Little ATV

[bczoom]

The helmets with the variable sizing isn't too expensive. I think I paid about $70 for the helmet with 1 lining and each new lining is about $20.

Not sure if you can put that size machine on your homeowners. It can be listed if it's to "maintain the resident premises". Don't know if you can say those are for yard work. Give it a try. If not, ATV policies are cheap.

Brian

 

[RTV4Us]

Hello everyone,

Concerning ATV's and homeowners insurance in general:

You probably have liability coverage for your ATV, ONLY ON YOUR OWN PREMISE.

You probably DON"T HAVE PHYSICAL DAMAGE ( fire, theft, etc.) ANYWHERE ON YOUR homeowners policy.

As for the "servicing the residence premise" condition, that is very difficult to meet. Like Brian (bczoom) said, ATV policies are cheap. Don't rely on your homeowners policy and find out too late you don't have the coverage you assumed you had.

The gray area is the status of "Utility" categories such as the RTV, Rhino, Ranger, etc. They are advertised and sold as utility/work vehicles, but we all like to have fun on them too. I'm sure the insurance companies want to consider them as ATV's and exclude them, but using them and treating them like tractors would make a strong argument they are "used to service the premise". ( I put a "Slow Moving Vehicle" triangle on the back of my RTV screen to help with the tractor argument....

 

[Tact]

What age range are the 50cc intended for? I have a 7 year old and would imagine the 70cc are a little strong for his age. Any idea for the 50cc's?

 

[jwstewar]

Basically any of the "kid" ATVs <90 are designed for age 6 & up. What I like about most of them that I've looked at, they have a governor on them to limit them to any speed clear down to 5 MPH. I'm actually buying the pair of 70s for my kids that are 4 & 5 years old.

 

[bczoom]

RTV4Us,

First, welcome to TBN!!

OK, on the insurance. Been working with my agent closely for a couple years on ATV's and UTV's.

I'll qualify what I know about insurance on a couple points.
1. If your state requires the vehicle to be registered, it is no longer covered in any fashion under the homeowners.
2. If no registration is required, steps "should" be able to be taken to have the ATV/UTV listed on the homeowners which will cover it for both liability as well as physical damage.

That said, if you do opt to try to get an ATV/UTV listed under your homeowners (basically having it get treated similar to a tractor) it will need to be:
1. Listed/scheduled on the policy. (Tractors don't need to be scheduled).
2. Be a vehicle of a type that could be used "to maintain the resident premises". Racing or kids ATV's probably wouldn't apply. Most any UTV could apply.

Now, if you take it off the premises you're pretty much on your own. Liability "may" still be in effect but you'll most likely loose any comprehensive (physical) coverage.

I don't have a choice anymore since PA requires title, registration and insurance on all ATV/UTV's but I have insured all my ATV/UTV's. In general, a decent policy per vehicle can be had for $40-$150/year depending on how much liability and whether you want collision/comp included. I gripe a lot about this due to the number of vehicles I have to insure. I think it suc*s that I have to put a license plate and stuff on my kids ATVs.

BTW - Good luck on getting the RTV insured. I haven't found an insurance company yet that has the RTV listed where an agent can select it to create a policy. I think mine is listed as "other" in every category.

Brian

 

[bczoom]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( What age range are the 50cc intended for? I have a 7 year old and would imagine the 70cc are a little strong for his age. Any idea for the 50cc's? )</font>

Tact,
To my knowledge...
50cc are intended for ages 6-12.
70cc and up varies my manufacturer. Jim - did it say on yours what the age range is? On my Suzuki 80cc it's stamped as ages 12 and up.
My daughter is 7 and has switched from the 50 to the 80cc this year. I'll qualify her capability as to say that she has a couple years on the 50cc to get ready (needed to learn braking, leaning...)
Now, all of these kids machines do have some sort of governor or throttle adjustment for speed. I haven't put the 80cc on a speedo but I'd guess it can easily do more than 30 (it outruns the RTV very easily). I have it set to a max of about 20mph for my daughter.

I did find out that you should not take your child to the dealer on the day you purchase. I got my daugher's ATV when she was 5. While at the dealer, she was sitting on the machine. During the conversation, the owner (also the salesman I got that day) asked her how old she was. Being a kid, of course she said her age. He wouldn't sell it to me since she wasn't 6. I returned without her, got a different salesman and when the question arose again, I said 6.

Brian

 

[Ozarker]

I recently bought a Jag 50cc for my grandson. Got it from my local Polaris dealer. It has all the safety feature such as throttle limit screw and remote engine kill and it has a 4 cycle engine.

Of course a week later, after watching him and the neighbor kids having fun, I bought myself a new Polaris Magnum 330 4X4. I might even get to ride it someday if I can get my wife off it.

 

[buckle97]

<font color="blue"> I might even get to ride it someday if I can get my wife off it. </font>

I can sympathize with you. My wife puts many more miles on MY /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif four wheeler than I do.

Lawrence

 

[jwstewar]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Jim - did it say on yours what the age range is? )</font>

The guy really didn't say, other than it should hold them until probably 11 or 12. He also said his kids 6 & 9 were riding the same ATV I was buying.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( did find out that you should not take your child to the dealer on the day you purchase. I got my daugher's ATV when she was 5. While at the dealer, she was sitting on the machine. During the conversation, the owner (also the salesman I got that day) asked her how old she was. Being a kid, of course she said her age. He wouldn't sell it to me since she wasn't 6. I returned without her, got a different salesman and when the question arose again, I said 6.
)</font>
I found this at one of the local places that I went to. Didn't want to sell me one because she was only 5. I said that she would be 6 soon, so I was still interested. Of course, they were also trying to discount the wireless kill switch. I said that is what I wanted and I was going to buy a machine that had that. Looked at them and said, "So, you can't me. I'll be leaving now." and I walked out. I hate when I know what I want and they try to talk me into something else because that is what they have. Now if I go in and I'm unsure what I want or need (very rarely happens) I want to here their advice.

 

[RTV4Us]

Brian,

Just to clarify, I am an insurance agent (in PA), a CIC (Certified Insurance Counselor) to boot. Of the 6 insurance companies we represent that write homeowners insurance, NONE will add ATV's onto the HO policy. Only exception to that is that one company will add both liability and physical damage coverage onto a FARMOWNER policy. However, that same company will not add them to a homeowners policy. Next time I get a chance at the office to run down the RTV issue, I'll do some additional research and see what answers I get back from some of the company underwriters. There are more differences than ever before in the policy language from one company to another as the industry struggles with these issues. You can not go by anyones word, the policy is a contract between the insurance company and the policy holder. The big problem is trying to decide how 12 of our peers will interpret the policy language, when we are in court.......

As for title and registration, did you get a title for the RTV? I did not, nor did the dealer give me any registration paperwork, which I believe is required when selling an ATV. I don't have any paperwork which would make me think I need to treat the RTV any different than I do my JD 855 as far as insurance and registration goes. From a pure technical standpoint, I don't believe I can legally drive my JD on public highways. I do, and I've been passed by lots of State Police while doing it. My guess is that if I'm putting up the road in my RTV with the spray rig in the back, they'll beep and wave as they go by.... Only time will tell.

Sorry to hi-jack the thread.

My boys started on a Suzuki 50 when they were 2 & 3 years old. Ran that for a few years, and got a Suzuki 80 for them to fight over. Eventually it got harder to have fun places to ride, so we sold them all. Now that they are both out of college, it seems like such a long time ago......