Bikers spent £47,000 on MOT retests in the 2023/24 financial year, according to research by insurance company Go.Compare. Why is this remarkable? Well, it turns out that many retests after failures were for relatively minor problems, such as headlights, indicators, brake lights, reflectors and tyres. In fact, lights accounted for the lion’s share of more than 15,000 MOT failures, accounting for 11,440 – tyres caused 2500 failures and vehicle identification another 1114.

To arrive at the £47,000 figure, Go.Compare combined survey data with official DVSA testing figures to estimate how much was being spent on retests for fairly minor faults. Whatever the exact cause, it’s clear that a simple check of lights and tyres before heading off for the MOT could save us all time and hassle.

Interestingly, motorcycles are less likely to fail the MOT than cars (perhaps thanks largely to a lack of bodywork issues…). In July-September 2024, of 290,322 bike MOTs, almost 86% were passes – 72% of cars passed in the same period. It even appears to be improving slightly – back in 2013/14, just over 80% of bikes passed.

Jim Freeman, chair of the BMF said: “Lights & tyres, plus ca change, c’est la meme chose. Back in the day it was even more the case than it is now, I remember British and Italian bikes that I checked over, changing bulbs, checking earths, only to have something else drop off on the 10-minute journey to the MOT. What can one say to a Tester when the horn doesn’t work…because it fell off and is currently [sorry] in your pocket? Why did it fall off ? Because the mounting bracket disintegrated from the vibration. One MOT tester made a steady income from selling bulb horns. Or my 350 Mk III on which the Horn was the only reliable electrical device, how Italian is that? That’s just horns, lighting was frequently by ‘Joe Lucas, Prince of darkness’… In 2025 you’d think everything electrical would work flawlessly, apparently not. Tyres, the only thing between the rider, bike and the road, be paranoid about tyres! No excuses.”

Direct link to Go.Compare MOT Checker here

Written by Peter Henshaw

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