Changes to the MOT

[sniff6]

apparently their looking at removing the MOT test for bike's over 30 years old

https://www.dft.gov.uk/classic-mot/motorbikes/

Some good news there.If this this is a re post my apologies.
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'Great Britain' Love it https://img43.imageshack.us/img43/3967/67004290.gif or Leave it

[Rogerborg]

Biking News or General Bike Chat, chap.
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[N cee thirty]

epic, save alot of work getting a shitter road legal
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

Jewlio Iglesias wrote: I actually did vote BNP once

[sniff6]

Does it mean we wont have to worry about the [s]emissions[/s] smoke (i meant) on a 70,s 2 stroke ???
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'Great Britain' Love it https://img43.imageshack.us/img43/3967/67004290.gif or Leave it

[N cee thirty]

[Rogerborg]

No emissions test on bikes, no plans for one that I'm aware of.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[mentalboy]

Whilst I agree with the scrapping of the MOT requirement for older vehicles I do believe that there should be some kind of roadworthiness test for older vehicles, so that they at least meet standards close to when they were manufactured.
30 years may seem a lot to some but (by the time they get the legislation sorted) we could be looking at Escorts, Sierras, Cavaliers, etc being dug out of farmers fields and put back on the roads despite the fact that they may be little more than rolling scrap

Edit: Sorry this is a bike forum, my bad! I meant CB250 wet dream's, etc
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Make mine a Corona.

[MC]

Hmm... kinda torn on this. On the one hand it would help the chav pikey scum you see getting stopped in £50 cars on police camera interceptor wars, but they don't normally bother with MOT, insurance anyway.

However if someone's had a ford escort for 30 years, they've probably suffered enough, so should be helped keeping it on the road
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Yamaha MT-03 '08 (crashed)
Honda XR-125L '04

[Pete.]

Some 30 yr old bikes do 150mph and have steel cradle frames which can rust out. My dad had a brake torque arm snap on his GS850 where it has rusted through under the paint.

Also some people who fancy themselves as restorers/mechanics should never be allowed to wield a spanner and need their work checking-over, more so with older bikes where new parts aren't available so used parts must be renovated or judgement calls made on their condition or suitability.

Maybe they could do something based on annual/bi-annual mileage so that any bike in common use as transport needs a MOT but show-pieces that only do a few miles a year do not?

I definitely don't think that any club or private individual should have any power of decision over individual bikes' status.
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a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[WD Forte]

Whoo Hoo !
Thats me sorted.
Now if they can just do similar with road tax
for these 'classics'

Classic:
noun:
a work of art of recognized and established value.

adjective:
judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind.

MCN/Ebay/Autotrader:
Overpriced old shite
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bikers smell of wee

[Rogerborg]

[PT1989]

I'm in 2 minds over this..

I own 3 bikes older than 30 years old, so was initially pleased with this. But it has it's problems.

There will be a lot more absolute sheds on the road, which gives the rest of us a bad name, and more importantly will inevitably bump up insurance premiums on older bikes. For example, my Kwak GT550 in its current state has a bald front tyre, one leaky fork seal, a disc brake dripping with fork oil, left side indicators aren't working, and I'm pretty sure the wheels have been aligned using a banana. However, it runs, and it will ride if you want it to, and I suspect if it hadn't failed it's MOT then it'd still be being ridden around with duct tape on the fork, and not sat in my garage on the ever growing "to-do list"

I know what you're thinking, "the bike legally still has to be roadworthy" and this is true, but we all know there are people who will ignore this and ride bikes like this around. Unfortunately, we aren't the only ones that know this, the police are also quite aware, and so I would expect to be stopped fairly regularly and the bike being looked over at the side of the road quite often.

And even if you've kept your bike in pristine condition, and they can't find a fault with the bike, and they send you off, you're not getting that time back, how many times does this need to happen before you start looking at the car as the quicker way of getting to work?

Also, I've got a B Reg Honda CM125, which would qualify. At the moment, if I'm riding it on a regular basis then I will get stopped for not displaying L plates at least once a week (the fact that I have the build of a 12 year old girl probably doesn't help) to the point where last week I knew I was going to be going through several hotspots, and wouldn't have much time, so I've put L plates back on it! And shamefully I think they're still on there now thinking about it. So knowing that, if this comes in, what are my chances of actually getting anywhere, riding an MOT exempt, old 125 without L plates?
Edit: just to clarify i do have a license, which is why I shouldn't have to have L-plates! The 125 is because I am the worst at managing money, and if I chuck 15 quid in the tank it will still be going at the end of the month, 2 weeks after my money runs out!

TLDR; if this happens, I suspect bikes older than 30 years will be subject to big insurance premiums & regular police checks. Negating any money/time saved by not having to MOT it.

[Rogerborg]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Personally I am in favour of it.

Mechanical failure is a very rare cause of accidents, and most that do happen will be tyres being worn out. For tyres a yearly MOT check is completely inadequate so not really a loss.

While there are occasional issues which are difficult to spot I am not sure that these would be spotted in an MOT anyway.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[PT1989]

[jowettdriver]

As someone who owns classic bikes and cars I have to say I find this all daft. Any vehicle that is used on the public highway should have some kind of check that is roadworthy.

There was nothing wrong with the old system, I used to take my 1926 Jowett in for its MOT, and a very basic check of its road worthiness was performed, most of the MOT didn't apply to it but for those that have no mechanical sense it at least meant that once a year someone got underneath and checked the brake rods weren't about to fall off.

When I get my 1950 Jowett Javelin out in the spring I spend a day checking it over. For instance I remove the drums and check that nothing is sticking in the hydraulics, there almost always is. I wonder how many others will bother? Next spring I will also take it and put it on my MOT testers rolling road to ensure the brake balance is correct.

Although 60 plus years old during the summer months I put several thousand miles on the Javelin and I'm sure I'm not the only one, surely there should be some kind of simple road worthiness check.

Cheers Tim.
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Bikes: 1980 Honda CX500, 2003 Honda CB250, 1980 Honda CG125

[jowettdriver]

[Rogerborg]

Same thing that happens when you take any non-roadworthy vehicle on the road, I expect, declaration or otherwise.

I'll highlight again that my last MOT (the Enfield) was genuinely done and dusted in 5 minutes. Beep, flash (fixed an indicator short on the way there), brakes, bounce, off you go. Can't fault their, uh, efficiency, but was it really worth it? They essentially tested that it was capable of getting there to be tested.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[mentalboy]

[thx1138]

[Rogerborg]

[mentalboy]

[map]

[Vracktal]

Hoping the MOT really is as easy as 'Borg makes out, the KLE is going in for it today (22 years old).

And yes, in reality all this is doing is bringing motorbike MOT requirements in line with MOT (and tax) requirements for classic cars. The argument being if a car or bike makes it to 30 years old it's either going to be pristine or a complete shed, the pristine ones will be garaged on a battery feed 99% of the time and the sheds will eventually break down for good and be scrapped/restored properly anyway.

As well as this, since last year the road tax for vehicles over 40 years old changed to a rolling basis instead of a fixed point so the two rules compliment each other (which is great for me because now my 1975 Norton project falls inside the window for the elusive 'nil' tax disc )

Does make finding a nice classic all the more appealing too, which of course is the point. Government actually getting something right for a change!
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2007 BMW R1200R: On road
2009 BMW G650X Challenge: On road
1975 Norton Commando 850: Off road, awaiting recommissioning

[Rogerborg]