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Deals Deals Deals!
Blog date May 2016
So what was so good about the deal on the Kawasaki Z 250 SL that made it just too tempting to resist? Well the £3000 price tag with 0% finance already had me very interested. But what I wanted was that something extra, that little special something that makes you think you got a bargain that was just yours. Now I like Motorcycle Centre Orrell because they will let you talk a special deal with them. If you are lucky like me you get the deal that is perfect for you. However understandably MCO do not want me telling the whole world what that deal is because it then becomes a case of well I heard such a such got such a such and so why can't I ? All I can say is that servicing costs are high on new bikes and I needed a deal to reduce them...I also had crash bungs put on the bike and had it lowered all done at a agreed price that all added to the extra sweetener that clinched the deal.
My advise would be if you are buying a new bike be a bit cheeky. I was way cheekier than usual because I never expected a yes. I was pushing it on purpose because they would save me having to decide to buy or not to buy by saying no. I set the target rather high. If you do not ask you will not get. That said do not be ridiculous because then they wont take you seriously anyway. Finally if you do get any special deals that are not done and dusted on collection day then be sure to get it in writing. Staff move around and what one salesman may have agreed another may claim to know nothing about. So get it in print.
So it now seems I had somehow accidentally slipped and fell on top of a brand new bike. It still felt a bit surreal...like how did that happen, how an earth have I ended up agreeing to buy a new bike that was never on my wish list and at a time when I had not been planning even to look for one? Sometimes life is not planned it just kind of happens. A bit like when one of my daughters phoned me to tell me that when I got home I would find a kitten on my bed. It was an emergency foster case but was so small she could not have it at her home around her own pets for fear of it being squished. Therefore she had errr kindly deposited the tiny creature into my house. I had never wished to own a cat, I believed I would let it stay maybe for a couple of weeks, just until it got a new home or was big enough to cope with my daughters brood. It was so tiny, way too young to be without mum, so much so that she nearly died twice. I had to teach her how to lap and eat and nurse her when she was poorly. But she pulled through becoming in the process funny and bold and somehow the kitten stole my heart. She just appeared on my bed one day unplanned and unexpected and here she still remains officially adopted now into our home.
The new bike feels a bit like the kitten, unplanned and unexpected. I will be shortly be finding it tucked away into my shed. Officially owned by me and waiting for it to hopefully steal my heart.
The pick up date was agreed and I now had the joy of insurance to sort for the bike. I had looked on comparison websites before agreeing to buy the bike to be sure that the insurance costs were within my budget. The price was around the £300 mark. However once I began to phone around a few of the listed companies the picture suddenly began to change rather dramatically. I have probably said it before but I am saying it again. Never trust a comparison website quote. In fact never trust any online quote, even direct. To be clear of what you are going to be covered for and just importantly not covered for you really do need to call and speak to them. You need to know things like when is a garage not a garage...some insurance companies class a metal shed as a garage while some only deem bricks as a garage, so when the online form says garage or not you need to know their criteria etc. There are loads of things a form does not cover that you need to clarify in this way.
However by clarifying such details my quotes were now coming in at £600 Argghhh !! This was not in the plan. Quite a lot of calls later I finally get a price of £410 but the brokers are not inspiring my confidence when it is clear the staff have no clue about her own product when I have to explain very very s l o w l y what crash bungs are. I get so frustrated I simply have to leave it for a couple of days before I have one last go at trying to get the insurance to near the £300 mark I originally thought I was going to pay.
I finally come across Principle Insurance. The process of a quote with them is quick and simple and the guy I talk to seems competent. Now Principle offer that rare beauty of mirrored NCD. Never heard of it? Well not many people seem to know about it but it is rather simple. If you have NCD discount currently on another bike certain insurance companies will mirror that NCD onto their policy. Thus this reduces the price quite a lot. In my case to a nice £233. Yes thank you that will do nicely. Looks like I'm in luck with all my deals on this bike..waahoooo !!
However when I call about progress on the bike the lowering kit has yet to arrive. I call a couple of days later and the lowering kit has arrived...fantastic...but when they opened the crash bungs they realised they were the wrong ones having been sent the ninja and not the required Z ones. Urghhh. So now they were waiting on a re-delivery for the correct crash protectors. However lady luck was still playing nice and the crash bungs arrive the next day so everything was fitted and ready for me to pick up the following day, that being the original planned pick up date of 7th May. Wahoooo, I am excited but nervous ... what will tomorrow bring ?
Reader's Comments
Ian Soady said :-
Great read - I hope you're really happy with the new bike.
Mirrored NCD? I have always had this but never heard it called by that name. Essentially, whenever I've changed companies (which for modern bikes has tended to be every couple of years) I've just got a statement from the old company and this has been honoured (maybe an odd word in the context of insurance) by the new one.
So if you picked it up on the 7th you must have put some miles on it by now. How's it going?
BTW the story, like all yours, was beautifully written. It's a pleasure to read text which flows so well. As someone once said "easy reading is hard writing".
31/05/2016 13:17:15 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
Hi Ian. What she means by mirrored is this - The Keeway has 2 years NCB. Normally if you insure another motorcycle along with the one you already have you are starting a new policy and therefore you have no NCB. In this instance Principal has taken into account Sharon has 2 years NCB on the Keeway and mirrored this on the Kwak. So on a new policy she has 2 years NCB and on the old policy she STILL has 2 years NCB.
And stop praising her writing! It makes me very jealous don't you know. Pfffft.
31/05/2016 14:32:12 UTC
Henrik said :-
Crystal-ball ? ;-)
Concratulation, and well done I guess, it pays of,...
31/05/2016 14:38:54 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
Henrik - when you previously commented on getting a deal and getting it signed on real paper that was mere days after Sharon had done that - hence the "crystal ball" comment. Personally I think you and Sharon are having an affair and you almost let the cat out of the bag. I'll be watching you two closely.
Sharon - if you disappear for a couple of days while we're in the Netherlands I know what you're up to!
31/05/2016 14:49:04 UTC
Sharon said :-
Hi Ian, Thanks for your kind words on my writing. I am rather uncertain on my skills as a writer, so praise always helps the confidence.
What you describe when you change companies with your new motorbike is NCD ie No Claims Discount. All insurance companies will provide you with NCD proof for you new provider once your current policy has either come to and end or been cancelled.
However if you currently have a active insurance that is still in use , as I do with the Keeway, then usually any NCD remains on that policy only. Any additional polices taken alongside that current policy would normally have to begin with zero NCD. However a small number of insurance companies will offer "mirrored NCD". Therefore they take into account the NCD you acquired on another policy and offer a discount on your new policy.
In my case I currently have 2 years on my Keeway with Just Motorcycle. Principle insurance insured the Kawasaki with a discount applied for those 2 years NCD.
It is important to note that the new policy with Principle however does not have 2 years NCD that would be transferable to another policy once it expired. If I had no claims on the new policy with Principle and kept it in force for a year I would then have only 1 years NCD on that policy not 3. Mirrored NCD does not give you "free NCD" but simply offers you a discount for having NCD on another additional policy.
I hope this makes Mirrored NCD a bit clearer but I know clear is not something that comes easy with anything insurance related.
I will be updating very soon on how me and Kawasaki got on ... or not :-)
As for you Ren beware the green eyes monster ;-) now in this case is it jealously or envy? I think both could apply. ( Ren and I was discussing recently how the words jealousy and envy are often misused.) Jealously being the word most commonly used these days where in reality envy is often the most likely cause of the green eyes monster. In simple terms envy is wanting what another person has whilst jealousy is being afraid of losing something you already have.
See you can learn so much here than just bikes :-D
31/05/2016 18:18:42 UTC
Sharon said :-
Henrik,
It is good to get a cheeky deal :-)
As I said before great minds think alike. I had almost got my fingers burnt once before on a deal that was agreed in word only. Although the "deal" was honored I had a lot of hassle and arguments and had to do the stand firm stance to make that deal stick. Therefore this time around a nice bit of paper in now in my possession that I can just waft into the face of any opposition.
31/05/2016 18:32:11 UTC
said :-
Sharon:
All good to hear, and a good deal add's up further on the selfconfidence- account ass well, and also add's up to the joy of the bike itself, as the deal is a part of it, and thus associated,...
Ren:
In DK we say; "trust is good, but control is better", I'm sure you got an
similar phrase in UK, but best kind of control is absolutely self-control.
I divide in yours and mine, and very happy married remember, see pic :-)
I'm sure you had great luck in that game also, so it seems !!!
So beware the green monster, and chill out :-)
Guess we will see you both touring on the new bikes later, and guess that
when NL is done on the 125-bikes, then the new bikes could bring you out
to a little more remote locations, both Europe and Scotland,..
One of my enduro-friends will go to the Highland soon, he just got tickets for Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 22-8. Scotland is to him what Norway is
to me. I think you is lucky to have Scotland so close now that Europe is so distant.
31/05/2016 21:47:56 UTC
Henrik said :-
Me posting above
31/05/2016 21:49:06 UTC
Ian Soady said :-
Thanks for explaining that Sharon - I'd never come across it before. Luckily as my Honda is over 15 years old I can include it on my classic policy together with the Sunbeam. At £120 or so a year with agreed value for the 'Beam and full UK and EU breakdown cover it's a pretty good deal although the classic policies rarely apply NCD - which is a shame as I have many years built up!
I must say the Kwak doesn't do anything for me in the looks department but accept this probably says more about me than the bike.
Ren - I always enjoy your writing as well and comparisons as they say are invidious so will say no more......
01/06/2016 09:31:10 UTC
Monk said :-
What... no pic of you astride the new-ish purchase????!!!!Or am I missing something...again?
01/06/2016 23:00:27 UTC
Monk said :-
Is it similar to this fine specimen????
01/06/2016 23:06:34 UTC
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