MOT time

[PaulD738]

Well I’ve just got another 12months ticket on both my Kawasaki and the T500. Yes I know I don’t legally need an MOT but £25 is a small price to pay for piece of mind

[oldbiker]

I do the same on the bikes that I will use the most in a year. Some only end up doing 200+ miles in a year so I dont bother with mots for them. With 11 bikes its a lot of bother to keep them all in mot's when its not needed by law.

Always good to have a fresh pair of eyes to check over the bikes even when I have built them all in the first place.

OB

[Dutch]

I got mine M.O.T 'd in May, the 1st time I'd done it in 3 years with it now not being a legal requirement and as you say Paul it gives me peace of mind and all was well anyway.

I'll probably do it again in another 3 years, we are all human and mistakes can be made

Jeff

[750ynot]

I trust my own judgement and don't get an MOT, I know what is needed for an MOT, plus the bike is far better than many newer bikes on the road, I am always tinkering with it, so I see anything going wrong and fix it, basically do an MOT every time I ride it

[asco58]

I was wondering if if not having an MOT is a potential liability if there was an incident despite not legally needing one?

An MOT tester told me that not having the bike tested might be ok for small old bikes doing low mileage on town roads but big bikes from the 70s like GT550s and GT750s and the other Honda and Kawasaki big bikes were powerful machines in their day and are still powerful by today's standards and should probably be MOT'd once a year.

Seems fair to me. I plan to get one this year. It's piece of mind for me but also for someone else if I ever sell the bike.

[PaulD738]

I was wondering if if not having an MOT is a potential liability if there was an incident despite not legally needing one?

An MOT tester told me that not having the bike tested might be ok for small old bikes doing low mileage on town roads but big bikes from the 70s like GT550s and GT750s and the other Honda and Kawasaki big bikes were powerful machines in their day and are still powerful by today's standards and should probably be MOT'd once a year.

Seems fair to me. I plan to get one this year. It's piece of mind for me but also for someone else if I ever sell the bike.

This is one of the reasons I MOT mine EVERY year. I heard about a guy with an absolutely stunning Honda CB750 his insurers had given him an agreed valuation of £10k. It was stolen from his garage and all they paid him was £4K? The reason they gave him for the low payout was in their words he couldn’t prove the bike was safe and in roadworthy condition! That was two years ago and he’s still fighting the case. £25 doesn’t seem so expensive in this case does it?

[750ynot]

I was wondering if if not having an MOT is a potential liability if there was an incident despite not legally needing one?

An MOT tester told me that not having the bike tested might be ok for small old bikes doing low mileage on town roads but big bikes from the 70s like GT550s and GT750s and the other Honda and Kawasaki big bikes were powerful machines in their day and are still powerful by today's standards and should probably be MOT'd once a year.

Seems fair to me. I plan to get one this year. It's piece of mind for me but also for someone else if I ever sell the bike.

Now here is a thought for you, an MOT is not proof of roadworthiness, it says so on it, it is only for the specific time you have the MOT, the second you have the MOT in your hand, its just proof that it was at that time, that is the law on it I am afraid to tell you all, after all how many times have you got home from an MOT and something went on the way, ask your MOT inspector, or look it up on DVLA site, if you have an accident and it proves your bike was at fault, you will be prosecuted for that said fault, and get this even if someone steels your bike and has an accident, (unless you have a note warning about said fault) if the bike was faulty and caused said accident again you are at fault, I know it sounds crazy and it is, you people need to look up the law on this, if you think the MOT is your get out of jail card, you are gravely mistaken, this is the reason I trust my judgement and almost MOT a bike before I ride it, I have taken a bike back after having tyres fitted and found loose axle before now, trust your own judgement, you will do a better job and you will know its safe, that's my take on this whole situation we find ourselves in these days, "YOU" are responsible for the upkeep and roadworthiness of your vehicle at all times.

[750ynot]

I was wondering if if not having an MOT is a potential liability if there was an incident despite not legally needing one?

An MOT tester told me that not having the bike tested might be ok for small old bikes doing low mileage on town roads but big bikes from the 70s like GT550s and GT750s and the other Honda and Kawasaki big bikes were powerful machines in their day and are still powerful by today's standards and should probably be MOT'd once a year.

Seems fair to me. I plan to get one this year. It's piece of mind for me but also for someone else if I ever sell the bike.

This is one of the reasons I MOT mine EVERY year. I heard about a guy with an absolutely stunning Honda CB750 his insurers had given him an agreed valuation of £10k. It was stolen from his garage and all they paid him was £4K? The reason they gave him for the low payout was in their words he couldn’t prove the bike was safe and in roadworthy condition! That was two years ago and he’s still fighting the case. £25 doesn’t seem so expensive in this case does it?

Tell him to keep fighting, they could say the same with an MOT, its not a certificate of year long roadworthiness, they don't have a leg to stand on, unless bike was involved in an accident and the bike was seen as faulty, Then he is not in such a good position, as I stated in the earlier post, look it all up, you will be shocked by what you read.

[asco58]

This is one of the reasons I MOT mine EVERY year. I heard about a guy with an absolutely stunning Honda CB750 his insurers had given him an agreed valuation of £10k. It was stolen from his garage and all they paid him was £4K? The reason they gave him for the low payout was in their words he couldn’t prove the bike was safe and in roadworthy condition! That was two years ago and he’s still fighting the case. £25 doesn’t seem so expensive in this case does it?

This is the kind of thing I was thinking about, insurance and liabilities. I know that MOT's don't prove absolute roadworthiness but a clean MOT certificate will show that it met the minimum legal safety standards within that year which could definitely help to show that the vehicle has been maintained, so I agree that the £25 is worth it. Hopefully, that guy is successful in his fight to get the proper payout. Sounds like the insurance company is trying it on as they like to do and its worth having all the boxes ticked so it's more difficult for them to do that.

[asco58]

Now here is a thought for you, an MOT is not proof of roadworthiness, it says so on it, it is only for the specific time you have the MOT, the second you have the MOT in your hand, its just proof that it was at that time, that is the law on it I am afraid to tell you all after all how many times have you got home from an MOT and something went on the way, ask your MOT inspector, or look it up on DVLA site,

I'm aware that an MOT is not permanent proof of roadworthiness. However, it does show that the vehicle met the minimum legal safety standards within the year which makes it more likely to be safer than a vehicle that has never had an MOT. It's about ticking boxes for insurers as well.

if you have an accident and it proves your bike was at fault, you will be prosecuted for that said fault

Very true.

and get this even if someone steels your bike and has an accident, (unless you have a note warning about said fault) if the bike was faulty and caused said accident again you are at fault, I know it sounds crazy and it is, you people need to look up the law on this,

This is not true. You can be fined up to £2500, be banned from driving and receive 3 penalty points for driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition. If someone steals your bike and you report the vehicle as stolen to the police, it would be the thief who would be driving the vehicle in a dangerous condition and therefore liable. If you willingly lent a dangerous vehicle to someone or parked it on a public road, then you might risk prosecution.

if you think the MOT is your get out of jail card, you are gravely mistaken, this is the reason I trust my judgement and almost MOT a bike before I ride it, I have taken a bike back after having tyres fitted and found loose axle before now, trust your own judgement, you will do a better job and you will know its safe, that's my take on this whole situation we find ourselves in these days, "YOU" are responsible for the upkeep and roadworthiness of your vehicle at all times.

An MOT is not a get out of jail card but on paper a vehicle that passes an MOT every year is more likely to be in a roadworthy condition than one that has never been tested and that is possibly how insurers might see it. Insurance companies are full of actuaries.