should pillion pegs fold for mot

[salem1987]

Another question..

Should the pillion pegs fold for mot or would fixed ones be ok?

Not carrying passengers and the mounting is damaged, but i do have some fixed pegs from some rearsets, which would drill and bolt in nicely.

(it already failed MOT for not having them fitted)

[stinkwheel]

I've had a bike pass an MOT with two M8 spout bolts with a bit of hosepipe over them for pillion pegs.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[salem1987]

haha wow. ok that answers that one swiftly then.

cheers.

[recman]

I took my pillions off when I bought my bike, passed 5 MOTs.

[Polarbear]

I suppose if a double seat is fitted, pillion footpegs should be too although I know my MOT man doesn't worry about it.

As long as they are secure it should be fine.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Beehive Bedlam]

Short answer it depends where you go and what mood the tester is in.

For example my Fazer has passed 3 years in a row with seized pillion pegs but this time they apparently had to move freely and were a legal requirement if your bike can carry two people.

[mentalboy]

[Evil Hans]

Rear footrests are only required if there is a pillion seat.

Footrests must be present and secure.

There is nothing else in the MOT manual that stipulates what constitutes a a footrest.
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Triumph Sprint ST 1050. And it's Red.

[stinkwheel]

Interestingly, there is no requirement for a seat. You can MOT a bike with no seat (look at trials bikes).

So one potential way round a fail for no pillion pegs would be to immediately re-present the bike for the MOT with the seat removed. You only need pillion pegs if there is a pillion seat fitted and there is no requirement for a riders seat to be fitted at all.

You may well be told to fuck-off if you try it mind. I reckon my local MOT guy would think it an hilareous workaround given that he's loaned me a carrier bag to tape over my headlight before today when it wasn't working.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[fatjames]

I like Stinkwheel's answer. Another could be to strap a backpack to the back half of the seat. What pillion seat?

[stinkwheel]

Well, my VFR was supplied with a flimsy plastic cowl that sits over the pillion seat to make it a "solo" saddle. So how substantial does a pillion seat cover need to be to render it not a seat any more?
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Courier265]

[Shaft]

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

My pillion pegs were left off and I got a finger wag because the bike had a pillion seat.
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[stinkwheel]

[Teflon-Mike]

Define 'Seat'... now define a 'duel-seat'

Many comp-trials bikes have nothing that looks like a seat..... my arse certainly thinks so! All they have is a gap between the petrol tank and rear mudguard... you 'might' sit on. In use you don't, you stand up, on the foot-pegs the whole time.

Look at a road-race bike... much the same deal; they have a gap twixt tank and tail/mudguard/hump whatever you wish to call it, you might sit on.... oft given, like a trials bike, a thin bit of rubber matting to aid grip and maybe some notional anal-cushioning..... but, not always... many just have a recessed M8 bolt holding on the plastic!

In either case, the vehicle meets C&U regs, so any MOT man who gets arsey about it... without having to actually sit on it! Is being just that, arsey... Neither C&U regs nor MOT req's as far as I know, actually say what a seat 'should' be... other than a space a rider or passenger 'may' park their bum......

What IS defined (or used to be!) in both C&U and MOT req's is a 'pillion strap' over the seat!... If there's a strap, then that defines a space for the pillion, and provides a hand-hold for them... so its definitely a duel seat, and the strap, like a passenger grab-rail, must be complete, secure and undamaged.....

In days of old, used to be common to cut off grab-straps, to deny a seat being a duel-seat or there being pillion accommodation, as well as avoid contention over one that might be a little care worn.....

Talking to some of the MODs, as in folk that ride things without stuff between thier legs and like hanging RAF roundels on thier backs.... not thems wot critasise my speeling; quite common for cut-down Vespas and the like to have no 'seat', as in the cushion fitted by the factory, and the rider/constructor/owner/masochist to claim, rightly, that the pressing that covers the petrol tank the factory-fitted cusion used to sit on, providing a place for the rider to sit, IS a seat, and meets C&U and MOT reqs.....

So it IS one of them things where an awful lot is down to the MOT tester's 'Discretion' or lack-of..... a-n-d if it came to an argument over what defines a 'seat'... you have probably lost before you begun, there's probably a load of other things they can check a fail against.

A Top-Box bungeed on the pillion spot, is probably more contentious vis C&U and MOT than nothing at all. Its a bit of luggage, it is removable, it is not a permanent feature of the machine; in similar vein, an accessory seat cowl or hump, that can be removed, is also probably as contentious.

There are manifest loop-holes and potential contradictions between the variouse regs though; and the usual caveot for simply removing pillion pegs, under 'adapted for primarily off-road use' is still legitimate... but, then begs a host of consequential questions, like has the insurance company been notified of the 'modification'!?!?!?

Usual reasoning for failing a bike with a seat, but no pillion pegs, is that a pillion could still be carried, but NOT have an appropriate place to put tier feet, so as not to interfere with the rider or operation of the vehicle...... which is reasonable..... if not strictly apropriate... MOT mans job is to check the vehicle is safe and reasonably legal to use on the road... not that it IS.... there's no actual requirement in the MOT regs for a bike to have a working speedo... must have one... but don't have to actually work..... and not MOT mans job to stop any-one speeding!


End of the day though.... whatever riles say, they are the one who has to punch your ticket... you want that certificate (or receipt!) pays your money and do what they want or expect...
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[Evil Hans]

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[Evil Hans]

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