Calling On Roadside Assistance — When You Don’t Have It
The kind of roadside assistance you really appreciate having.
For years I have spread the word about how your membership in the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) can provide you with good roadside assistance coverage at no additional cost. I have used it several times and I still recommend it.
But I had an issue recently that I think bears passing along.
Earlier this year I received a notice that I had been an AMA member long enough that I was now accorded Life Member status, which means I no longer have to pay annual dues. Of course, it is only logical that if they are cutting off a source of revenue–my dues–that they are also cutting some expenses on their end. I’m sure this is all explained in the information sent to me but, like most people, I probably didn’t read it carefully.
The first idea I had that things were different was when I got a notice that if I wanted to continue receiving the organization’s magazine in hard copy I would need to pay for that. Otherwise, I could read it online. OK, I get way too many magazines anyway, so not getting American Motorcyclist in hard copy was OK with me. Heck, we read the Denver Post online so I can read American Motorcyclist online, too.
But then, we were up in Loveland over Thanksgiving weekend seeing my nephew and family and my car died. The battery had not been showing any signs of weakness or impending death, and the fuses were all OK. I concluded I would need to have it towed to the local dealer to have the problem diagnosed.
So, the coverage the AMA provides is good for your car as well as your motorcycles. But then it dawned on me: with my Life Member status, was I still covered for roadside assistance? No. I checked and the answer was no. That requires that I sign up for AMA’s Life Member Plus program, which costs less than standard membership, so it’s not like they’re taking back all the benefits of life membership.
I concluded I would need to sign up for Life Member Plus but this was a holiday weekend and no one would be in the office until Monday. We had no intentions of hanging out in Loveland till late in the day on Monday. (Plus, when I did sign up I was told that the roadside assistance benefit would not kick in for 72 hours. I’m sure this is to ensure that people don’t sign up only when they need the service.)
Judy has AAA so she called them and we got towed. The problem was fixed and we were on the road again. But the point is, I was without roadside assistance coverage for some months and didn’t know it. That could have been a real issue if I had needed it. So I’m just passing this along so you don’t find yourself in that situation. And I do still recommend the AMA coverage. Their coverage pays for 29 miles of towing (if I remember correctly). Judy’s basic AAA coverage only paid for 6 miles of towing so we still had to pay for 3 miles. Not breaking the bank but free all the way would have been better.
Biker Quote for Today
Ever since the young men have owned motorcycles, incest has been dying out. — Max Frisch (OK, yeah, that’s a bizarre quote. You’ll have to google Max Frisch to get some idea what the heck he’s talking about.)
Tags: roadside assistance
