The older generation tend to have more disposable income in recent years, as salaries increase or children leave home. This means they are often free to purchase their dream motorcycle such as a Triumph or Harley Davidson, or spend money on those motorcycle lessons they always wanted.

However when it comes to motorbike insurance, older riders will likely come across the same problems as all other riders, and that is finding a cheap insurance quote. The problem stems from the fact that insurance providers see bikers as a greater insurance risk than other vehicle drivers, and unfortunately traffic accident statistics back this up. While motorcyclists make up just one percent of all UK road traffic, they are involved in almost a fifth of road user deaths.

Older motorcyclists will have one obvious advantage over younger riders in that their age will normally mean greater road experience and less chance of making dangerous decisions than younger riders. This is evidenced by the fact that older riders tend to ride more conservative bikes like touring motorcycles rather than sports bikes, further showing they are less likely to turn into ’speed freaks’.

There are other ways mature motorcyclists can reduce their motorbike insurance premiums. Simple things like keeping the bike in your garage will help reduce insurance costs. If you don’t have a garage, it may still be financially beneficial to rent garage space for your motorbike. Failing that, investing in approved locking and alarm devices to beef up your bike’s security will certainly help. Basically, anything that will reduce the risk of a claim to the insurance provider is likely to reduce the bike insurance premium.

Another way of reducing insurance costs for older riders would be to accept a higher level of voluntary excess. This is the amount of money you would be prepared to pay out of your own pocket towards any potential motorcycle insurance claim. This would show the insurance provider that a claim will cost them less to cover and so would likely reduce the premium you need to pay.

The level of cover required will obviously also play a big part in the amount paid. The usual three options apply – fully comprehensive, third party fire and theft (TPFT), or third party only.

As ever with any motorbike insurance search, make sure to look at as many comparison sites and get as many quotes as possible to ensure you find the best possible deal. With some insurance companies specialising bike insurance for the over 50s, there’s a good chance you will find a great deal out there.

Bike insurance has already experienced larger than average cost increases for the past year, and the pressures facing car insurers look set to affect motorbike insurers in the same way.

These pressures include increased personal injury claims, caused by the more prominent litigious mentality in recent years. Other pressures on car insurance premiums include fraudulent claims and uninsured drivers, the latter unfortunately being a particular problem amongst young motorcyclists and so likely to reflect in this year’s premiums.

For this reason there has never been more incentive to ensure you get as many motorbike insurance quotes as possible, and look to use insurance comparison sites to cover as many insurers as possible.

The scheme will Carole Nash insurance policy holders receive a book of vouchers for exclusive promotional offers over £500 in value. Vouchers include £200 off an MCi Tours flydrive holiday and up to 25% off bike security products from Acumen.

The move follows a similar and successful initiative last year that saw Carole Nash giving away free motorbike crash protectors with every new policy.

Head of marketing for Carole Nash, Rebecca Donohue said, “We’ve always tried to support bikers whether through sponsorship of clubs and events or through promotions like ‘Earn Back’ and last year’s R&G offer. This scheme allows bikers to subsidise their passion by getting great deals on things which can protect them and their bike or simply let them escape for some motorcycle-oriented respite from the UK.”

The initiative is due to run throughout the biking season ending October 31st.

The increase could be down to a number of factors. The most obvious theory is that last year’s economic downturn has put more pressure on bikers to find the cheapest possible insurance deal. The ongoing recession has tightened most consumers’ purse strings, meaning much tighter budgets when it comes to finding the right deal.

There is also of course the fact that motorbike ownership has risen steeply in the last few years, meaning more and more insurance companies are prepared to move into the motorbike insurance market and so an increased number of companies to search through for the best deal. Add on top of this the limited number of motorbike insurance comparison sites available and you end up spending a long time going through all of the online quote engines.

While it sounds a lot of time, it never hurts to search as many providers as possible to ensure you get the best possible insurance deal for the next 12 months.

Insurance companies are encouraging riders to stay on top of their bike maintenance after a recent study suggested as much as 78% of riders are putting off minor repairs and waiting until their MOT date before finding out the cause of strange engine noises and vibrations.

According to Swinton Bikes, there are three areas of motorbike maintenance that are most overlooked:

Motorbike Tyres
Failure to replace worn or damaged tyres is both dangerous and illegal, with a possibility of leaving your tyres in such a state leading to a fine or points on your licence.

Motorbike Chain / Sprockets
Riding your bike with a chain in need of replacing will affect performance, fuel consumption, and if particularly damaged could lead to the chain comin completely off the sprockets causing an accident.

Motorbike Oil
Not keeping your motorbike’s oil levels topped up will cause permanent damage to the engine and in some cases can cause the engine to seize up at the most inopportune time!

Keeping on top of motorbike maintenance issues will minimise the risk of problems, keeping your motorbike insurance premiums low and keeping you safe.

With performance being a big factor in choosing your motorbike, many riders are turning to fitting upgrades or tuning existing parts of their motorbike to get more power and performance from it. One popular modification is to the motorbike’s exhaust – many performance enhancing exhaust systems are available for a variety of motorbikes these days, the exhaust system helping expel the burnt fuel from the engine more efficiently. However, a modification such as this is likely to lead to your insurer requiring you to pay a slightly larger premium to insure your now more powerful motorbike.

Other performance enhancing modifications include enlarging the engine capacity by more than 5%, modifications to the suspension and wheels, and fitting a nitrous oxide injection system. These are all highly likely to require a call to your bike insurance providers.

Another common theme seen amongst young riders who are still on their provisional CBT licence is to declare their bike as restricted to the required power limit of 13Bhp when in reality it isn’t restricted. This obviously means that the power of the bike is more than what the insurers are providing cover for, and more than that, there will be legal problems for the rider should they ever be found out.

However there are also modifications that can be made to your motorbike which do not need to be declared. These include such things as crash bars, crash mushrooms, upgraded braking systems and increases in engine capacity by no more than 5%.

Advice from motorbike insurance providers is to always check with your insurer before performing any alterations, just to be on the safe side and ensure you would still be able to afford your insurance premium.

MCE are steadily increasing their involvement in motorbike racing, with the MCN Fantasy Racing League already being sponsored by the insurance firm.

Motor Sport Vision Chief Executive Jonathan Palmer said “I’m delighted that MCE Insurance will be the title sponsor of the 2009-2012 British Superbike Championship.

“BSB provides the greatest promotional platform for any bike-related product in the UK already and MCE have confirmed this with their long-term commitment and determination to use it in their strategy to become the UK’s number one provider of bike insurance.”

The first BSB weekend under MCE colours will take place August 9th at Brands Hatch.

Regarding the costs, it’s not just the face value of the motorbike to take into consideration but also variables like fuel consumption and insurance cover. To help with this, online motorbike insurance comparison website Insurancewide has compiled a list of the most popular one litre sports bikes and how much insurance quotes have been relative to each other.

These figures not only show which bikes are normally cheaper to ensure, but also gives an insight into what it may be like to own and maintain one. European manufacturers are renowned for difficulty in finding spare parts and are a common target for thieves. Insurers are obviously expecting a higher number of claims from owners of these motorbikes and this is indicated by the figures below:

Bike Make and Model (% difference compared to the top ranked bike)
MV Augusta F4 1000 R
Suzuki GSXR 1000 K9 (+5%)
Honda CBR 1000 RR Fireblade (+10%)
Yamaha YZF-R1 (+10%)
Aprilia RSV R Mille (+10%)
Kawaksaki ZX10R (+20%)
Ducati 1098 (+100%)
Benelli Tornado TRE 1130 (+110%)

The reason for the huge surge in claims has been put down to the heatwave experienced across the UK last month. The hot weather led to ideal conditions for inexperienced weekend riders to rush onto the roads, and with the majority of motorists not used to a sudden increase in motorbikes, accidents were almost inevitable.

Motorbike insurance companies are urging motorcyclists to be extra careful when getting back on their motorbikes for the summer months. It’s important to remember the basics, such as being prepared for drivers not looking, and wearing bright protective clothing to make them as visible as possible. It would also not be a bad idea for inexperienced motorcyclists to look into taking advanced riding courses, ensuring as much knowledge being with the rider as possible.

15 pairs of tickets are up for grabs for the Cadwell Park round of BSB on the August Bank Holiday weekend, the only stipulation being that the bike insurance policy starts in the month of July. The 15 lucky winners will be notified on August 21, with their tickets to be dispatched by special delivery on Monday 24 August, plenty of time before racing the following weekend.

MCN Compare is MotorcycleNews.com’s motorbike insurance comparison service, allowing customers to compare insurance quotes from the likes of Bikesure, Devitt and MCE, finding them some of the cheapest motorbike insurance quotes available.