December 2006 INSURANCE MR-06 2002-06 MOTORCYCLE Model Years COLLISION REPORT COPYRIGHTED DOCUMENT, DISTRIBUTION RESTRICTED ©2006 by the Highway Loss Data Institute. All rights reserved. Distribution of this report is restricted. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Possession of this publication does not confer the right to print, reprint, publish, copy, sell, file, or use this HIGHWAY LOSS report in any manner without the written permission of the copyright owner. DATA INSTITUTE COPYRIGHT NOTICE ©2006 by the Highway Loss Data Institute, 1005 N. Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22201. All rights reserved. Distribution of this report is restricted. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Possession of this publication does not confer the right to print, reprint, publish, copy, sell, file, or use this material in any manner without the written permission of the copyright owner. Permission is hereby granted to companies that are members of the Highway Loss Data Institute to reprint, copy, or otherwise use this material for their own business purposes, provided that the copyright notice is clearly visible on the material. BOARD OF DIRECTORS T P. Baum, Chairman, Nationwide T A.H. Gannon, Vice Chairman, United Services Automobile Association T R. Birchfield, AIG Agency Auto T H.L. Cohen, GEICO Indemnity Insurance Company T E. Connell, Erie Insurance Company T F.F. Cripe, Allstate Insurance Company T T.J. Ellefson, American Family Mutual Insurance Company T J. Feldmeier, Auto Club Group T D. Griffin, Property Casualty Insurers Association of America T S. Kelly, Progressive Insurance T A.R. Ledbetter, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company T S. Lin, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies T S. Miyao, California State Auto Association T T.G. Myers, High Point Insurance Group T D. Pickens, GMAC Insurance Group T B. Reddington, Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance T J.A. Rochman, American Insurance Association T L. Shepherd, Safeco T L. Stiles, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company T B. Tucker, Farmers Insurance Group of Companies T J. White, The Hartford T A. Lund, Highway Loss Data Institute The membership of the Highway Loss Data Institute Board of Directors represents insur- ance companies that supply data to HLDI. Financial support for HLDI is provided through the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which in turn is supported by auto- mobile insurers. CONTENTS Summary. 1 Introduction . 2 Best and Worst Motorcycle Collision Losses . 3 Table 1 Best Motorcycle Collision Losses, 2002-06 Model Years . 4 Table 2 Worst Motorcycle Collision Losses, 2002-06 Model Years . 5 Motorcycle Collision Losses by Class . 6 Table 3 Motorcycle Collision Losses by Model Year . 7 Figure 1 Relative Motorcycle Collision Claim Frequencies by Class, . 8 2002-06 Model Years Figure 2 Relative Motorcycle Collision Average Loss Payments . 9 per Claim by Class, 2002-06 Model Years Figure 3 Relative Motorcycle Collision Average Loss Payments . 9 per Insured Vehicle Year by Class, 2002-06 Model Years Motorcycle Collision Losses by Time Period. 10 Table 4 Motorcycle Collision Losses by Model Year and Calendar Year . 10 Motorcycle Collision Losses by Engine Displacement . 11 Figure 4 Motorcycle Collision Claim Frequencies by Class . 11 by Displacement Range, 2002-06 Model Years Figure 5 Motorcycle Collision Average Loss Payments . 12 per Claim by Class by Displacement Range, 2002-06 Model Years Figure 6 Motorcycle Collision Average Loss Payments . 12 per Insured Vehicle Year by Class by Displacement Range, 2002-06 Models Motorcycle Collision Losses . 13 Table 5 Motorcycle Collision Losses, 2002-06 Model Years . 14 Choppers . 16 Table 6 Motorcycle Collision Exposure By Age, 2002-06 Model Years . 16 Appendix A Complete Motorcycle Series Listing . 17 Appendix B Motorcycle Classes Defined . 28 SUMMARY This Highway Loss Data Institute report presents collision coverage insurance losses for motorcycles produced during model years 2002-06. Results are presented for all street legal motorcycle classes with at least 1,000 insured vehicle years of exposure or 100 claims. • The 2002-06 motorcycles combined had a collision claim frequency of 2.3 claims per 100 insured vehicle years and an average loss payment per claim of $5,298, resulting in a $124 average loss payment per insured vehicle year. • As a class, super sport motorcycles had the highest overall losses ($506 per insured vehi- cle year), almost four times higher than losses for touring motorcycles and more than six times higher than those for cruisers. • High overall collision losses are being driven by claim frequency, not severity. All of the motorcycles that appear on the highest overall losses list also appear on the highest claim frequencies list. None of the motorcycles that appear on the highest claim severities list appear on the list of motorcycles with the highest overall losses. The Harley Screaming Eagle Deuce, a 1,690 cubic centimeter (cc) cruiser, appears on the highest severity list. However, its claim frequency was so low that it also appears on the lowest frequency list. • Of the ten motorcycles with highest overall losses, nine were super sport motorcycles. The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, a 1,000 cc super sport motorcycle, had the highest overall losses of more than nine times the all-motorcycle result. The Suzuki Hayabusa, a 1,300 cc sport motorcycle, was the only sport motorcycle among those with the highest over- all losses, with losses more than four times the all-motorcycle result. • Eight of the ten motorcycles with the highest claim severities were Harleys. The Harley Screaming Eagle Electra Glide, a 1,690 cc touring motorcycle, had the highest claim severity of more than two times the all-motorcycle result. • Of the ten motorcycles with the lowest overall losses, four were scooters. The Honda Metropolitan, a 50 cc scooter, had overall losses that were 5 percent of the all-motorcy- cle result. • All of the motorcycles with the lowest claim severities had engine displacements at or below 500 cc. Five of the ten motorcycles with the lowest severities were scooters. © 2006 Highway Loss Data Institute 1 INTRODUCTION Collision coverage results for all street legal motorcycles produced in model years 2002- 06 form the basis of this Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) report. To provide informa- tion on as many motorcycles as possible, collision data for 2002-06 models are com- bined for those motorcycles with basic designs that remained unchanged during these model years. Some motorcycle versions are grouped into combined series. Combined series never include different engine displacements. These combined series are listed in Appendix A. Scooters also have been included in this report. It is important to note that some states do not require scooters to be registered if their engine displacements are 50 cubic cen- timeters (cc) or less. Results for all 2002-06 motorcycles are included in the overall totals and in the separate totals for class subgroups in the principal table (Table 5). Results are presented for individual motorcycles with at least 1,000 insured vehicle years of expo- sure or 100 claims. A total of 88 motorcycles met this reporting criterion. Loss results for choppers are included on page 16. Results for these motorcycles are not included in the all-motorcycle result set because the amount of data HLDI has for indi- vidual choppers is sparse. HLDI has collected coverage and loss data for off-road indi- vidual motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, and off-road utility vehicles, but results for these vehicles are not included in this report. Results are presented by motorcycle class. A detailed description of classes is contained in Appendix B and the HLDI Motorcycle Technical Appendix. This report is based on col- lision coverage and loss data supplied by 15 insurers: AIG, American Family, American National Property and Casualty, Auto Club Group, Automobile Insurers Bureau of Massachusetts, California State Automobile Association, Chubb, Erie, Farmers, GEICO, The Hartford, Liberty, Nationwide, State Farm, and Tennessee Farm Bureau. Coverage and losses from both standard and nonstandard risk are included. Unlike HLDI reports on passenger vehicles, results in this report have not been standardized for age or deductible. A table that shows age distribution by class has been included on page 16. 2 © 2006 Highway Loss Data Institute BEST AND WORST MOTORCYCLE COLLISION LOSSES Results for individual motorcycles are presented in relative terms, with the value 100 rep- resenting the result for all motorcycles combined. Table 1 lists the motorcycles with the lowest overall collision losses including scooters, dual purpose motorcycles, or cruisers. No standard, unclad sport, sport, or super sport motorcycles were among those with the lowest losses. The Honda Metropolitan, a 50 cc scooter, had the lowest overall losses, with losses just 5 percent of the all-motorcycle result. Engine displacements tended to be relatively small among the motorcycles with the lowest losses. The largest engine (750 cc) was found on the Honda Shadow Ace. Table 2 lists the motorcycles with the highest collision losses. Nine of the ten motorcy- cles with highest overall losses were in the super sport class. The Kawasaki Ninja ZX- 10R, a 1,000 cc super sport motorcycle, had the highest overall losses of more than nine times the all-motorcycle result. The Suzuki Hayabusa, a 1,300 cc sport class motorcycle, was the only sport motorcycle among those with the highest overall losses, with losses more than four times the all-motorcycle result. Five of the ten motorcycles with the high- est overall losses had engine displacements that were 1,000 cc or larger.