Riding a balls to the wall sportbike, like this Ducati 1198S may be good for a hell of a great time, but it probably won't get you any love from your insurance agent.

If you ride a motorcycle, it’s probably one of the great joys of your life. What’s probably not so joyous though, are the insurance premiums you have to pay. This is especially true if you’re riding a new Harley or maxed out sport bike.

Risk Factors Considered By Insurance Companies -
What You Ride – Just as with cars, the price of your insurance is heavily influenced by the cost of your bike and it’s speed potential. A brand new Ducati Superbike 1198 S Corse Special Edition is going to set you back far more for insurance than would a Kawasaki 500 Vulcan. The Duck is far more expensive to purchase, and has much greater speed potential. In addition, the person who buys a sportbike is basically stating their intention to push the limit at least once in a while. That all ads up to more risk in the eyes of the insurance company.

Some other factors that can affect the cost of your insurance include many of the same things that will cause you to pay more for car insurance. These include:

Age – Fair or not, old fogeys tend to skate on insurance premiums. Most older folks are more risk averse than younger people, and risk aversion is sweet music to an insurance company’s ears.

Address – Your zip code says a lot about you and your neighbors, both of which influence the risk that both your bike and your insurance provider will be exposed to. Your neighborhood and it’s inhabitants can ignore your bike or make it disappear one night. Theft risk is definitely factored in when actuaries do their work.

Parking in a garage at night can get you cheaper insurance than leaving your bike parked on the street, especially in a neighborhood that you wouldn’t really want to hang around in at night. The same holds true with where you park if you ride it to work, and the route you take to get there and back each day.

Getting Cheaper Insurance -
Here are some ways that can get you cheaper insurance for your motorcycle. If you’re planning on moving anytime soon, pick a location that is looked upon favorably by your insurance company. Speaking of your insurance company, check others besides the one you already have. Some providers give you a much better deal on insuring motorcycles than others. They evaluate the risk factors and set pricing differently, so it can really pay off to shop around.

Manually checking the myriad insurance providers can me a tedious process, to say the least. Thankfully, modern technology has found a great answer to make things much easier. Due to the power of the Internet, you can easily get quotes from a large variety of different insurance companies and find the one with the cheapest quote for your particular bike and situation. One of the leading such services on the Internet is Insureme.com. Check them out now – Click here to get a fast, free motorcycle insurance quote.

If you’re planning on buying a new ride, ask an agent before you choose a bike. Often a small difference in motorcycle can make a comparatively large difference in what you’ll pay each month.

Put an alarm on your bike and always keep it locked up. Most companies will offer you discounts for theft prevention measures.

Completing special rider classes can often cut your insurance premiums. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been riding since you bought that Indian back from the war, either. If your company offers a discount for completing a rider safety class, take the class. Who knows, you might meet someone else in the same boat who you can ride with.

Make sure that you are only insuring the amount that you need and that you keep your deductible high. As with other vehicles, both of these strategies can really help  lower your insurance rates.

Following these simple guidelines can get you cheap motorcycle insurance, but in order to get it, you have to actually do something. Discover how low your rates can be by checking dozens of top insurance companies with the simple click of a mouse here