ok.. so i have progressive and im paying $711 for a year in only liability.. i know progressive is pretty well known... but then i found another company through someone on this forum called bikeline at www.bike-line.net and they are freaking cheap... i just got a quote from them for 50,000 bodily/100,000 / 25,000 property $500 deductible for a year of the lowest freakin price of $464... and i have a 97 gs500... also i live in CA and i got one accident on my record.. and i am 20... so anyways.. what im trying to get at is... i know there must be some pros and cons... compared to big name companies and small companies... is bikeline a reputable company? does anybody have it? any comments? would you guys switch? let me know... thanks

well bike-line seems to be rated well on the scale..

however i dont know how they will do with claim handling..

Progressive is expensive cause every tom duck and harry are on it.. and they pay a lot out in claims and hence they have to jack up the price. I know when i was looking for quotes back in 2001, progressive charged me 3800 for it.

Then i called geico, same level, they came 636 for full coverage..

then i called mcgraw and got 511.. but i stayed with geico..

2 years go geico (they raised it a bit on the 2nd year 710 for the second year) then i moved on the bike-line.net

i saw bike-line.net at the Motorcycle Show in SF (Scratch and I both signed got an instant quote). I however managed to get it even lower when i did so online a few months later..

I think progressive is expensive when you live in major areas, otherwise its cheap in the boonies.

Just for the record...
I don't think you need to have such high numbers unless you carry passengers.  You see those are your liability amounts, for damage you do to OTHERS.  It's NOT money for you.  How much damage are you going to do to someone else with your bike?  I'd keep my PIP (personal injury protection) high (what they pay YOU for medical) unless you have a GOOD medical plan.  But the other limits I'd keep pretty low.  I have 300,000 500,000 100,000 on my car (where I could actually do some damage).  BUT, I have my bike at the lowest (well close anyway) possible.  Just something to think about to save you a few bucks.

Oh, and yes, stay away from no-names like "Bobs insurance co".  Call a few agents in your area and see what you can do.  There are usually differences of hundreds of $ between the different insurers.

i got 97gs500e too... and im 20 with one stop sign violation and one speeding ticket going 102 in 55... im in georgia... my coverage sucks... 25/50/25, 50/100/50 for uninsured motorists... i got progressive... i pay 479 a year.

I found bike-line to be cheapest for me also.  The way they are set up is that they dont have claims adjusters that come out and look things over if something happens, you have to got get the estimates and pictures or whatever they need and send them in.  Also, bike-line is more of a specialist so I think they know better what rates to charge for what bike.  Good luck, IMO insurance was a much more difficult ordeal than picking/buing a bike