varadero XL125(V8)
www.TheFutureIsHere.eu

[Rogerborg]

[Polarbear]

I've been with AA for the past 5 years. I haven't used them but the wife and youngest daughter have. Relay both times and to be honest that's all I have AA for, getting them home when they get stranded.

I have had no complaints but I'm sure them saying woman alone speeds things up compared with the service us mere males get.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Rogerborg]

[Polarbear]

[Rogerborg]

Half-cock blocked.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Teflon-Mike]

I've been a member of the AA since I was 17, until about ten years ago, when divorced & disabled I couldn't afford a car, was running bangers and loaners and for the miles I did, was an expense I could live without.

Came back to them a few years ago, when I got things back on an even keel, after looking at reviews and advice.... Main reason? they cover the member, not the vehicle....

Found some astonishing caveots and get-outs in the small print for some, like not covering vehicles over ten years old.. that's all of mine then! Or anything with four-wheel drive... so two disqualifications against my Range-Rover then! Or trailers... bit of a bugga if I'm dragging the bike trailer or caravan that, then.... There was even a caveot about not attending a breakdown within a mile of your registered address unless you had home start! Fan-Tastic! So they wouldn't come give me a jump-start at Aldi then... I wonder whether I could stretch an extension lead that far?

AA reliability / service? I cant really fault it. They have been 100% reliable, and met or even exceeded my expectations in their ineptitude on every occasion I have ever had to call them!!

I once had the lower ball-joint on a Metro 'go' on a duel carriageway... the front off-side wheel, still attached to the brake disc, caliper, upright and one radius arm, dissapeared up the road ahead off me... moment's puzzlement as I watched wheel head into the arco, wondering where that had come from, before the horizon took on a slight skew angle like a Pinky-Photo and teh spound of metal scraping on tarmac made me realise that there was something not quite right happening here!

Called the AA... "Well haven't you got a spare wheel?" asked the operator..... "Y-E-S" I explained patiently.... "I just haven't got anything to BOLT it too!.. all the front suspensions fallen off with it!"... "Well cant you use a jack?" said operator.... "Look, just send a flat-bed lorry, take my word for it, a repair man aint going to fix this at the road-side, and he's not going to be putting it on a tail-lift... it has no wheels to put on one!"... so they sent a van with a tail-lift! "Procedure mate!"

I still have flash-backs to the "Dee-Nye-Pee-Nyer" side-car incident... that started with very long conversation to 'control' over the fact that they couldn't find my 'car'.. no, dear its a MOTORCYCLE and SIDE CAR.. in thier data-base.. and was I SURE it wasn't a Dihatsu!.. after that, Mr angry Patrol man, clambering out of the van, with a 5 gallon jerry can of water... looking at the russian WWII BMW replica outfit, frowning and saying "They told me it just over heated!.. where do I put the water!" Then after being told it was belching black smoke and probably had a hole in the piston.... "OK I'll tow you to the services" and starting to lower the tail lift... then looking bewildered as he realized that there was only one front wheel! "how the heck am I supposed to tow this!" and getting ever more irate at 'them' who had told him such 'lies' as he did so, until eventually I had to climb into a Ford Cargo wrecker with a very camp chappy who liked my leathers a bit TOO much!!!!!

Like I said... from experience, my expectations are not too high, and essentially all I hope for is that they WILL get me and vehicle home, where I can sort the rest out myself... within a day... so far they have achieved that, so all good enough!

I did have 'Green-Flag' given 'free' with my insurance policy on my Series III Land-Rover once, and since the missus had earned me a letter from the AA for over-using the service flattening the battery of her Meastro Auto, after flooding the engine with the 'auto' choke.. when I had the old bus conk out on me, due to a blocked diesel filter.. called them instead... They came out.. looked at it, and told me that they couldn't tow it, cos 4-wheel drive... err.. hang on, YOU agreed to cover this vehicle, specifically this vehicle, on a bolt on to the general insurance policy on it.... "Ah.. well..." he said... "We do... but we cant tow-em four wheel drive!" .. In the end he towed me.... I pointed out that as a Series III Land-Rover it was actually only two wheel drive.. and you had to manually 'engage' four wheel drive... so it wasn't going to do any damage if he stuck it on his pull-bar thing... and after much contemplation, and me signing a 'disclaimer' on his paperwork.. he dragged me to a services!

I think that when it comes down to it, they are probably all pretty much of a muchness, and its a lottery, of what's actually 'wrong' then the actual chap that comes out to you, and what mood they are in!
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[rubyhorse2]

only ever had to use a breakdown service once and that was a faulty regulator, green flag attended and got me running to get home.

i think the best advice is to actually learn how to maintain your bike and make sure its working (which i think is what rogerborg is hinting at), that way you most likely wont have to use breakdown services.

i guess most are the same though, send a van, then if cant get it running its a pickup and run home or nearest garage depending on your cover.

[c_dug]

All the maintenance in the world isn't going to stop a flat tyre!
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.