I know it's been said a thousand times or more, but don't ever just accept your insurance renewal quote without checking the competition!
My insurance is due in a couple of weeks and I hadn't even opened the letter from Motorcycle Direct when I got a phone call from them. The cost had increased by over 50% despite the Gen1, and me, being a year older and no claims or convictions for another year. All they would say was "London postcode and no garage, it's the best we can do".
A check on Compare the Meerkat revealed not only that I could get a better deal from plenty of other companies, but that I could get a better deal from THEM as a new customer, rather than renewing!
I've saved nearly £200 by changing to Bennetts, who I always thought were expensive, and phoned Motorcycle Direct to tell them they'd lost my business. To be fair, the woman I spoke to tried to get their underwriters to see why there was such a difference, but it seems to me that they just aren't trying very hard to keep business.
With all the comparison sites around, there's no excuse for not checking out your options, and, if everyone does it, we may see brokers actually doing some work to find us the best deals. My grandson also gets a meerkat toy, so that's a result too!