MOT advisory guidance

[Davemc37]

Is this worth worrying about on a bike I'm looking at.

Jan 2017pass. Front suspension assembly has slight free play between the sliding members both front shock absorbers (2.3.4)
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born again biker with a mere 23 year gap between bikes.

[stinkwheel]

What bike?

Generic answer: Visually check the stanchions for corrosion and pitting where corrosion has been cleaned off. Bounce the forks and check for oil leaks round the seals. If you're suspicios, see if the dust seal looks like it's been lifted up to stick a rolled up J-cloth under it to soak up the oil temporarily.

Have a feel yourself, front wheel off the ground, grab the stanchions and pull back and forth to check for play.

If there is play but the stanchions look fine, budget for a fork rebuild. So a set of bushes, new fork oil and seals for each fork (plus labour if you're not doing it yourself). Use this as a bargaining point. If the stanchions are pitted, you may need those too which makes the job pretty expensive.
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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.

[Itchy]

Forks will need new seals and bushes probably in the near future. So budget in £100-150 to do this inc parts.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[Rogerborg]

It seems like an unusual thing for an MOT tester to notice, especially if they didn't note any oil misting or leaks.

Definitely check the forks yourself, but I wouldn't be astonished to find that they're OK, especially if the MOT was done at an unscrupulous dealer[*] fishing for work.

[*] But I repeat myself.
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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

[Shaft]

[Kickstart]

[Rogerborg]

[Shaft]

[ThatDippyTwat]

[arry]

[andyscooter]

my tester is about the same

left bike with him came back hour later after a cuppa and a sarnie bike was in exact same position I left it in and ticket was printed for me
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gilera runner vxr200 (chavped)
if its spelt wrong its my fat fingers and daft auto correct on my tablet

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[Rogerborg]

[c_dug]

To me, for the majority of riders with their head screwed on an MOT should just be a box ticking exercise, on a bike at least.

The fact of the matter is I wouldn't go back to a test centre that failed my bike on little things, or tested too thoroughly, when I know for a fact there are plenty out there that turn a blind eye to little things. What's the incentive to go to a place that'll fail me?

I've been returning to the same centre for the last 8 years or so because the tester checks the basics and leaves it at that. He doesn't care that my pipe is marked not for road use, and doesn't go over the bike with a fine tooth comb looking at every last detail.

He failed me once on my rear brake performance, he lent me the tools to bleed it, and passed it 10 minutes later.
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[stinkwheel]

Mine checks everything thoroughly but exercises the discretion he's allowed to exercise when it comes to failing or just giving an advisory.

He has in the past picked stuff up that I hadn't noticed. For example, he checked the brake discs by shining a drop light through them and picked up small cracks propogating from the drill holes on the rear disc.

He knows me so put this down as an advisory but verbally told me to ride it home without using the rear brake and not to move it again until it had a new disc on. He knows me and knows I'll do that. If it was someone he didn't know, it would have been put down as a fail.
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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.

[Rogerborg]

About the same for me. He gives it a good look over, especially the brakes and tyres, occasionally toots the horn, but doesn't go through the whole checklist.

The Nazi Tractor actually got the biggest going over. That got put on the brake tester and had the headlight alignment checked, he spent nearly 10 minutes on it. But then it is a BMW, failures would be expected.
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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

[Shaft]

[ThatDippyTwat]

Disc had a bit of grooving, and a stated minimum stamped on it, which it was below, (I know the lad he failed, lent him a mic to double check it on at home). New disc on, back the next week, ticket sorted, no retest fee. He's decent, you won't ride out on anything dodgy, but he's not bothered about cans that much, looks, anything not related to the bike actually being safe or not. I've never seen him look at headlights beyond flicking high/low and making sure they don't wobble about.

Mr Perfect has had complaints (a fair few from what I hear), but I've no idea of what came of them bar one. He did fail a Rocket 3, and the guy had that complaint upheld, but I have no details past that. He's "established" and does restorations etc, that's where he makes money. His "cronies" all go there for everything, and you see a lot of older K100's, R65/85's etc outside.
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'98 VFR800 (touring) - '12 VFR800 Crosrunner (Commuting) - '01 KDX220 (Big Green Antisocial Machine)