MOT test - what a joke that is!!
 

I had to take the bike for the MOT today. Not only was it raining really hard (sideways?!?) the MOT place is down a partially flooded countrylane. The bike had to go through water about 3 inches deep in places and with leaves everywhere the ride was an absolute slippery nightmare.

Anyway...

Its the first time I have ever taken anything for an MOT. I suppose I was expecting a rigourous examination and the poor bike be virtually taken apart. How wrong was I??

You'll have gathered from other messages that, unlike most of you guys, I know virtually nothing about bikes or mechanics. I can check the oil, lube the chain and that is about it...

I swear that even I could have done the MOT. It consisted of checking that the lights, horn and indicators work, trying to wobble the wheels a couple of times, bounce up and down on it and test the brakes on a rolling road that was at nothing more than walking pace. Oh.. and he wobbled the tax disc holder a few times. What was that all about? he didn't check the emissions or how loud the exhaust was.

That was it. That'll be £23.80 please sir.

The whole thing took perhaps 3 minutes?? Not bad money for three minutes work.

What a joke..

So.. I took my new MOT certificate and headed out into the monsoon rain for my lethal ride home...!

Was that a normal MOT??

Dunks

Hmmmm....well, most people would just be glad it passed :P

Seriously, it often doesn't look as if anything astounding is being done, but most MOT testers are pretty thorough. Too thorough most of the time, My ST "failed" the test because it had a loose petrol tank. The tester wouldn't undo the two allen bolts on the ignition surround to see for himself...

I had to borrow a couple of allen keys, take the ignition surround/tank pad off and the saddle to show him that the back of the tank has a damn great pin holding it on and front of the tank is held down by a rubber strap...it was only when he saw that it was built that way and just as Ducati intended that he gave me a ticket on the 'retest'

I have seen both ends of the scale, from 1 guy who took a look at the bike from 10 feet away and said 'looks fine, i really can't be arsed today'
to a thorough 30 minute inspection of my z900.

My last MOT was somewhere in between but still reasonably thorough.

Thats about it now you know how the greasy haired brigade
keep their crap on the road.

BFM in shipley (W.york) really p**sed me off at my last mot.
the bike (monster 600) failed because the headlight aim was a little low. most of you will know how the headlight brackets are constructed, and that you just need a little nodge on the headlight to adjust its aim.. well, they wanted to charge me £15 for the pleasure. i rode the bike back home (13miles), to adjust it myself, and book a retest (free within 24h).
retested the next day, and failed again(that's after i waited for 2hours in their car park) too high this time. their price had came down to £10 now, for readjusting it...i was so sick of it i cought up, but needless to say i will never set foot in that place again.

They dont make any money out of the MOT, quite the oposite. so they often try to cut their losses.

Enmissions and noise levels are not part of the bike MOT. As long as the can isnt stamped "not for road use" or is in the testers opinion "excessivly loud" then it'll be fine.

The rolling road might not be fast but its got a lot of torque which tries to turn the wheel against the brakes.

The guy who tested the Monster was a star. The tail lamp had blown and he replaced it for us free of charge.

Still waiting for a letter about mine becasue the frame number doesnt match the one in the log book!

For some places that might be normal MoT but it does seem a bit lax.
They should be checking tyres for tread and no cuts or bumps, fork bushes and seals, swinging arm bearings, wheel bearings and steering head bearings, that all the lights are operative and the headlight is aimed correctly, that there is a rear reflector, that the brakes are efficient (using a rolling road, spring balance or gradient), that the barking system is in good condition with no fluid leaks, that there are no leaks in the fuel system, that the seat and the tank are secure. Also that the bars do not affect the throttle when moved from lock to lock and that the riders hands can't get trapped. That the exhaust is in good condition with no leaks and is not excessively noisy. The exhaust no longer has to be BSi marked and there is no emissions test for bikes, as yet.
I've probably forgotten a few items but that's the most of it.

"that the barking system is in good condition "

My barking system is in excellent working order! ;)

I know we all want an easy life and a piece of paper, but I was rather surprised at how quickly the guy did it. The bike looks immaculate (even in the rain!) so maybe he was happy to just give it a quick once over....

Thats about it now you know how the greasy haired brigade
keep their crap on the road. [/quote]

call yourself a biker:puzzled:
go get a scooter:frog:

There used to be a Ye olde test station near us in Nar****,if you weren`t confident on your bike passing,say leaky forkseals,you would take it when it was raining,that way the old boy would come out and say"I aren`t buggering about in the ****ing rain,come inside and I`ll write you a ticket out boy" :o

bike mot's
had one guy look at the bike,ask if it was all ok
i said yes
he wrote out the ticket

another place told me to nip round the corner for a coffee for 20 mins which i did. came back mot was tucked behind the screen, bike ws exactly where i left it so was the key, on the side in the workshop.
if he even looked at the bike i'd be amazed.

Glyn.. that made me laugh out loud.. thanks for that! :lol:

For my last MOT the bike was only looked at so as for the tester to write down the necessary numbers :puzzled:

Ive heard of an MOT station around here that does certificates by post!:o

Although all MOT test stations should be the same as you know they are not. if i did a quick mot I would have more people complain than leave happy. You are paying for a service and if it isnt being done properly you should ask for a refund. You would complain if the bike came back half repaired wouldnt you...
Dont get me wrong, by the time I have got the bike from outside into the inspection bay i can pretty much tell if its a pass or a fail, But you are paying to have things checked to comply with the LAW and to ensure your safety, not just to get a peice of paper.
On the value for money point, Now we are computerised for MOTs it takes about an extra 10mins to the test, a good test should take circa 40mins.
If you feel you are getting a bum deal at an MOT testing station there are avenues for complaint. Its all on a big poster that must be displayed in the customer viewing area.
Glyn

You`ve got post where you live:lol::lol:

You`ve got post where you live:lol::lol: [/quote]

might be an idea to remember which stone you crawled from :rodent:

Back "home" in Derbyshire I used to take my bikes to the nearest MOT garage (shall remain unidentified) who always did a very professional job - so much so that one time I was most grateful for their diligence. They spotted a hairline crack on the gearbox cover on my Silk. Now this also housed the kickstart. This in itself was not an MOT failure, but, had the cover cracked in two I would have been left stranded on a ride miles from home awaiting hours for an AA rescue. I spoke to George Silk about this and he said that the aluminium covers were found to be weak at this point after approx 10k miles of use and did eventually crack under the force of the kickstart.


Now here in Switzerland the MOT for a bike is in the 4th year and is very meticulously carried out and costs nearly £80. However, there are not enough government stations to do it (yes ya local garage cannot do it) and so you have to wait until you get ya call up papers - in the meantime you are legally entitled to ride on. Next year my bike will be nearly 6yrs old so I think I'll get called up in spring sometime.

I know we all like an easy MOT but would you really want to ride around on a death trap.
I use the same MOT station all the time as ive got a few bikes he sees me quite often,it takes about 20 minutes and hes thorough the last time I took the T8 in he said there was play in the swining arm bearings on dismantling the bike I found the swinging arm had cracked right through on the spindle mount.
you could and would not have discovered it unless stripped down so Im very gratefull he knows his onions.
ian

the local missed head bearings and rh front wheel bearing!!!

The front gave out on a slow roundabout (luckily) with a grinding metal sound (300 miles from home on a Sunday with donington on wednesday) and the head bearings were spotted at a second mot a year later.
After replacing both, the bike had never handled better ;)

I've made a point of learning my bike inside out since - and which testers and mechanics to trust

Why all the complaints because they passed?

My local M.O.T. tester starts to write out the certificate when he hears me riding down the road towards his shop:D

His assistant once tried to fail the bike because of the termi's and the tester put his hands over the end of the cans and said ''sounds fine to me'' and as he gave me the certificate said '' will you do me a favour and give it some stick when you ride off, I just love those ducatis''

Thats what I call old fashioned service:D:D:D