Bloody AA... They've done it again!

[chanceyy]

FFS has anyone actually ever seen passengers on a bus ?

In Levin I know we have a bus but it seems to be on elderly timetables .. mind you then I do live rurally, but very rarely see it

[swbarnett]

Errr. It is called the Automobile Association.

A motorcycle IS an automobile.

From Merriam-Webster:
"A usually four-wheeled automotive vehicle designed for passenger transportation"

[James Deuce]

A motorcycle IS an automobile.

From Merriam-Webster:
"A usually four-wheeled automotive vehicle designed for passenger transportation"

The passenger transportation thing excludes motorcycles from that definition. They're expensive toys, as you well know.

[swbarnett]

The passenger transportation thing excludes motorcycles from that definition. They're expensive toys, as you well know.

Speak for yourself. My bike is my only vehicle. It transports me, i.e. one passenger, everywhere I want to go.

[buellbabe]

I have been an AA member for 14yrs. They have been called out on numerous occasions and have been a godsend. Last year they arranged a transporter to pick up me & bike (snapped drive belt) from the middle of bum-fuck-nowhere (turn right at 'the black stump') and took us both home...NO CHARGE.

OK so they might be negligent in not including motorbikes in their survey but in MHO they provide a damn fine service.

[James Deuce]

Speak for yourself. My bike is my only vehicle. It transports me, i.e. one passenger, everywhere I want to go.

I have a brick wall I need dyna-bolted. Could I borrow your head for a bit please?

[swbarnett]

I have a brick wall I need dyna-bolted. Could I borrow your head for a bit please?

Am I missing something? You obviously think I'm being thick. Maybe I am? Please explain.

[Badjelly]

Am I missing something? You obviously think I'm being thick. Maybe I am? Please explain.

I was going to chime in (supporting James, automobile = car) but no, it's more fun on the sidelines.

[ManDownUnder]

middle of bum-fuck-nowhere (turn right at 'the black stump') and took us both home...NO CHARGE.

Carver's place is near the black stump?

huh!

[swbarnett]

I was going to chime in (supporting James, automobile = car) but no, it's more fun on the sidelines.

The term "automobile " was coined because the first one propelled itself i.e. no horse was necessary (also know as the horseless carriage). Yes these first automobiles happened to have four wheels but this was not an important part of the definition.

The current dictionary definition does lean towards four wheels but the word usually in the definition, to my mind, includes anything with any number of wheels that also fits the rest of the definition (motorised passenger transport). Actually, under this definition buses would also qualify.

[ynot slow]

Automobile can also mean 3 wheels,as a couple of early vehicles were tricycles.

[howdamnhard]

Ye AA don't really like you if you own a bike.Have all my past insurance through them and been with them for a while,so when I got my first bike and approached them about insuring it, I was surprised by been told to politely get lost.
Having said that I have used them for call outs to the cage.

[De-Ranged]

A few yrs ago I was chairman for the local MTBike club and found that Doc class mtb's as automobiles... be dammed about the two wheel argument a mtbike dosn't even have a motor!!

[rouppe]

The AA pissed me off recently too..

About 6 months ago I was on my way home and the bike broke down. I was only about 1km from home, it was dark (about 6pm) but the 1km was up a steep hill. Fine I thought I'll call AA for a pickup, and tomorrow morning Ill get them to take me into Wellington Motorcycles.

First part worked OK, but the next morning they (initially) refused the call saying I had already had my 1 free tow and this was the same event.

1) I have been a AA member for over 20 years and probably made a total of 10 calls tops
2) If I had the bike taken to Wellington Motorcycles directly then I would have had to leave it outside overnight, leaving it in a very unsafe area (lots of bars/drunks about)
3) I can call AA every fucking morning to start my car with a dodgy battery and that's OK

So I argue and argue and they eventually relent. I then sent them a letter asking them how they propose that a motorcycle be delivered to a repair shop safely when the breakdown occures after hours.

The reply was some waffle about how they can't afford to provide unlimited tows, blah blah blah. I think that if a bike can't be delivered to a repair shop and kept in a (semi) secure or at least benign environment then its totally reasonable to take it to a place of safety followed up by delivery to the workshop.

[rouppe]

I was going to chime in (supporting James, automobile = car) but no, it's more fun on the sidelines.

Yeah sorry as far as I am concerned a motorcycle is covered, particularly since I have received service from the AA for a breakdown on the bike (see above).

The AA's own terminology is confusing. On their main page they make several references to a "car" but then say "Your AA Membership covers you, not the vehicle".

A vehicle most definitely includes a motorcycle. Just ask a cop that is writing you a ticket for being "drunk in charge of a vehicle".