Motorcycle riders throughout the UK wasted greater than £35,000 on MOT retests between April 2023 and April 2024 due to an issue they might have noticed with a easy at-home verify. New analysis from Go.Evaluate bike insurance coverage has discovered that 41% of failed bike MOTs final 12 months had been attributable to 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 fully avoidable retests.
The findings, which analysed DVSA testing figures alongside its personal survey information to calculate the monetary impression of widespread MOT failures. Over the course of the 12 months, an estimated 15,061 bike MOT failures might have been averted with fundamental checks. Greater than 11,000 of these had been all the way down to issues with lamps and reflectors alone. Based mostly on the proportion of riders who miss the free retest window — 10.5%, in line with 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 12 months.
Brake defects had been the second most typical explanation for failure, contributing to 18% of failed exams. Structural faults and attachment points adopted at 11%, with suspension issues accounting for 10%. Whereas these could also be more durable to detect with out specialist instruments, a number of different failure classes that riders can simply verify at dwelling had been nonetheless widespread. Tyre issues made up 9% of failures, whereas automobile identification points had been behind one other 4%.
Go.Evaluate additionally discovered that over the previous 5 years, avoidable bike MOT failures have price riders upwards of £210,000. With a regular MOT for a bike costing as much as £29.65, those that fail attributable to small oversights can discover themselves paying twice — as soon as for the unique take a look at, and once more for the retest in the event that they miss the grace interval.
Tom Banks, motoring knowledgeable at Go.Evaluate, urged motorcyclists to take pre-test checks critically. “Our analysis exhibits that 1000’s of kilos is being wasted yearly on avoidable MOT failures, however getting ready for the take a look at correctly might help you keep away from incurring additional prices. There are some easy checks that you could carry out at dwelling earlier than you e-book your bike in for its MOT, and so they might prevent money and time by stopping a failure. For instance, make sure that your lights are working correctly and substitute any bulbs you could, then verify 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 bought a 10-day window to get it in for a free retest. If you will get it mounted earlier than this, you shouldn’t must pay for one more take a look at. Keep in mind, your bike gained’t be road-legal if it fails its MOT attributable to a harmful fault, which means your insurance coverage will seemingly change into invalid as nicely. If it fails, you’ll must get the problems rectified earlier than you may experience 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.
