Alternatives to AA?

[Cynos]

Hi all, newbie poster and rider, so bear with me.

My little brother is doing the epic scooter ride (Christchurch - Auckland - Christchurch) which is making for some interesting stories, but it's the one I heard half an hour ago that's made me grit my teeth.

He had a puncture about 45km south of Auckland, and as it was getting dark and he didn't fancy pushing his scooter along the side of the road at night, he rang the AA. He's a fully paid up member and what have you.

And, they wouldn't help him. No, it seems that their terms and conditions of membership state that:

Service cannot be provided if:

...the vehicle is immobilised due to failure to carry a serviceable spare wheel and wheel changing equipment suitable to the vehicle...

(from http://www.aa.co.nz/Section?Action=V...&Story_id=1234)

If this is really the overall policy, and not just one contact centre schlep being a douche, then my AA membership is pretty damned useless. Do they really expect me to carry a sodding spare tyre on my daily commute?

Is anyone with State? Are they any better?

(Also, I've seen puncture repair kits for dirt bikes that have some kind of glue and a canister of CO2 to reinflate the wheel - has anyone had any luck with these on a tubeless road tyre?)

[Steam]

If that's true then they've just lost every motorcyclist in New Zealand. It must be some schlep at the call centre, surely!

[Mom]

I'm a bit bored.........shall I ring and ask the question?

[Steam]

I'm a bit bored.........shall I ring and ask the question?

I just did, it's outside their call-centre hours.

[Cynos]

You'd think so, (and bear in mind this is all second-hand via my Mum as he's been calling her) but my Mum reckons she rang the AA's contact centre and had that confirmed - she told me that she said to the advisor "So, you're saying that an AA membership is worthless for a scooter rider" and the advisor said "I guess so"...

...hopefully someone here has had a different experience...

[Delphinus]

You'll be wanting to get a refund for that methinks...

[gambit]

yeah mate there are tubeless tyre repair kits with co2 bottles etc

[shaneh]

AA has assured me that they will rescue me if I have a flat. Hasn't happened yet, cross fingers.
Ring them up and pursue it.

[sAsLEX]

Honda Riders Club............ 25 a year? and a Honda

[k14]

Honda Riders Club............ 25 a year? and a Honda

Nope, don't have to own a honda.

Send an email to fair go, see what happens.

[Nasty]

Got a puncture on the Rimutakas .. AA sent a truck to pick up the bike and sclep it off the hill .. for a small cost the guy took it all the way home for me as well rather than to a bike shop not open on a Sunday. they do ask dumb questions .. do you have a spare tyre (where do I store it) why don't you have a spare tyre (cos its a motorbike) ... but they did deal in the end.

[Cynos]

Hmm, thanks all for that. When my bro gets back in town, I'll encourage to seek a refund from AA at the very least. Last I heard he was leaving the Tron.

I still think he's a bloody nutter.

[Storm]

Of course he is- he's a motorcyclist !!! We're not exactly famed for being rational y'know. Good on ya brother, thats a hell of a ride on a scooter

[vifferman]

I'm with AA, and called them three times when I had "That Evil Black Bike". Once was when I ran out of gas, the other two times were for electrical problems (R/R on its way out). No trouble at all, apart from the wait (one call for R/R failure took 2 hours to dispatch a truck to pick me up from Ponsonby, but it was a Friday night, IIRC).

On long trips I take my Slime kit, which has a small bottle of Slime and an electric tyre pump, but I really should get some of them there plugs as well. In 32-ish years, I think I've had only three punctures, and two of those were in near-new rear tyres that picked up nails from me riding on the bits of the road you're not supposed to ride on (while lane-splitting / undertaking / overtaking). All the debris on the roads gets swished into the gutters and between lanes, waiting for bikers to collect it...

[Cynos]

Of course he is- he's a motorcyclist !!! We're not exactly famed for being rational y'know. Good on ya brother, thats a hell of a ride on a scooter

Hahaha, that it is... to be honest, I wouldn't do it. I'm too scared of cagers to travel 40km an hour less than them... I ended up buying my Balius instead of my planned GN250 for the exact same reason - didn't feel safe puttering along slower than everyone else.

He's already had the "Do a u-turn directly in front of you" crash on this trip, silly woman outside of Runanga on the West Coast, apparently she "didn't see him" despite overtaking him just prior...

...luckily (from my POV) his nose fairing wasn't damaged, as I'd just spent a good week and a couple of hundred getting it welded up and repainted (I owed him a favour or three)... Suzuki wanted ~$500 for a replacement from Japan.

He's also had his whiskey bottle full of spare petrol explode in his backpack on the road from Havelock North to Picton... nothing like being soaked in petrol to make the ride more interesting.

But yeah, apparently he turned up to a Toyspeed meeting on it in Wellington and no-one believed him when he mentioned he'd come from Christchurch. I think he was going to go to Cape Reinga but has changed his mind.