[Jeff Higgins]

Having just been in a pretty good wreck (when my wife and I got creamed on the old Road King almost two years ago), here is what I learned:

Medical coverage: Very, very expensive on a motorcycle policy. Many agents will try to sell you this, but if you have medical coverage through work or some other means, you may not need it. Just make sure that "other means" covers riding a motorcycle. And make sure you have enough; baseline on most policies ain't even close these days.

Liability: While the other guy was at fault, our medical bills really got me thinking this one over. You can certainly hurt someone else severely enough with your bike to max out most standard coverages. Additional coverage is cheap. Get lots...

Collision: Like cars, most companies will undervalue a motorcycle. This gets even worse with Harleys, which are a bit unique in that we hang so much extra stuff on them to "customize" them and make them "ours". This stuff can easily approach the value of the rest of the bike. Bike-specific, and more narrowly, Harley-specific coverage can get you sitting down with the agent to make a list of, and place a value on, these extras. I sent my two boys to the wrecking yard to strip the bike, since the insurance company refused to acknowledge the value of that stuff, or that it was even on the bike.

Your riding gear: I missed this one in our case, but fortunately, the other guy is responsible. We lost over $2,000 in riding gear in our wreck, between two Arai full faced helmets, Harley FXRG jackets, pants, boots, and gloves on both of us (this is not the fringed, flamed, skulled b.s. "riding gear" they sell so much of, this is serious, all-weather, armored touring gear - it literally saved our hides). My coverage, as I learned after the fact, only allowed $200 for riding gear - combined.

In essence, just think of everything that could be hurt on you, the bike, or someone else. Verify coverage on all of it - don't assume anything.