Are you in a state that requires a special license or endorsement to ride a motorcycle, but it is not required for the Slingshot? if so you might find this interesting and helpful
As you may know I live in California. When I got my Slingshot last April one of the first things I did was call my insurance broker to get the thing insured. In the process She asked me several questions including if I had a class M1 license. In California the Class M1 is specifically for 2 wheeled motorcycles and is not required for the Slingshot. Another question she asked was if I had taken a motorcycle driving course which is clearly not relevant to the Slingshot. These questions are automatically asked as a part of getting motorcycle insurance. Anyway, I answered "no" to both of these questions and I got my insurance quote - which I felt was way to high. At this point I went to the websites of a few different insurance companies and got online quotes and in the process was again asked these questions and the quotes were as higher or higher than what my broker had given so I just called my broker back and got the over priced policy.
So yesterday I get the renewal bill for my insurance in the mail and I am looking at it thinking this is ridiculous so I decided to price shop again and again on the online sites I am asked these two questions and the prices are a joke. I am thinking about it and I know it is these two questions that are causing me to get screwed - I am asking for "motorcycle" insurance, which is what the Slingshot is classified as in California, and then by answering these questions honestly I am telling them I am not licensed to drive it and I haven't taken the driving course - of course they they want a high premium. At this point I figure there has to be a way to get a lower rate and I start calling local insurance agency's for well known insurance companies. And the first thing I ask the agents is if they are familiar with the Slingshot. The first few are like my own agent and have no clue, but say it doesn't matter that if they put in my VIN it will bring it up. When they do this it comes up as a motorcycle and here come those 2 questions again. At this point I hung up and tried a different agency. I was looking up these agency's online and I noticed that one of the ad's had a picture of the agent with a big grin on his face and he was sitting on Harley. I figured perhaps this guy will know what the slingshot is and can some how help me. I give him a call and the first thing I ask him is if he knows what the Slingshot is - he excitedly says yes, his friend at the gym has one, a red one, So then I tell him I am keep getting stupid high quotes and I think it is because I don't have a class M1 licence. I point out to him that the Class M1 is specifically states that it is for 2 wheel motorcycles and that I am not required to have it and He knows this we then have a good laugh at the idea of someone pulling up to take the driving test around the cones in a slingshot.
Anyway to get to the point Kenneth got me a new policy 100,000/300000 liability and full collision everything I wanted for just over $500 a year which is much much less than I paid last year and much much less than what I was getting from places that only knew that their computer said it was a "motorcycle"
When I printed off my new policy I saw how Kenneth had gotten around around those two standard questions for motorcycle insurance. In the vehicle identification section at the top of the policy there it was:
Make: Polaris, Model: Slingshot, VIN: XXYY12345678910FME and finally the kicker and way I believe he got around those dumb questions and having them count as a bad thing against me TYPE: "SPECIALTY AUTO"
The reason why I am sharing this is to hopefully help anyone who might be having the same problem of having insurance companies that dont understand that in some states the motorcycle endorsement/license is not required for the slingshot
find an agent that understands what it it, one that knows the endorsement isnt needed and one that knows it isnt really a motorcycle and you cant fall of or over. They have ways they can help if they really understand what it is.
