Bike Shifting in Hosa Road

Two kinds of cover, often confused

There are two different things here and people mix them up all the time. The first is the bike's own insurance, the policy you're required to have to ride it on the road. That's yours, with your insurer, and it renews once a year.

The second is transit insurance, which is optional and covers the bike while it's on our carrier. It's priced on the value you declare for the bike, and you can take it or leave it at the survey. It doesn't replace your own policy, and don't assume your own policy covers the bike while it's on someone else's vehicle, ask your insurer if you're unsure.

If someone tells you their move is insured, it's worth asking which of these they mean.

On a corridor like this one, where a lot of the bikes are only a few years old and were bought on the same kind of budget as the flat, the question comes up at almost every survey. People assume the policy they pay for every year must cover everything. It covers a lot, but it's built around you riding the bike, and moving it is a different situation.

For an older commuter, plenty of people skip transit insurance and that's a reasonable call. For a newer or more expensive bike it's worth asking us the price. Either way, the bike's own policy should be valid on the day it arrives.

Renewing before it travels

Check the expiry date on your current policy the week you book the move. It's printed on the policy document and usually in the insurer's app, and if you can't find either, the renewal reminders in your email will have it. If it runs out before the bike is due to arrive, renew it now, from Bangalore, while you still have the old address, the old phone number and the time to read the terms properly.

When you renew, update the contact details if you're moving cities. A renewal reminder that goes to an old address next year is how policies lapse without anyone noticing.

Keep a copy of the renewed policy with the bike's papers. The crew needs only the RC copy and your ID for the trip, but you'll want proof of valid insurance the moment you ride the bike at the new place.

If the policy has already lapsed, it doesn't stop us moving the bike. But don't ride it at the other end until it's renewed, and be aware that some insurers ask to inspect a bike before renewing a policy that's been allowed to run out.

Collection from a Hosa Road block

Most of the corridor is apartment blocks with basements, security desks and associations with a rulebook. Basements are off limits for a carrier, which means the bike comes up the ramp under its own power or yours and meets the vehicle outside, where it's photographed all round before the wrap goes on. Inside the corridor the internal roads are mostly wide enough for a carrier to reach the gate.

The pinch point is the junction where Hosa Road meets Hosur Road. At both office peaks it seizes, so an early pickup gets the carrier out before the queues build. Month-end weekends are especially busy along here, and a midweek pickup is easier if you can manage it.

Some associations want to know about anything leaving the building, tell the gate a day ahead and bring your ID when you bring the bike up.

Scooter shifting, and the scooter's policy

Scooters are the bikes most likely to have a lapsed policy, because they're used for short trips and nobody thinks about them. Check the scooter's renewal date as well as the motorcycle's, it's the one people forget.

On the carrier, a scooty is handled exactly as a motorcycle is, padding on the bars and mirrors, layers of wrap and straps keeping it upright, after its own set of pickup photos. Because it weighs less, the bill is usually a little smaller too.

Clear the under-seat storage first. Keep any insurance papers that were tucked in there and put them in the folder with the rest.

Bike and two wheeler transport out of Hosa Road

Within Bangalore it's a same-day job, and the short runs to Electronic City, Singasandra or Begur barely count. Further afield, Chennai and Hyderabad get carriers all the time, the Kerala routes run often and a small town can mean a wait until something's going that way. Either way the arrival date is agreed in writing before the straps go on.

Run the tank low beforehand, it's drained before loading anyway. The quote is a single fixed figure on paper with the GST shown, given after a free look at the bike on a video call or in person. And for the flat itself, our Hosa Road packers page has the details.