First MOT: Failure & 3 Advisories!

[MikeBike 5,005]

I fully expected my first MOT to be a formality. Bike always serviced on time at dealer, any neccesary work done. 

Big 16k service front pads 2000 miles ago...

New chain and sprockets fitted by dealer 1400 miles ago

Tyre pressure checked that morning.

 

Result: FAIL

Reason(s) for failure

• Rear Stop lamp does not illuminate immediately a brake applies (1.3.1a)

Advisory notice item(s)

• Drive chain slightly loose (6.2.1d)
• Front Roller brake test indicates slight fluctuation of brake effort (3.3.A1d)
• Rear Roller brake test indicates slight fluctuation of brake effort (3.3.A1d)

 

The rear brake pedal stop light sensor was out of adjustment only coming on with heavy pressure. The drive chain was about 45mm instead of 30-40mm.

 

The dealer did adjust the chain and retest free of charge, and despite me asking if they could adjust the chain said they thought I should know how to adjust the chain myself and did so. Then I came home and did so also as per the tips on this forum.

 

Brake fluctuation - front and rear - varying of braking effort as wheel turns. rear worst. New pads 1400 miles ago. They did suggest It could be left and I heard someone else say they changed discs and pads with new and still got the same result.

 

Wondering what causes this to happen and if this is common on the NC or caused by a particular riding style etc. I wouldnt say I'm a hard rider on the brakes and I never use the rear except for manoevring.

 

I can't feel it when braking.

[SteveThackery 3,090]

The only source of varying braking force on a test roller I've ever come across is defective discs.

 

Sometimes they warp, other times - if the casting was cooled wrongly - they wear at different rates on different points around the disc, causing a variation in thickness.  It also seems feasible that, if the metallurgy or manufacturing processes are not controlled, you might end up with a coefficient of friction that varies around the disc.  I doubt that happens very much, though, if ever.

 

From what you've said it sounds like the variation is too small to fail the MOT, and too small for you to notice.  I'd be inclined to forget about it.

[Trev 18,559]

6 minutes ago, SteveThackery said:

The only source of varying braking force on a test roller I've ever come across is defective discs.

 

Sometimes they warp, other times - if the casting was cooled wrongly - they wear at different rates on different points around the disc, causing a variation in thickness.  It also seems feasible that, if the metallurgy or manufacturing processes are not controlled, you might end up with a coefficient of friction that varies around the disc.  I doubt that happens very much, though, if ever.

 

From what you've said it sounds like the variation is too small to fail the MOT, and too small for you to notice.  I'd be inclined to forget about it.

 

I would agree, if you can't feel it and it only rates as advisory at MOT time them I wouldn't bother about it. If it's very bad then not only will you feel it when braking but the warped discs will tend to push the calipers back a little more than usual resulting in a 'soft' brake lever feel. I have this on the pair of front discs on my GSXR1100, I really need to source a new pair as stopping power isn't up to the bikes performance yet it still only rates as an advisory at MOT time 

[Tex 36,816]

A bonkers situation now (or will shortly) exists where an old banger doesn’t require an MOT and a well maintained 3 year old one gets ‘advisories’ on, frankly, nothing much in particular. Gawd ‘elp us. 

[Rev Ken 6,326]

Advisories are just that. It is just useful information to either rectify or keep under observation. My car had advisories over three years about corroded brake pipes. This year I replaced them.

[Rev Ken 6,326]

24 minutes ago, Tex said:

A bonkers situation now (or will shortly) exists where an old banger doesn’t require an MOT and a well maintained 3 year old one gets ‘advisories’ on, frankly, nothing much in particular. Gawd ‘elp us. 

The rationalisation is that any 'ancient' vehicle has to have tlc to keep it on the road, and most of them do very little mileage in a year.

[Tex 36,816]

4 minutes ago, Rev Ken said:

The rationalisation is that any 'ancient' vehicle has to have tlc to keep it on the road, and most of them do very little mileage in a year.

 

Quite. But without the MOT test who would have been giving you those ‘advisories’ on your rusty brake pipes? Many ‘classic’ vehicles are owner maintained. And not every owner is as impartial as a professional tester.

[Rocker66 34,370]

17 minutes ago, Rev Ken said:

The rationalisation is that any 'ancient' vehicle has to have tlc to keep it on the road, and most of them do very little mileage in a year.

I don’t think that mileage or lack of it should be a consideration. A vehicle with a dangerous fault could cause an accident having travelled just down the road from its base

[Guest machinman]

3 minutes ago, Rocker66 said:

I don’t think that mileage or lack of it should be a consideration. A vehicle with a dangerous fault could cause an accident having travelled just down the road from its base

An enthusiast will be more clued up on his or her choice of vehicle than the tester will.

Fact.

[Rocker66 34,370]

Just now, machinman said:

An enthusiast will be more clued up on his or her choice of vehicle than the tester will.

Fact.

Who says all old vehicles are going to be used by enthusiast rather than somebody who can only afford an old banger.

[Guest machinman]

4 minutes ago, Rocker66 said:

Who says all old vehicles are going to be used by enthusiast rather than somebody who can only afford an old banger.

Try getting an exempt vehicle for "banger money".

 

[edgey999 115]

I think you need to find a new MoT test station. I remember being given an advisory on a suspension joint by Kwik Fit. They offered to fix it at a princely sum, which i declined. I took it elsewhere next year and the same car has passed with no advisories for the last 7 years. 

 

They say to never get an Mot test at a garage that does repairs. This is a mantra i have tried to follow since my Quick Fit experience

 

 

[Rocker66 34,370]

8 minutes ago, machinman said:

Try getting an exempt vehicle for "banger money".

 

How about somebody who has old banger that eventually reaches exempt status. I also know of a guy who inherited a classic car that his grandfather left him. He knows about as much about car maintenance as I do about nuclear physics but now the law would allow him to drive the old car around with little or no maintenances.

Edited February 19, 2018 by Rocker66

[Guest machinman]

It is possible, you could sit on a vehicle until it becomes exempt from test. As for the beneficiary case, lets hope he gets the car checked out and looks after it.

[Rocker66 34,370]

There is also the fact that legally I could go and buy an old bike reasonably cheap such as a Villers engined  James tax and insure it then ride it on the road without checking the brakes suspension or other safety factors.

[nelmo 563]

14 minutes ago, edgey999 said:

I think you need to find a new MoT test station. I remember being given an advisory on a suspension joint by Kwik Fit. They offered to fix it at a princely sum, which i declined. I took it elsewhere next year and the same car has passed with no advisories for the last 7 years. 

 

They say to never get an Mot test at a garage that does repairs. This is a mantra i have tried to follow since my Quick Fit experience

 

 

 

Are there any places that do ONLY MOTs?

 

I was at a Kwik-Fit once when a lady came in with a VW Golf, asking for a new set of tyres. She had just had a service at a VW garage who told her she needed them but they didn't have any in stock, so she came to Kwik-Fit. The guy at Kwik-Fit took one quick look and told her there was absolutely nothing wrong with her tyres - I had a quick nosey and they looked better than the ones on my car at the time! So they're not always bad...

 

Basically, it's all a gamble...

 

[alhendo1 3,031]

1 hour ago, edgey999 said:

I think you need to find a new MoT test station. I remember being given an advisory on a suspension joint by Kwik Fit. They offered to fix it at a princely sum, which i declined. I took it elsewhere next year and the same car has passed with no advisories for the last 7 years. 

 

They say to never get an Mot test at a garage that does repairs. This is a mantra i have tried to follow since my Quick Fit experience

 

 

That's been my method for a long time when I had my last bike. The garage mots both cars and bikes but only fixes cars.....I got stiffed at a main dealer once with the bike mot and that was enough....some absolute cack about backing material seperating from pads (which I'd stripped and cleaned about a fortnight earlier and they were fine)....I asked for the old  ones to be left out so I could see them....needless to say when I went to pay they "couldn't find them."

[alhendo1 3,031]

48 minutes ago, nelmo said:

 

Are there any places that do ONLY MOTs?

 

I was at a Kwik-Fit once when a lady came in with a VW Golf, asking for a new set of tyres. She had just had a service at a VW garage who told her she needed them but they didn't have any in stock, so she came to Kwik-Fit. The guy at Kwik-Fit took one quick look and told her there was absolutely nothing wrong with her tyres - I had a quick nosey and they looked better than the ones on my car at the time! So they're not always bad...

 

Basically, it's all a gamble...

 

Re places that only do mots and no repairs....check with your local council....mine...Renfrewshire ...do private car mots....you pay in advance and book an hour slot....they've all the necessary equipment for their own fleet and don't do repairs...I've used them a couple of times and found them to be very fair..I don't imagine that would include bikes though!

[makman 975]

Find another MOT place. My vicar took his car to KwikFit for three years in a row and was stung some £500 each time and given a list of "advisories".  Took it to the MOT place I use this year and straight through, no advisories.  Job jobbed. KwikFit are chancers in my books. I use them in extremis and with great caution and only for a very specific reason. I won't let them do any work other than what I tell them to do.

[suffolk58 2,286]

1 hour ago, nelmo said:

 

Are there any places that do ONLY MOTs?

 

 

Yes!

My new office is above the council depot, where they do the work on the fleet of council vehicles.

They don't do work on the public's vehicles, but they do, do M.O.T.s for the public.

The M.O.T. waiting room has a viewing window, so you can see your vehicle being tested, and the tester will chat with you after, if you want clarification of a point.

I assume other Councils will have a similar service.

[embee 7,288]

As RevKen says, advisories are just that. With the tightening of checks on the testers themselves, they will always tend to err on the side of caution, anything worthy of note should be an advisory. If they fail to act properly they could potentially lose their testers cert.

National chain/franchise places will always be viewed with some suspicion, it's their business model which is behind it.

 

Brakes are very often slightly varying around them, my Integra shows this even after carefully cleaning them and checking the run-out and thickness variations. I believe it's primarily varying friction coefficient around the disc. The MOT allows for some variation because it's an almost unavoidable effect to some extent. Don't worry about it.

Everyone should at the very least check all the lights and horn are working properly before going to an MOT, that doesn't need any technical knowledge at all.

Glad it's sorted for another year. 

[sandalfarm 2,764]

There is a list of council run mot stations in your area on money saving expert web site but they are thin on the ground 

[rjp996 1,091]

2 hours ago, Rocker66 said:

How about somebody who has old banger that eventually reaches exempt status. I also know of a guy who inherited a classic car that his grandfather left him. He knows about as much about car maintenance as I do about nuclear physics but now the law would allow him to drive the old car around with little or no maintenances.

 

I know what you are saying, with regards MOT exempt vehicles bring on the road that may or may not be road worthy, however just because a vehicle is MOT except due to age, does not stop it having to comply by law to the construction and use regulations, if it has a MOT or not - so the not having to have an MOT does nto mean that the law allows people to drive un roadworthly cars that were not capable of passing an MOT. But i get you r point that when people are 'certifying' the road worthy ness of their own cars / bikes, they may not be best placed to do so.

[Guest machinman]

1 hour ago, nelmo said:

 

Are there any places that do ONLY MOTs?

 

I was at a Kwik-Fit once when a lady came in with a VW Golf, asking for a new set of tyres. She had just had a service at a VW garage who told her she needed them but they didn't have any in stock, so she came to Kwik-Fit. The guy at Kwik-Fit took one quick look and told her there was absolutely nothing wrong with her tyres - I had a quick nosey and they looked better than the ones on my car at the time! So they're not always bad...

 

Basically, it's all a gamble...

 

Its as good as the individual, could be plumber, sparky, doctor.

If someone says you need to spend money, challenge them and ask the right questions.

Get a friend to help, ask google, youtube.

 

[Guest machinman]

1 hour ago, Rocker66 said:

There is also the fact that legally I could go and buy an old bike reasonably cheap such as a Villers engined  James tax and insure it then ride it on the road without checking the brakes suspension or other safety factors.

Mot or not, its the users responsibility to make sure its roadworthy.

Their are always going to be scenarios of "what if".