Motorcycle Insurance

California requires motorcycle liability coverage to ride on a public road, and Vehicle Code section 16028 requires proof on demand. If you store the bike for part of the year, talk to us before cancelling anything, because the DMV requires continuous financial responsibility or a planned non-operation filing. Lane splitting is legal in California under Vehicle Code section 21658.1, which puts riders beside drivers with low or no limits and makes uninsured motorist coverage the part of the policy to read first.

Who needs it? Street riders, cruiser and touring owners, daily commuters, and returning riders getting back on two wheels. If you have added aftermarket parts, custom paint, or upgraded exhaust, the value of those extras sits under a sublimit until they are scheduled.

What insurance does California require for a motorcycle?

The same liability minimums as a car. For any policy issued or renewed on or after 1 January 2025, Vehicle Code section 16056 requires $30,000 for injury to one person, $60,000 for all persons in one accident and $15,000 for property damage. On 1 January 2035 those rise to $50,000, $100,000 and $25,000. A motorcycle is a motor vehicle under section 400, so section 16020 requires the owner and rider to be able to establish financial responsibility at all times. Section 16028 requires proof on demand from an officer, at a citation, or at a crash scene. The fine for having none is $100 to $200 for a first offense under section 16029, before court assessments. A crash without insurance brings a one-year license suspension under sections 16070 and 16072. The DMV suspends a registration it receives no proof for and requires evidence at every renewal under section 4000.37. The minimums are a floor, not a recommendation.

Do I need an M1 license to ride in California, and what is an M2?

Yes. Vehicle Code section 12500 bars riding a motorcycle on a highway without a license or endorsement for that class, and section 12804.9 defines Class M1 as any two-wheel motorcycle or motor-driven cycle. Class M2 covers only mopeds, motorized bicycles and bicycles with an attached motor. A rider under 21 cannot be issued either license without completing the California Motorcyclist Safety Program, the CHP’s 15-hour course. Under section 12509.5 that rider must also hold the instruction permit for six months first, with no night riding, no freeways and no passengers on the permit. Riders 21 and over may take the DMV riding test or submit the course certificate, which waives the skills test but not the written one. An underwriter asks for the license class and the date first licensed, and treats an unlicensed rider as an uninsurable one.

Is lane splitting legal in California, and does it affect a claim?

Legal, and it can still affect a claim. Vehicle Code section 21658.1, in force since 1 January 2017, defines lane splitting as riding a two-wheel motorcycle between rows of stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane. It directs the CHP to publish safety guidelines. The CHP’s guidance says danger rises with speed and with the speed difference from surrounding traffic, and that splitting between the far left lanes is safer. Riding on the shoulder is not lane splitting and is illegal. The guidance also reminds drivers that blocking a motorcyclist or opening a door into one is unlawful. Fault in California is comparative under Civil Code section 1714 and Li v. Yellow Cab (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804. How a rider was splitting can therefore be argued as a share of fault that reduces a bodily injury recovery, but it does not void coverage. What lane splitting does do is put the rider next to drivers with low or no limits. That is the plain reason the uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage below matters more on a bike than in a car.

What does California’s helmet law require, and can riding without one reduce my claim?

Vehicle Code section 27803 requires the rider and any passenger to wear a properly fastened helmet that meets the federal standard, on every motorcycle, motor-driven cycle and motorized bicycle on a highway. The only exemption is a fully enclosed three-wheeler at least seven feet long and 900 pounds. The standard is FMVSS No. 218, and a compliant helmet carries the DOT, FMVSS No. 218, CERTIFIED label on its rear. The Office of Traffic Safety counted 583 motorcyclist deaths in California in 2023, 33 of them riders without helmets. There is no statute that discounts a claim for a missing helmet. A helmet violation can be argued as comparative fault for a head injury, and a jury assigns the percentage.

What is uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and does it have to be offered?

It is the coverage that pays you when the driver who hit you has no insurance or too little. Insurance Code section 11580.2 requires every motor vehicle liability policy in California to include it unless the named insured deletes it by a signed written waiver. Uninsured motorist bodily injury must be offered at limits equal to your liability limits. Underinsured motorist coverage responds when the at-fault driver’s limits are lower than your uninsured limits. Uninsured motorist property damage is capped at $3,500 and pays only when the uninsured driver is identified. Medical payments coverage pays your own and a passenger’s medical bills regardless of fault. On a motorcycle the rider is the one who gets hurt, so these three parts do more work than the liability section does.

Does my auto policy cover my motorcycle?

No. A personal auto policy insures the vehicles listed on it and newly acquired vehicles of the same types, and a two-wheel motorcycle is not one of those types unless a policy specifically adds it. Financial responsibility is per vehicle under sections 16020 and 4000.37, and the DMV suspends the registration of the specific vehicle it receives no proof for. A motorcycle is written on its own policy, with its own liability, physical damage, uninsured motorist and medical payments parts. Our auto insurance page covers the car; the two policies can sit with one insurer and one renewal date, which is worth asking about.

What about custom parts, accessories and riding gear?

Collision and comprehensive pay on the motorcycle itself: collision for contact with another vehicle or object, comprehensive for fire, theft, vandalism and weather. Custom parts and equipment, meaning exhaust, paint, bags, seats and electronics added after the factory, are commonly subject to a separate sublimit unless they are scheduled with values. Riding gear such as a helmet, jacket and boots is commonly a separate optional item. Valuation is the second question. Actual cash value pays the depreciated value at the time of loss, and agreed value fixes the amount at the start of the term, which is the form a customized or older bike needs. Keep receipts and photographs of every modification; they set the schedule and prove the claim.

Are my passengers covered?

Partly by law and partly by the form. A passenger hurt by the rider’s negligence is a third party who can claim against the rider, and the section 16056 limits are per person and per accident. Whether the rider’s own policy pays that claim depends on its guest passenger wording, because some motorcycle policies exclude or limit passenger liability unless it is added. Ask whether guest passenger liability is on the quote. Medical payments coverage pays a passenger’s medical bills regardless of fault, and uninsured motorist coverage can extend to a passenger on the insured bike. The helmet law applies to the passenger as well as the rider, and a permit holder may not carry one at all.

Does motorcycle insurance cover off-road riding, track days or racing?

Street motorcycle policies commonly exclude loss while the bike is used in any organized race, speed contest, timed event or practice for one. Some exclude untimed track days as well, so read the exclusion before booking. Off-road is a different vehicle class. Under Vehicle Code section 38012 a dirt bike ridden only off the highway is an off-highway motor vehicle. It carries a green or red identification plate under section 38010 rather than street registration, and it belongs on an off-road or powersports policy. A dual-sport with street registration is a motorcycle. The financial responsibility law applies to riding on a highway, so the state sets no liability mandate for private land or OHV areas, but park rules and landowners can still require it.

How do you get a motorcycle quote from us, and what about storage and theft?

Start a personal insurance quote and tell us the year, make, model and engine size, the VIN, and whether the bike is street registered or carries an OHV plate. Add each rider’s license class and date first licensed, any safety course certificate, riding history and annual mileage. Then the modifications with values, where the bike is garaged, and whether you carry passengers or ride track. Theft is the reason comprehensive matters. The CHP’s 2025 theft report counts 6,341 motorcycles stolen in California and only 62.6 percent recovered, against 92.5 percent of cars, with most thefts in Los Angeles County. If you store the bike for part of the year, talk to us before cancelling anything. The DMV requires continuous financial responsibility or a planned non-operation filing on a registered vehicle, and some policies can reduce coverage during storage while keeping theft and fire. Some riders we can write directly and quickly. Others go to underwriting for approval, and those take longer. Either way you know before you decide.

Statutory figures current as of September 2026 and specific to California; the theft figures are the CHP’s 2025 report and the fatality figures the Office of Traffic Safety’s 2023 data. Policy descriptions are general; the form controls.

Motorcycle liability follows the same 30/60/15 floor as the auto liability policy, and riders who also own a dirt bike or ATV can compare powersports coverage. The wider program is on our personal insurance page.