There are few things you’d enjoy less on that bike ride you’ve been working towards for months than being stranded in some foreign country, on a motorway, with a broken down motorcycle! However it is surprising how many people take a very passive approach to preparing for such situations! For instance, most motorcyclists I know, will just up and go one day without preparation or even proper packing, and if they break down somewhere, they get stuck. They’ll laugh it off if it happens to someone else, and mostly tend to get lucky during their trips. But if something does happen, personally I’d rather be sure that something can be done about it.

I wouldn’t want to rely on my linguistic skills in a foreign country, firstly trying to find a mechanic, and then trying to arrange for transport, furthermore trying to explain the problem. I’d much rather have these things sorted for me.

So for exactly that reason, when we went to France over the Easter Break on our Moto Guzzi California EV, we got some Breakdown Cover
before leaving, to cover our entire trip.

The process of signing up for European breakdown cover with the AA is fairly straightforward. You just get a quote on their website, and pay with your credit card. Then within moments you will (if you opted to) receive an SMS and an Email with the policy details and contact numbers in case of a breakdown.

We were very glad that during our entire trip nothing whatsoever went wrong with the bike, but just in case it was a good decision to get the cover beforehand.

However: if you’re serious about covering yourself against breakdowns in a foreign country, you should make sure that you opt for the level of support you would like. For instance, the basic breakdown cover can only do so much, if you have children with you, or other important obligations, it may make sense to get some extra level of cover added on to your policy.

And in case you need to travel abroad more than once a year, why not get annual cover and save some money on the premium as well…