As the former owner of 1-888-BIKETOW in southern CommieFornia, I suggest this above all else:
and EVERYONE should do this!
Make a copy of your bike's registration and ownership certificate (pink slip) and give it to your wife, brother, father, a trusted friend, etc., whoever will be responsible for bailing your bike out of impound when you cannot. (hereafter referred to as PIC - Person In Charge)
If you have the time, add the name of the PIC who will be pulling your bike out of impound to the registration as "additional registered owner as you "OR" him, not you "AND" him so they can independently claim the bike without your presence or signature. The tow yard will NOT release your bike to your father, wife or brother-in-law or "best friend" based solely on that person's word that "you are "...okay with it." Not if they are legit and follow the law.
Otherwise, a NOTARIZED letter stating that this PIC(s) is/are authorized to claim your bike on your behalf will be needed by the tow yard. Add a valid Power of Attorney sheet to the mix to dispel any concerns of the tow yard.
If you are in an accident, and you are not able to bail your bike out of an impound yard the next day, or for several days or weeks, you will have to get a friend to go get your bike out of impound for you, because the impound charges add up QUICKLY. Very soon, it will cost more to bail the bike out, than the bike is worth. No, you cannot call the tow yard from your hospital room and give permission, unless that tow yard guy KNOWS your voice.
I cannot tell you how many times I had to meet a rider at the impound gate, while he was seated in a wheelchair and wrapped in bloody bandages, because the tow yard's policy is to ONLY release the bike to the owner. Friends have actually pulled guys out of hospital rooms temporarily, just to claim bikes! Of course, I am talking about Commiefornia. Perhaps the rules in other states are more relaxed.
NOTE: The impound yards will NOT release a bike to anyone except the registered owner UNLESS the person claiming the bike has a copy of the registration IN HAND, and his/her name is ON the registration. "Let me go get it off of the bike..." does NOT work. They will not let the PIC near the bike until he can prove he already has the authority to approach the bike, and a copy of the registration in his hand.
Also, make sure the PIC has a copy of ALL of your keys, for the ignition, helmet lock, luggage, disk lock, etc. Also your garage and home, and any alarm codes and passwords he/she may require to put the bike into your garage. Did I mention that this should be a TRUSTWORTHY friend? :biggrin:
Give the PIC the name of your insurance company, and policy number, and agent, and call the agent to identify the PIC prior to your tour. The agent can issue a check for a large impound fee which can be picked up at a local office, or wired directly to the impound yard, or overnighted to the PIC, or wired into the PIC's account by prior arrangement.
I have had several customers who lost bikes to Lien Sales because they could not get their bikes out of impound in time, due to being laid up in a hospital for extended times. Sometimes I would show up at the hospital with a Notary, just to get the needed paperwork.
Also, if you had anything valuable on your bike (iPad, GPS, Camera, etc.) give a list of those items with serial numbers to the PIC so they can be sure to ask for them when they recover the bike. There is NO guarantee that personal items will be recovered. They may have been taken by someone in the yard or by a tow yard employee, or left on the side of the road at the accident scene. The tow yard is not responsible for anything that fell off of the bike in the accident, or during the tow.
The last thing to know: Cash is KING. Most tow yards will not accept personal checks or credit cards to bail out a bike. Some will, after tacking on an additional "Non-Cash Transaction" charge. Once a tow yard releases a bike and it is outside of the gate, the tow yard has no recourse for collecting towing and storage fees. This is why they seem so "mean" when you deal with them. They normally won't even let you "just see it" until you prove you are a PIC, because many people decide the bike is worth LESS than the impound fees and decide not to claim the bike at all. Then the tow yard is stuck with a worthless wreck that no one will bail out and a towing and storage bill that no one will pay.
They don't want the bike out of their custody until they know they have been paid.
