Top 10 reasons for failing your MoT

FOR most of us (other than those with bikes under 3 years old) it’s an annual chore that leads to chewed nails.

However meticulously you maintain your bike there’s always that nagging concern that the stony-faced MoT man will find something – usually something expensive – to fail you on.

Actually, bikes do pretty well in MoTs as a whole, with a better pass rate than cars, thanks largely to the fact they tend to be owned by enthusiasts and their relative simplicity means faults are easier to spot and sort prior to the moment of truth at the test station.

The current cost of a motorcycle MoT in 2013 is £29.65 and all motorcycles over 3 years old have to have an annual MoT check. Click here for our motorcycle MoT checklist.

Happily for a “top ten”, the government breaks the MoT down into ten neat categories, so here they are – starting with the least likely failure point and counting down to the number one reason for MoT anguish…

10: Sidecar – 0.007% of bikes fail

No surprise that sidecars are the least-likely reason to have your MoT denied. When was the last time you saw one on the road?

In fact it’s surprising that as many as 0.009% of bikes are even fitted with a sidecar, let alone that percentage should fail. Specific reasons for sidecar MoT failure could be that it’s not bolted on firmly, a dodgy wheel bearing or poor wheel alignment.

9: Driving controls – 0.45% of bikes fail

The real bottom-of-the-list failure for bikes is “driving controls” – a vague category that’s generally covered by other bits. For instance, if your brake lever isn’t held on properly, it could just as easily fail under “brakes” as “driving controls. Which probably explains why fewer than half a percent of bikes fail on this category.

8: Body and structure – 0.95% of bikes fail

Not many bikes fail here, either. While cars might well fail on ‘structure’ if they’re terminally rusty, your bike will only fall foul if the frame is horribly corroded, cracked, twisted or damaged enough to affect the way the bike rides, steers or stops. Stuff like loose footrests might cause a fail on this front, though, so it’s still worth making those pre-MoT checks.