Question on riding a bike to repair centre with failed MOT

[ajag]

Hello,

An Enduro Bike I have has failed the MoT because of a leak on the forks (See attachment)

Searching online, it seems you are allowed to ride the bike to a repair centre with a failed MOT (just like you can ride it to the MOT test centre), but, from the government's page:

[WD Forte]

You already have the answer.
Leaking forks isn't 'dangerous', so just ride it sensibly to the shop
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bikers smell of wee

[Easy-X]

Don't panic too much. While an expired MoT is like a red rag to a bull for the police I doubt they could be arsed to dig into the MoT details unless you went out of your way to piss them off.
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[MCN]

In case you didn't already know:

You must book the beast into the mot test station before riding/driving to the test centre.
(Just to close the open ends.)

Someone I knew had a vehicle fail its test.
The test centre refused to release the vehicle to the owner, as the failures were so bad.
Virtually Hee-Haw brakes on the bastirt.

The person was most upset that they would let it back on the road.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[ajag]

Yes, I am aware that you need to pre-book the next MOT test. From what I read you can also ride to it to a pre-booked mechanic (which I have) as long as it is not a dangerous fault.

But want to ask here anyways in case anyone has gone through this before. I believe there are a couple of APNR cameras in the junction I have to take to make it to the mechanic
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Street Triple

[stinkwheel]

You could be done on the ANPR camera but riding to a pre-arranged repair is a statuatory defence for no tax or MOT so you would be able to appeal any fine that resulted.
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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.

[ajag]

Perfect, thank you all for the input. Much appreciated!
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Street Triple

[Chuffin Nora]

[stinkwheel]

Everyone knows you just wipe the oil off and shove a bit of J-cloth rolled into a sausage under the dust seal before you set off for the MOT so they can't see the oil. Then fix them at your leisure.

Changing oil seals may not be rocket science, but equally it's quite easy to fuck up and fold or cut a seal installing them. Then they fail again a short time later because you used crappy pattern seals or the bushings were actually knackered and that's why they failed. I also find about 1 in 4 that I do turns into a 2 hour sweaty swearfest because the bushings over-ride one another and get jammed in the fork leg.

I always pay over the odds for OEM seals these days.
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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.

[ajag]

TDLR:
1.- The leak has been there for long, but was light misting. I was not expecting the leak to be made worse on a bike that has been stored in a garage with no use
2.- Don't have the space, might not have all the tools to do the job, and it is not something I have done before
3.- Want it fixed quickly and properly (yes there is always a risk that the person doing it can fuck it up too)


To answer the questions from Chuffin Nora.

Light misting was discovered on last years MOT. I was supposed to change the seals then, but was forgotten about. So the leak has been happening for longer than a year I guess. I did wipe the forks before the MoT, but the oil had reached lower than I cleaned (and did not notice) so it failed this time.

Now my bikes have not been ridden in 3-4 years for anything other than going to the MoT centre which is about a mile away. This is why I also have a thread opened in the Workshop about some rust in the tank of my street triple.

I decided to get back into bikes at a bad time because that is when my two sons were born so between work, the wife, the kids, the dog and the weather, I have not had enough time/inclination in going out on the bikes. There is just always something to do.

The enduro bike I have really used only twice to go green lanning. The idea of going off road is great until you find out it is not something you can just do close to where I live. The closest thing to green lanes I have around me require you to go over more tarmac than the little dirt you go over. So to go green lanning I have to put the bike on the trailer and basically go away for the whole day. Yes, I can do that, but both my wife and I work long hours during the week so I feel guilty leaving her and the kids alone so that I can have my fun so I use the weekends as family time.

As for why I don't fix the bike myself? Really it comes down to time, space and having all the required tools to do the repairs. I have a garage where is where I keep the bikes, but where my wife has also decided to store all the used furniture we need to get rid of, but got forgotten over in there due to Covid and all. We are looking into emptying it now so that I have more space to do more mechanical tasks and make you proud.

At this point, I just want the bike fixed properly and as soon as possible. After holding on to both bikes and not using them for so long, I decided I want to get the Enduro bike fixed (the forks is the only fail, advisory on the sprockets that have wear on them), pass the MoT and then sell it. I just do not see myself trying going off road any time soon.
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Street Triple

[MCN]

[Easy-X]

[MCN]

[ajag]

Cost me £160 to get it done and the bike returned the same day. Cheaper that what it would have cost me doing it myself plus my sanity.

Now to see if I got caught the cameras for uLez and lack of MOT.

Thank you all for your help with this
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Street Triple