Motorcycle riders throughout the UK wasted greater than £35,000 on MOT retests between April 2023 and April 2024 due to an issue they may have noticed with a easy at-home test. New analysis from Go.Evaluate bike insurance coverage has discovered that 41% of failed bike MOTs final yr have been because of defective lamps and reflectors, making it the primary explanation for failures. Regardless of being one of many best issues to examine, these points left riders footing the invoice for utterly avoidable retests.
The findings, which analysed DVSA testing figures alongside its personal survey information to calculate the monetary influence of frequent MOT failures. Over the course of the yr, an estimated 15,061 bike MOT failures may have been prevented with fundamental checks. Greater than 11,000 of these have been all the way down to issues with lamps and reflectors alone. Primarily based on the proportion of riders who miss the free retest window — 10.5%, in response to a YouGov survey from December 2024 — this equates to over £35,600 in wasted prices for easy lighting points, with whole avoidable retest spend hitting £47,000 for the yr.
Brake defects have been the second most typical explanation for failure, contributing to 18% of failed checks. Structural faults and attachment points adopted at 11%, with suspension issues accounting for 10%. Whereas these could also be tougher to detect with out specialist instruments, a number of different failure classes that riders can simply test at residence have been nonetheless widespread. Tyre issues made up 9% of failures, whereas car identification points have been behind one other 4%.
Go.Evaluate additionally discovered that over the previous 5 years, avoidable bike MOT failures have value riders upwards of £210,000. With a normal MOT for a motorcycle costing as much as £29.65, those that fail because of small oversights can discover themselves paying twice — as soon as for the unique check, and once more for the retest in the event that they miss the grace interval.
Tom Banks, motoring skilled at Go.Evaluate, urged motorcyclists to take pre-test checks critically. “Our analysis reveals that hundreds of kilos is being wasted yearly on avoidable MOT failures, however making ready for the check correctly can assist you keep away from incurring further prices. There are some easy checks you could carry out at residence earlier than you e book your bike in for its MOT, they usually may prevent money and time by stopping a failure. For instance, ensure that your lights are working correctly and substitute any bulbs you must, then test the tyres’ tread depth to see in the event that they meet the minimal necessities.”
He added: “In case your bike does fail its MOT, don’t fear, you’ve nonetheless obtained a 10-day window to get it in for a free retest. If you will get it fastened earlier than this, you shouldn’t have to pay for an additional check. Keep in mind, your bike received’t be road-legal if it fails its MOT because of a harmful fault, which means your insurance coverage will seemingly turn out to be invalid as nicely. If it fails, you’ll have to get the problems rectified earlier than you may trip it once more.”
All figures within the report relate to class one and two autos (bikes) and are primarily based on official DVSA information and survey insights. Additional particulars and recommendation for riders might be discovered at Go.Evaluate.
