MOT not for me.

[cros]

 About half of the EU don't test motorcycles. (Probably will harmonise by 2022)

 

 

I never understood testing bikes, especially large ones. Most of my bikes have been old and came from the factory with truly awful brakes by todays standards. I saw a Buell of about the same weight, and which had a front disc of the same diameter as its wheel rim, subjected to the same test that my machine had just passed. The Buell's top speed was double my machine, so one of the passes was meaningless and the other simply a test of how hard I could squeeze the lever.

[oldford]

Some people don't give the condition of their cars a second thought.  Without the MOT, at which point do you think that the owner of this car would get his tyres changed?

 

 

 

[The Moog]

you better tell junkman that then.

 

PS, MoT manual section 6.3 subsection 4.....

Junkman failed on that .... Funny he never mentioned it

[fordperv]

in the notes at the bottom:

 

Testers are not requred to physically measure the characters or their spacing and the following information is provided for guidance only.

But then states "Registration plates should only be rejected for character dimensions or spacing if they are clearly incorrect" and it gives measurements at the bottom

 

Edit I've just seen scaryoldcortina has also put the above information

 

some testers really are petty as in the case of Junkmans number plate but that's life I suppose, we all have different perceptions of things and we all have bad days

[beko1987]

That's always the assumption, but is it justified? How many of us have carried out work specifically to make sure the car passes the MOT? You know, that stuff that's always on the To Do list. The stuff we were going to do, but shit, it's the MOT tomorrow so I'd better do it now. Like my XM's parking brake.

I know that feeling. The Meriva needs an exhaust centre pipe before the mot, whichcruns out on the 6th of nov. Its only needed doing all year...

 

But I have replaced 2 tyres, cambelt waterpump and pulley, oil and coolant change, front suspension refresh and vacuumed it throughout the year.

 

Hopefully it will all be enough for the small rust hole to still be an advisory this year. Horses for courses? Or bad planning? (bit of both admittidly, the current exhaust will fuck the emissions right up)

[Bobthebeard]

As it stands the MOT is ok IMHO. I have never had a car fail for a silly reason, just something valid and safety related. Usually something I have missed due to not being able to lift the cars up high enough to check. Any third party check is better than nothing.

[Hawkeyethenoo]

It's the peace of mind you get from knowing your numberplates are legally spaced.

 

First MOT for my moto was due in May this year, it being 36 months old.

 

Passed with two advisories.

 

1) Exhaust noisy

2) Number plate size *barely* legal

 

In retort. Of course the exhaust is noisy I spent a lot of money making it that way! The number plate in question was carefully sized up to be as small as possible while still remaining 100% legal and with the correct spacing, almost! How can anything be barely legal? The law tends not to be a grey area, ken.

 

Waste of fecking time TBH and the best bit was the advice of the receptionist. Better off trading it in for a new one, son.

 

Aye right.... Dream on doll.

[MarvinsMom]

I agree, it's at a sensible level. Unfortunately we live in a society where people who know nothing about something are allowed an opinion. No doubt some idiot in a Matalan suit somewhere will decree it's not safe at all to have a car on the road over 3 years in case it's unroadworthy.

 

 

no no no....

 

the bell ends that are in charge would NEVER, EVER shop at matalan.

 

its much more likely to be a suit from Saville Row

[Hawkeyethenoo]

Some people don't give the condition of their cars a second thought.  Without the MOT, at which point do you think that the owner of this car would get his tyres changed?

 

Post accident, most likely. A twat is a twat - all the MOT does is confirm the fact.

[Bobthebeard]

First MOT for my moto was due in May this year, it being 36 months old.

 

Passed with two advisories.

 

1) Exhaust noisy

2) Number plate size *barely* legal

 

In retort. Of course the exhaust is noisy I spent a lot of money making it that way! The number plate in question was carefully sized up to be as small as possible while still remaining 100% legal and with the correct spacing, almost! How can anything be barely legal? The law tends not to be a grey area, ken.

 

Waste of fecking time TBH and the best bit was the advice of the receptionist. Better off trading it in for a new one, son.

 

Aye right.... Dream on doll.

Errr, quite.

As I said earlier, the MOT test as it stands is just about right IMHO.

😄

[MarvinsMom]

what sort of car is that, it has the look of an XK8 about it?

[John F]

oldford, on 13 Oct 2015 - 7:06 PM, said:

Some people don't give the condition of their cars a second thought.  Without the MOT, at which point do you think that the owner of this car would get his tyres changed?

 

nsf.jpg

 

 

... and his tracking sorted out...!

[cros]

^ This.

 

Also, lot of people have absolutely no idea of the condition of their car - or the likely consequences of its condition. One on my mates asked me to have a look at his Discovery 200 TDi a while ago, because it 'felt a bit funny'. I'm not surprised, it had absolutely zero damping in either of its front shocks - it could be set bouncing by gradually-increased pressure of one hand on the bonnet..

Your mate is lucky it didn't tip over.  The infamous Disco Death Wobble can occur when just worn or aftermarket panhard rod bushes are fitted. I've experienced it on several occasions and it's fucking terrible. Easily cured with correct items, one Landrover had just got a years ticket fitted with the dangerous bright orange items.

[Bobthebeard]

Your mate is lucky it didn't tip over.  The infamous Disco Death Wobble can occur when just worn or aftermarket panhard rod bushes are fitted. I've experienced it on several occasions and it's fucking terrible. Easily cured with correct items, one Landrover had just got a years ticket fitted with the dangerous bright orange items.

We need the MOT to protect other road users from ourselves if nothing else... Driving a shonky vehicle that we ' thought was ok' is not good.... Needs a second opinion!

[John F]

cros, on 13 Oct 2015 - 7:27 PM, said:

Your mate is lucky it didn't tip over.  The infamous Disco Death Wobble can occur when just worn or aftermarket panhard rod bushes are fitted. I've experienced it on several occasions and it's fucking terrible. Easily cured with correct items, one Landrover had just got a years ticket fitted with the dangerous bright orange items.

 

Absolutely! He actually said it was behaving strangely under braking... no shit, sherlock. I told him to stop driving it immediately & arrange for it to be sorted out.

[cort1977]

Having lived in Western Australia which has no annual test and seen 3 or 4 year old vehicles with completely bald tyres (as in no tread remaining at all) I think that an MOT test is absolutely necessary.   Could be improved maybe but definitely required.

 

Going back to the original post if I had an exempt car I would likely still put it in for an equivalent inspection as I wouldn't trust myself to judge all safety critical items.

[mercrocker]

Some people don't give the condition of their cars a second thought.  Without the MOT, at which point do you think that the owner of this car would get his tyres changed?

 

front.jpg

 

nsf.jpg

 

osr.jpg

 

People who drive their cars in that state are the same people who are likely to borrow a wheel and tyre to get the ticket.    What's needed here is not more MOTs but coppers checking like they used to do. 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

The UK MOT is great, in comparison with other countries it's the best one i am aware of (not shedloads admittedly). Yeah it might not tell you the condition of your inner sills, but so what, it gets 99.9% of dangerous crap sorted out once a year without costing you £1000 and needing your car to be dismantled.

[oldford]

 

People who drive their cars in that state are the same people who are likely to borrow a wheel and tyre to get the ticket.    What's needed here is not more MOTs but coppers checking like they used to do. 

So we go full circle.  I've seen tyres that have been checked by coppers as in 'that's only got 300 miles left in it before it's illegal', I've had a look at it and measured it (where you're allowed to measure it and not on a higher secondary groove) and found it to be twice the legal limit.

 

Unless you get a traffic officer/vehicle examiner, a copper tends to know less than a MOT tester.

[scaryoldcortina]

 

People who drive their cars in that state are the same people who are likely to borrow a wheel and tyre to get the ticket.    What's needed here is not more MOTs but coppers checking like they used to do. 

 

I've even seen someone try swapping the bald tyre onto a different corner in the hope that I wasn't going to recheck all of them!

 

I had a woman swear at me the other week because her C-Max failed (Bald tyre, ABS light on, no handbrake) like it was somehow my fault that she waited until the last day of her old test and needed the car for work.

 

I'd also say that the only other time your tyres get looked at is when the police are tidying up after a RTA, which is usually too late for it to help.

[Bobthebeard]

The UK MOT is great, in comparison with other countries it's the best one i am aware of (not shedloads admittedly). Yeah it might not tell you the condition of your inner sills, but so what, it gets 99.9% of dangerous crap sorted out once a year without costing you £1000 and needing your car to be dismantled.

I wouldn't mind a six montly MOT test tbh. Nothing to hide and happy for someone else to poke around the car. Any bad news is good news really.....At least any stuff that needs fixing is highlighted. Nothing to worry about really.

[oldford]

Had one the other week, the word 'inside' had been ground off the outward facing wall of an asymmetric tyre, it seems that they forgot to grind off 'outside' from the inner facing wall.

[scaryoldcortina]

So we go full circle.  I've seen tyres that have been checked by coppers as in 'that's only got 300 miles left in it before it's illegal', I've had a look at it and measured it (where you're allowed to measure it and not on a higher secondary groove) and found it to be twice the legal limit.

 

Unless you get a traffic officer/vehicle examiner, a copper tends to know less than a MOT tester.

 

Funnily enough, I've been in that exact situation. I got an ANPR pull in a sierra because their computer flashed me up as no insurance and 15 years out of tax and test. Read an 8 as a 9 - wrong grey sierra. While they had me stopped though, one of them checked my ID while the other poked around the car and came back telling me I had a bald tyre and offering a £60 and 3 points reward. I asked him to get his tyre gauge out and try again. Close to the 2mm wear bar doesn't mean anything when the requirement is 1.6mm over 75% of the surface....

 

FWIW, I changed that tyre just after that, but I was going to anyway.

[alf892]

I reckon all cars should be main dealer serviced by law........and all work advised must be carried out too. Including number plates.......and if the owner disagrees the car gets impounded and crushed.

 

After all they are the experts.

 

Then scrap the mot

 

Anything owned by me would be exempt as I know how to check it and am a trustworthy sort.

[plasticvandan]

Have had my first real world experience of this having worked on and returned a 1953 Velocette noddy bike to the road,a lot of current bike mot regs aren't applicable,the brakes were marginal when it was new,no indicators etc.

I'd like to think it would pass muster if presented for test,I think with a bike there is a much greater sense of "if I leave that it will kill me" than a car and as such I've been very thorough with it.

As I said when the rules were coming in there are very few pre 60 cars out there capable of daily use,I haven't seen a huge increase in sightings of Triumph Mayflower's and Morris Eights.

Equally on the B side the argument given by the federation (historic,not star trek)

That they are all owned by enthusiasts who do 3 miles a month falls on its face in my opinion.Most of the concourse Sunday show queens would struggle to make it to the next county,the motors being badly tuned and rattling and everything seized up or perished because it rarely leaves the garage.

[andrew e]

I can't see how you can argue against an MOT, but regardless I have a serious question.

 

Would an insurer charge more for an MOT exempt car, compared to the same model but post 60?

[Craig the Princess]

For the sake of peace, I'd agree to replacing it with something useful, although I personally don't need a fucking government telling me how to live my life and what to do.

It's not you, it's all the others.

[michael1703]

I've had 3 fails on broken coil springs today.

 

Owners were shocked as "it felt fine"

 

All broken springs were heavily rusted and had been broke for months

[sierraman]

Some people find the concept of maintaining their car a complete inconvenience. It's like the £100 a year or so for a service is money wasted, then 3 years down the line when the car is bollocksed as the main bearings were worn to dust, the car has let them down. When people trot the above story out, I honestly have no sympathy whatsoever. It is, however, a mistake people make only once.

[Angrydicky]

I can't see how you can argue against an MOT, but regardless I have a serious question.

 

Would an insurer charge more for an MOT exempt car, compared to the same model but post 60?

No.