Annual Debacle and Bribary

[Andy M]

Just been through the tri-annual bribary debacle known as the MOT. You know the system, you turn up for an MOT and you know it'll fail on the brake roller or for having a "strident" horn or missing headlight acetylene tube or some other obscure reason. Pay a garage who does MOT's there five times a week to "present" it and you know it'll come back with a pass  

Anyhow, before we end up in rants, on the back of the latest bribe receipt is a web address www.motinfo.gov.uk. Here if you have your certificate you can view the bikes MOT history, including sales attempts (also known as advisories), going back to when the computerised system started.

Makes interesting reading. Evil Edna's previous owner, he of the Scotch locks, managed to get fails and advisories on the same two brake disks for four years running, while never doing more than 2000 miles a year. Either those wild haggis's's's have a taste for Bavarian roast brake disk, or he never actually changed them   The pad material BTW fell off the second I took the old pads out, something on the advisories for the last two years as "lightly corroded"!


As I occasionally like to stop, all this is of course now fixed and the 2010 entry will stand out as a straight pass, first time, no advisories, but the system is a joke.

Andy

[guest868]

Interesting, if you ever need up to date MoT info, in case your testing station is being tardy, this here clickity click is the online manual..

[Steffan]

Ahhh, come on now Andy, don't go getting all bitter and cynical on us. It is all part of the rich tapestry which is the system that seeks to screw each and every one of us for every last penny they can bleed out of our already anaemic carcases.

..................Voice from the cave says: be a man my son and do not do the things I have done

[OZ]

If you think that the current MOT is bad wait til you see what Europe has in store for us. Checkout the MAG website.

Better still think about joining as they seem to be the only ones fighting this and many other issues that effect our biking freedoms.

Cheers to those who know me and Shw mae to all those who don't. (That's a greeting not an insult)

[Richard]

Hi Roy,

Enjoyed your letter in the MAG mag.  Feeling very "Animal Farm".

Richard

[trophydave]

Makes interesting reading. Evil Edna's previous owner, he of the Scotch locks, managed to get fails and advisories on the same two brake disks for four years running, while never doing more than 2000 miles a year. Either those wild haggis's's's have a taste for Bavarian roast brake disk, or he never actually changed them   The pad material BTW fell off the second I took the old pads out, something on the advisories for the last two years as "lightly corroded"!

Perhaps after failing the test he swapped the discs for some good ones to get it retested then put the old ones back on again afterwards

[Andy M]

Perhaps after failing the test he swapped the discs for some good ones to get it retested then put the old ones back on again afterwards

Possible, but the pads were so bad it'd be harder work putting them back in one piece than fixing them. My own theory is that the MOT station thought they looked better on Monday morning after reconsideration over a few free beers on Friday night.

Andy

[SRXweb]

Interesting subject indeed.

The french government has tried for two years to gently impose us such a technical control for motorbikes. I think that the EEC will soon announce an european agreement for something equivalent to MOT. A new tax .....

Actually most of bikes will be OK, but what about vintage bikes ?

[trophydave]

My own theory is that the MOT station thought they looked better on Monday morning after reconsideration over a few free beers on Friday night.
Andy

If you come across stuff like that it's a job for VOSA.
Joking aside,who would seriously want a dodgy MOT on a their bike,particually on something vital like brakes

[guest7]

My Land Rover had three consecutive MOTs that had serial numbers only four or five digits apart... I'm not sure but they may have come from a stolen batch of MOT certificates  

This is where the new computerised system really scores, there's no chance of that scam working these days.

I'm lucky in that the MOT station I use knows me and there's no bollocks about worn pads and the like just to hook owners into pointless repair work. This year I insisted my wife took her car to a bloke I've known since I was three years old. He's as honest as they come and has good relations with the local MOT test centres. She normally takes her car to BETS (Brakes, Exhausts, Tyres and Suspension) and strangely enough she always gets an advisory on brakes, tyres, exhaust or suspension  . However, this year when my mate did it it passed with flying colours

GC

[el vencejo]

Eventually the UK will follow.
In Spain we essentially followed the TUV route  :
All lights, exhausts etc must be E marked.
Tyre sizes and wheelbase must be as original equipment, or you need a separate technical examination from an independent engineer, or a letter of approval from the manufacurers.   
All ITV (MOT) centres are run by approved operatives; each vehicle is inspected by different people for electrics, tyres, suspension & steering, brakes, bodywork.
There is no way around the system. 
(that's why 20% cars, 40% bikes and 70% of 50's in my area don't have a current ITV ! )

[Andy M]

If you come across stuff like that it's a job for VOSA.
Joking aside,who would seriously want a dodgy MOT on a their bike,particually on something vital like brakes

They havn't the sense. I worked in truck brakes for 15 years. All we ever got from VOSA were questions you'd expect a GCSE student to know the answers to. When I tried to report a test station for having worn out test rollers their only response was "can we see a vehicle failed that hasn't been repaired". When the answer is "No we needed to use it, we took it to another test station", it's "nothing we can do" time. Part of the MOT testers club.

The best system I've seen was in the US. An automated test lane like a really long drive through come car wash. You stopped at various stations and it had sensors that checked for lights, brakes and so forth. The station was run by the state and worked entirely without employee intervention. Simple, fast and fair.

TUV is fine so long as it's run by the Germans. Stick in mindless English jobsworths and it will be a PITA.

Andy

[SRXweb]

What about a tuned bike.

I mean what about my SRX with its 17" wheels, it's Beringer front brake, its BSM exhaust... ?

How do you make in the UK to take the exam of MOT with this type of bikes ?

In Switzerland, they put the bike in standard position for the control, and just after in tuned position ... every year.

[Andy M]

If an MOT tester you might know from your local pub thought it was safe and the exhaust note was "not offensive and typical for a this make and model" you'd get a years MOT without turning a nut. If the tester didn't like you or genuinely thought the exhaust was too loud or the brakes weak or the wheels somehow unsafe you'd have to find an MOT tester who disagreed with him, or make it safer/brake better/quieter.

There are plenty who's exhausts are off the scale, or marked NOT FOR ROAD USE who do keep the standard one in the garage for MOT day.

Andy

[guest7]

There are plenty who's exhausts are off the scale, or marked NOT FOR ROAD USE who do keep the standard one in the garage for MOT day.
 

I did exactly that for so long it just became a routine formality 

An XBR on an open Goldstar pipe is a joy to hear, but a pain to get a ticket on. I used the excellent Motad 2-1 downpipes mated to the Goldie can and it was a doddle to just swap back the original can for testing.

GC