Without prejudice
While I write this, to say that kicking myself in the shins is an understatement. However, for the entire biking community some things that I learned the hard way, I thought it would be a good idea to share. If this is a post a tad too long which generally happens when I start "posting", my apologies. Also, my grammar could be a little wary because of the medicine course I am under, apologies for that too

A little over a decade ago, while I was in college, did I dare dream that one fine day I'll get myself a saddle from the house of Harley Davidson. Just out of the cusp of your teen, you dream about such things, and with that I began to make the journey. 10 years, 4 jobs and an sort of an MBA degree later, I thought I had made it and this is year 2014 at Hyderabad. Harley had come to India a few years ago, gone with the CKD route, prices of the bikes were falling and every city, be it Ludhiana, Delhi, Mumbai, even Hyderabad that I went to were having roads shows everywhere. In the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo, I thought Harley had the "coolest" stalls. Loads of customization, rock music, and truckloads of well deserved attitude.
So, at the beginning of the 4th job, I was making decently well and while my Education loan EMI was taking a significant chunk out, I did not really see any reason why I could not buy an 8 lakh bike. Some initial hiccups later, just a week before my birthday, I decided to gift myself a Denim Black Iron 883. It felt like everything had fallen in place. I had saved just the right amount, I got just the right amount of loan and voila ... 4-5 days later I was riding "my" bike away.
Life was different after that, the machine was intimidating and it clearly demanding respect. I got asked, like any other, questions such as how much it is for? how much does it "give"? and that occasional rev on the side from a Vin Diesel wannabe on a traffic signal. I ignored them all.

It is here that the learnings began. The bike that I had got had temporary registration, which was valid for a month. I was so used to seeing vehicles permanently registered from the dealer (UP, Maharashtra, etc. require that) that i realized it a little late that it was I who had to get it done. The agent's number provided by the dealership, he wouldn't turn up even after multiple calls. I tried another one and same result. While I was drowning with work, I didn't realize that unlike UP, RTA offices in Hyderabad stay open on a Saturday and Sunday. So while I was deciding the "weekday" when I should go to the RTA, I did not know that I could go during weekends as well. The workload also meant that even after being a HOG, I was always too tired to go to those awesome Sunday rides. So I was caught in a vicious circle of work life balance.

Time kept passing by and so passed the validity of my temporary registration. I used to carry papers just in case while commuting. I also came to know that you could actually reserve a certain number via a bidding process which only happens at the Attapur RTA. This was a revenue generator for the Telangana RTA it seems but the flip side is that you can only apply to bid for the number that you want if it is in the list of 1000 numbers released everyday by the RTA on its website. So, the combination of the number that I wanted and a Saturday never worked out until 10 months after the purchase of the bike which was October 2015.

After following the number list like a hawk and all process sorted for Saturday, I was returning late from the office at 3 AM in the night on the Friday Saturday intervening night after a really long day at work. And just as luck (or Murphy, whichever you want to prefer) would have it, I lost control of my bike, hit the divider and passed out. I woke up about 4 hours later in an ICU with a clot in my brain, fractured face bone and a fractured shoulder (yea, I was wearing my helmet and protective gear). My friends who brought me in said the first thing I had asked after I came to senses was what had happened to the bike. About 12 days later, post a reconstruction surgery and a lot of "interesting conversations" with my mother I got discharged with some pretty strong medicine for my brain (Eptoin, for people who would want to google) and I was taken back to my hometown by my family. It wasn't until another 2 weeks later that I got in a position to register the claim for my bike to Bajaj Allianz.

And then began the hell hole. Bajaj Allianz found that my bike had a expired temporary registration so they decided they would not honor the claim. The service center guys gave a quote of 6.7 lakhs (which almost 80% of the on road price of the bike) with zero repair and 100% replacement. The discussions with Bajaj Allianz went into a limbo. I kept reaching out to Bajaj Allianz's customer service telling them the temporary registration expiry (or Section 39 and Section 43 of the Motor Vehicle Act) are not part of the terms and conditions in the policy and if it was so fundamental why didn't they just cancel my policy after a month. I received no response on that line, only registered letters asking why I did not get the vehicle registered superscribed with the phrase "without prejudice". Apparently, this phrase is used in such negotiations multiple times by legal teams for corporates because it implies all these letters would become inadmissible as evidence in court in case you want to go legal (which hopefully you may have noticed is with what I started this post with). I raised the complaint with IRDA and Bajaj almost wake up from its slumber and sent me a letter saying my claim had been denied. Right now, I don't even know what "being insured" means

So I am now involved in
1) A bitter battle with Bajaj Allianz to get my due claim. I am actually glad that I did not take life or medical insurance from them. However, if I have to go legal I will.
2) Identify why in hell are the "repair" costs of my bike so high. I saw it, and she's pretty banged up but nowhere that I need to spend 6.7 lakhs to get her up and moving.
3) Identifying a body shop in Hyderabad which can do the repair work to fix the bike and hopefully find cheaper parts than the quote provided by the authorized service centre

In a summary here are my learnings from this incidents, especially important for first time buyers
1) States have different registration laws, some require the dealer to give a you a permanent registration before you take your vehicle out. The others, like Telangana, does not. Please check with the dealer before buying the vehicle. If you can, lose that love for that special number and get that vehicle damn registered. These are costly vehicles and I am sure if you negotiate a little hard the dealer will do it for you. Wait until you get a permanent registration before you get that beloved out of the showroom. If you have a legal might with you then great, take your chances.
2) The Supreme Court is divided on whether the insurance companies can use the Motor Vehicle Act for their benefit or not. A judgment in 2013 says they cannot, a judgment in 2014 says they can.
3) Take the insurance company sales pitch with a pinch of salt. Do not assume that the policy is the sole document that will be used in the validity of the claim. I am pretty sure if the claim is big, they will find an obscure clause in the Motor Vehicle Act to reject your claim. I would go by the one who is less desperate in the pitch
4) Dealers are not of much help in case of disagreement between insurance company and you. They will brush their hands off in case you run into a problem. After all to run business they need that insurance company without which they will not be able to sell the vehicle. Once its sold, you as a customer is just a number check in their revenue targets, done and dusted. Since, you are unlikely to be a repeat customer, the only way they can make more money out of you is through exorbitant "repair" bills
5) While the choice is yours, do not go with Bajaj Allianz. HDFC Chubb and ICICI Prudential look way better. Bajaj will lure you in with promised of covering electrical and other jazz, do not fall for it. My research on judgments has led me to believe that ICICI Prudential is more sensible when rejecting claims and while there always be grays, Bajaj Allianz has come across to be absolutely ridiculous in customer service.
6) Insurance is regulated by IRDA and they are of help, they aren't really authorized to penalize the insurance companies like RBI is allowed to do with banks. IRDA has the power to revoke a license but it is unlikely that one case will do it. You should check out their complaint system at http://www.policyholder.gov.in/The_Process.aspx. It is pretty informative
7) Parts availability with Harley is a big problem and they don't have the ability to repair the vehicle either. Before investing in any premium bike, I think it may be a good idea to check the capability of the workshop as well. I smell Ducati's problems but I sincerely hope I am wrong. The HOG membership is 7k a year and they didn't even send me the package the entire year
8) Moving vehicles across state, while a problem, means you will have to pay state taxes. They are the lowest in Delhi and the laws also require that they deliver the vehicle to you with complete documentation. You can apply for a refund to Delhi RTA if you move to any other state, as long as you pay the state tax in which you are holding the vehicle. Seems a much easier job than juggling around the laws which are dicey
9) While at temporary registration, do not take the vehicle outside city limits, apparently it is prohibited as per law. An accident met outside city limits will leave you out of insurance coverage.

To all the experience forum members, a request for help
1) Reference to a lawyer who can help me build me a case against Bajaj Allianz
2) Reference of good body shops in Hyderabad where you have had good experience

Hope this is of help