Failed MOT on a Headlight - Help

[Gazz]

Bike went in for an MOT and failed because apparently it has a European headlight fitted to it and it is shining the wrong way...

I dont know how the bike managed to pass the last time it had an MOT if this was the case, but cest la vie.

Not too bothered to be honest though as this is a very small problem.

However, how could I sort the problem ?

I was thinking about turning the headlight upside down - would this work ?

Also, if that didnt work, would those deflector stickers you get for travelling in Europe, reverse the beam to UK spec?

Any other ideas? Because as far as I am aware all the headlights for these bikes are the same.


The guy who done the MOT also said that if I was able to remove some of the beam from going to the side (ie, making the light shine straight ahead) then this would pass.

But I dont know how to go about doing that.




And next question: how could I make sure I have the headlight pointing level before I take it back for the resit ?

[Kickstart]

Hi

Beam deflectors will work (as will a bit of masking tape in the right place).

What bike is it? Some models / markets have headlights that just dip down while others dip to one side. With these you will get a higher beam pointing at the curb while directly to the front it is low to avoid blinding people.

You can't just turn the headlight upside down.

There is a fair chance that the headlight bulb just isn't seated correctly (common on cars). Doesn't take the bulb to be far out of position for the beam to be all over the place.

All the best

Keith
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[MickC]

Some older bikes have a screw that can alter the direction of the headlight, European ones aim to the opposite sides from the UK (left and right hand driving). It could be easier, if time and dosh allow, to look on ebay or your local breakers for a UK spec one.
When i got mine mot'd a few months back, my headlight wasn't lined up right (had been riding 2 up with luggage) the tester just reset it to the correct point.
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[Martay]

Im with Keith on this one,

the headlight in my car failed last year because of the beam pattern being all skewy.
It was an internal fault with the bulb, a replacement bulb correctly aligned solved the problem. Might be worth trying a new bulb and checking its seated correctly as thats the cheap option
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[Gazz]

Got it sorted today.

Took it back to the garage and the guy said he wasnt going to retest it until it had a new headlight on it.

He was a very, very cheeky cunt and being a dick about the whole situation, despote me telling him that I had altered the light pattern.

Eventually he told me to go away and don't bother bringing the bike back to him with the same light again.





So took it to another MOT centre; for a second opinion, they confirmed that the light was still out very slightly (after my adjustments) and he put a bit of black tape over a small section of the headlight, and the light was sorted.

So big shout out to Stewarts Motor Engineers in Carfin.

[Pete.]

You'll get that with some MOT stations. I had a fail for a buckled wheel many years ago then I showed my dad and he put a dial gauge on it which showed it was well within the limit (about half actually). I took it back to the MOT place along with the gauge and he passed it. When I challenged him he just said 'I don't have a dial gauge'.
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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

[boundy]

When I MOTed my KTM a few months back, I turned up to collect it to find some tape over the headlight, he gave me a fail sheet for euro spec headlight and then handed me the pass sheet with an advisory for 'headlamp covers / masks fitted at time of test'

There was no retest fee but he did charge me a £5 ' for the trouble' of tapping it up

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

Just take a roll of gaffa tape with you.

My local place is cool, they just applied the tape for me.
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[Noxious89123]

Seems alot of people have crappy headlight aim.
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