Are some MOT testers just c**ts?

[Rogerborg]

[MCN]

[Rogerborg]

They'll get Lidl "branded" and like it.
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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

[MCN]

One of my Panzer Vagons goes for it's annular prodding this avro. (Provided the snow clears from the road in time.)


Tunnocks Snowballs (2-4-1 pack) is in the top box.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[bacon]

My bike passed an MOT today, ZX7R, done 500miles since a clean sheet last year.

Advisories
*Rear wheel bearings have gone rough... apparently
*Both fork stanchions have misting of oil - it is acf50, my shed gets damp sometimes so I coat everything, my fault for not wiping it off.
*Valve stem slightly damaged - this garage seem to love valve stems, they replaced one on my sv1000 last MOT and gave an advisory for the other
*Loose chain, it isn't loose. I adjust it to 25mm travel at the centre of the chain, got the same advisory on my sv1000

I just think some are more fussy than others.

Until they fail me for something stupid I don't care!

[Vracktal]

I always take my bike to MOT shops that do MOTs and nothing else, generally garages that don't actually work on cars/bikes are a lot less incentivised to fail you on simple stuff. Last tester let me adjust the KLE headlamp aim halfway through the test so it didn't fail for that.
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2007 BMW R1200R: On road
2009 BMW G650X Challenge: On road
1975 Norton Commando 850: Off road, awaiting recommissioning

[Rogerborg]

Better for him and no difference for you if it failed then passed. I'm going to ask my chap if he'd like to fail my Tractor on that.
____________________
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

[M.C]

[Copycat73]

so i takes the ZZR14 for its test .. Oh he says .. those front brake pads are a bit low ... i never noticed ...

upon my inspection .. which requires caliper removal ... one of the pads de-laminated ... i won`t tell you how fast i applied the brakes on the way home ..



so frankly if your bike is a hazard then you need to know ....

and the other thing is ...presentation is vital for any inspection ..
clean & Tidy ...


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caveat emptor

[andym]

So I done the work and it passed it's MOT, I even took pictures of some of the work, when I got there it was a different tester today who just pushed the bike over slightly to check the back wheel and the tyre still moved a bit (I really should check the pressure)

Excessively slack chain:
https://i.imgur.com/oWnkvOx.jpg
Adjusted with exactly 1 inch of movement:
https://i.imgur.com/5N2t1WT.jpg


Knocking out the old bearings:
https://i.imgur.com/Swlimqr.jpg
Knocking in the new ones:
https://i.imgur.com/JoZvt98.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/gexmBXy.jpg

On the way to the MOT station there was no feeling to the throttle, it used to require a slight amount of effort to turn, now it just feels like it's floating and even the slightest touch has the revs up at 5-6k when pulling away.

Pre-post edit:
Copycat73: clean and tidy ma baws, I cleaned some of the winter shit off it, sorted the parts that had stuck, replaced the parts I knew needed replaced (rear brake pads).... then rode it around until the MOT was due

[1198]

[Copycat73]

[bacon]

[Shaft]

The first thing to remember is, MOT testers are not (or shouldn't be) actively looking to fail anything - there are one or two things, usually safety critical, where there are no options other than pass or fail, but where a tester can use discretion, the rule of thumb is pass and advise, where possible.

Having said that, some testers are more picky than others and there are definitely a tiny number that go way OTT.

My view has always been, if I would happily ride it up the road, then it's a pass, however, if I find more than a couple of advisories in the first five minutes, I'm looking for stuff to fail, because the indications are it's been, at best, sloppily maintained, at worst it's outright neglect.

Silly advisories, like perished valve stems, are a combination of playing the arse covering game and making sure that, if there's an audit, DVSA Derek knows the tester isn't missing anything; again, some testers go out of their way to find obscure things to advise, but I've seen it backfire, where the guy was so intent on being infinitesimally picky, he missed an obvious fail.

And do clean your bike a bit, it's the first part of passing the attitude test, which can go a long way.
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20 RE Interceptor, 83 Z1100A3, 83 GS650 Katana
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[stinkwheel]

My local car guy also does bike MOTs. Every time I take the VFR he does an advisory on the brake pad depth. I point out they are sintered pads and nearly brand new. He expresses surprise that they do sintered pads for motorcycles.

My local motorbike guy, who I use when he can fit me in has found a couple of things that I'd missed over the years. Most noteable were cracks propogating from the drillings on my rear disc. He is a decent chap and said it should fail but as long as I promised to go straight home and not move the bike until the disc's replaced, he'd pass it. I did.

The enfield keeps shitting the bed with MOTs. It's twice now had the wheel bearings collapse on the way to the MOT (front one year, rear the next). The last time was comical because they fully crapped themselves. He actually shouted over to me "What the fuck do you call that?" as he was wiggling the rear wheel visibly from side to side with the bike on the kickstand.
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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.

[Wonko The Sane]

[MarJay]

The other day I had an argument with an American on Drivetribe who was saying that a mandatory vehicle inspection was government interference, and that he thought it was better to have freedom, and that everyone always maintains their vehicles.

I think this thread proves this is nonsense, intentional or otherwise.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Rogerborg]

Bennetts point out that the MOT pass rate for bikes is higher than for 40+ year old vehicle that have just been made MOT exempt on the basis that they're so super-well maintained.
____________________
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

[stinkwheel]

[Jewlio Rides Again LLB]

[MCN]

[DJP]

Are some MOT testers just c**ts?

Sadly, yes.

Like the one in my local bike shop who failed my bike on "Worn brake pads" that were actually new.
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Suzuki Bandit 1250
https://deejayp999.atwebpages.com/index.html
That's http not https

[Rogerborg]

Passed, legit advisory on the rear pads which still have several microns left, but a totes bogus one on a slack chain which is well racist against bikey bruvs because it tensions up a fair bit under load and Herr BMW specifies the 40mm of movement that I'd just adjusted it to.

So the biscuits stayed in the top box.
____________________
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

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

yesterday - back tyre FAIL, front pads FAIL, rear pads FAIL, headlight aim FAIL (too low). Pads have done 20k iirc - or front ones at least. Can't find a receipt for rear so eh, it'll be a fair bit more I reckon. Stanchions were a bit too filmy or had track rings or bleh whatevs, so tester hoiked dust seal off to see if fork oil had oozed into the recess between dust seal and oil seal. Nowt there really so not even an advisory. Re-test Saturday.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Howling Terror]

^^^Free re-test?

I find then inconsistent.
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