Has anyone experience of this? My bike (Suzuki GS500) has just failed its MOT because of 'deformed handlebars'. These are the same handlebars it has had since new, 9 years ago, and look perfectly OK to me and every other MOT tester in the past. I'll post some photos shortly, but I wondered if anyone had tried appealing an MOT, and the sort of timescale involved. I've got the necessary form, which has to be sent off with another £30, although you do get that back if they agree with you. However, I want to be back on the road, and I'm pretty sure another tester would pass it straight away, which seems the sensible thing to do, but I'm still pretty annoyed at the original tester.
Any thoughts welcome.
|
Which ever way you go JB it is likely to cost you money (Re test or appeal)
Have you tried a bit of detective work and sort out the opinion of other motor cycle tester (visit)/VOSA (telephone: E Mail). You will obviously have some evidence from the makers that the h/bars fitted were standard at time of purchase. If all in favour then those that refused MOT can be reported to VOSA and small claimed for cost of new MOT.
dvd
|
what the hell is a "deformed" handlebar? Did you ask him what he meant?
|
Beat me to it, Zero.
The tester at the place I use for bike MOTs always explains any advisories / failures in detail, as well as usually offering tips on the easiest and cheapest way to rectify them.
I'd be tempted to put it in for another test elsewhere to get mobile again, then contact VOSA.
|
"I'd be tempted to put it in for another test elsewhere to get mobile again, then contact VOSA."
I wasn't sure if I could, but I don't see anything on the form that says you can't have another test done in the meantime!
As DVD says, this is going to cost money whichever way we slice it. I gather that the testers who deal with appeals are pretty thorough and might be reluctant to pass judgement on a fellow tester who was expressing an opinion. One of the bends in the bars is slightly oval (as bent tube often is) but its mate the other side isn't, and our man claims this is deformity* and evidence of undue force. I think it's letter of the law vs spirit of the law, but if I can get a pass elsewhere, I shall feel a lot happier!
*Mentioned in 2.1.1b of the manual. Replaces 'bent' I gather...
Last edited by: J Bonington Jagworth on Mon 28 Jun 10 at 15:33
|
from the description of the ovality im with the tester,he assumes i think that the bike has been on its side? and the handlebar deformation could cause it to go out of shape if you hit a pothole?
maybe
why didnt you object to his wisdom at the time?
i sometimes do at my mot place if an error is being made
we all have a big fight in the carpark and whoever gets the most blows in is declared the winner
simples
and i gets me mot
|
"why didnt you object to his wisdom at the time?"
I did, but he was bigger than me. :-(
|
Thanks, FT. I had found that, but only just! I guess it's down to interpretation of rules, but they still look OK to me...
farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4742878788_51bc98a5a7_b.jpg
farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4742879052_6f15c3235f_b.jpg
|
|
first photo it does look very flattened (left picture to the left of the fork head?)
|
How much would new bars cost relative to the hassle?
They look standard to me, or is there something we can't see that makes them unique to that bike?
|
£64.31!
I had thought of that, and it would have been a sensible way out if a) they'd been cheaper, or b) I'd wanted something different. Getting them off's a bind, too, as those fancy chrome-headed bolts you can see the tops of on the clamps are free to rotate and the nuts underneath have nylon inserts...
Last edited by: J Bonington Jagworth on Mon 28 Jun 10 at 17:49
|
|
Trick of the light there! The tube is round everywhere except the upward bend to the right of the RH clamp, where there is about 1.5mm ovality. It would have taken quite a knock to bend it up, and I've only ever dropped it (while stationary) on the other side! The bars are the same as when I bought it in 2004...
|
|
They look OK to me on the face of it. Take it elsewhere ,if you are confident ,but ask for a second opinion pre MOT.
|
>> It would have
>> taken quite a knock to bend it up, ...........
The flattening of the bend suggests that it's been bent down, not up.
|
>> farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4742878788_51bc98a5a7_b.jpg
If you hold something straight against the picture so that it skims the tops of the bends in the bar on both sides, it looks like the bit beyond the bend on the left is pointing down more than on the right.
Or hold your straight thing (...) along the top of the middle bit of the bar - again, you can see more of the left hand grip than the right.
Just the way it looks on my screen.
Last edited by: Focus on Tue 29 Jun 10 at 15:43
|
>> Thanks, FT. I had found that, but only just! I guess it's down to interpretation
>> of rules, but they still look OK to me...
They look OK to me, too - I can't see any damage. Are the bar ends all scuffed up and abraded?
A thought - did he really mean "deformed handlebars", or was the actual problem one of the other items under the same heading - for instance, bars loose in clamps?
>> farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4742878788_51bc98a5a7_b.jpg
Why are you driving down that tiny road? Is it at Cadwell?
|
More likely being led up a garden path.
Scrappie cheaper maybe ?
|
The bars look to me as though they need sliding to the right a bit and the right is slightly higher than the left.
Still going to have to slacken the clamps a bit. How about sliding the throttle off and a rag and a piece of tube sliding on and a quick tweak downwards?
|
People much less scrupulous than I might consider fitting foam padding to the handlebars, thus rendering an inspection impossible.
|
|
Perish the thought, NC! Although you've just reminded me that my old BMW had a plastic panel that covered the steering head...
|
|
I thought that FC, but I have a feeling that the bars are keyed in that position. In any case, the bar ends are equidistant from the centre, so any slight asymmetry in the middle is compensated elsewhere. I think the RHS might be very slightly higher than the left, but I don't suppose I'm entirely symmetrical myself!
Last edited by: J Bonington Jagworth on Wed 30 Jun 10 at 10:04
|
"Are the bar ends all scuffed up and abraded?"
Absolutely not. The whole bike is in remarkably good order, considering her age and very sporadic TLC from me.
The tester tried to insist that the ovality was proof that they had been bent and that there were 'stress cracks' in the chrome. He back-pedalled a bit on this when I asked him to point them out, but still insisted it was a failure. I would have accepted an advisory that it might require future attention, but he got all defensive and wouldn't back down, presumably because he'd already done the (electronic) paperwork.
I'm taking it elsewhere today, so we shall see...
|
Passed! I may have found myself a new tester... :-)
Actually, he was very thorough, but also sympathetic and a proper enthusiast. His wife, who runs front of shop, has two Ariel twins, one modified for 1/4 mile sprinting!
He didn't mention the bars, so nor did I.
|
Some years ago I presented my 1942 WLA Harley for test. Tester went through it and rejected it on the grounds that the frame was bent.
When I queried where the damage was, he said it was the front downtube; yes there is a curve in it but it's by design, you'd never bend the damn thing like that without access to a forge and an anvil. They're all like that says I. I've heard that before says he.
Ended up having to go home and fetch the official workshop manual, along with pictures of a friend's rebuild which he'd fortunately sent me; this in pre-internet days of course.
Took it elsewhere after that; my advice to anyone with older, or slightly modified bikes, is find out where your local Vintage Motor Cycle Club section get theirs done and try that.
|
|
One tried to fail my 1963 Honda on the grounds that the bush that stops the front brake rotating was too soft-I pointed out that there was no play in it and as for the softness,they were all like that-it passed but he did lend me a spanner and assist me in resetting the rear wheel so that it was parallel with the frame.
|
Bertha (GSX1400) is booked in for it's MOT tomorrow. It's quite a ride away but well worth it:)
This is a proper old fashioned village garage run by two brothers who are well into their 60's, with attended service fuel pumps out front and a small workshop at the back which does repairs and MOT's.
It's a thorough, but fair MOT but you do have to push the bike around for them as you could knock the pair of them over with a small spanner!
The brake test is done with a set of calibrated scales to measure the force pulling against the bike. They still work in inches so the size of the numberplate isn't critical, it also helps that they both seem to be a little deaf!
Whilst waiting for the alloted time for an MOT to pass, you can marvel at the immense range of stuff they have worked on over the years by viewing the photo gallery on the wall and it becomes an annual meeting place for bikers as they have the MOT.
If I told you where it was, I would have to kill you!
Pat
|
"the photo gallery on the wall"
That's always a good sign, I feel. My 'new' place has some photos of Santa Pod taken in the 60's and some of the bikes he's used over the years. Proper old-fashioned garages are becoming a rarity, but that's progress, allegedly...
|
|
My 1985 Honda CB125TDC failed once because of a small amount of up and down free play in the rear swing arm. Having spent £40 on new rear bushes for the monoshock linkages, the play was still there. The tester passed it 2nd time round as he said the free play was less than before - total rubbish, the amount of play was still the same. Speaking later to a Honda bike dealer, I was told that providing the free play wasn't there when the bike is off the centre stand then it's fine because the weight of the bike takes up any slack in the suspension linkages. Suffice to say I never took my bike there again. I now use a guy who owns several bikes, both modern and veteran, and it has passed every year since replacing the bushes 15 or more years ago.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 1 Jul 10 at 10:35
|
|
Does their surname (or possibly their dad's) begin with "D"?
|
No FT, it's JDW & Sons
Pat
|
|
The people I was thinking of sound remarkably similar - good thing thare are still some like this around!
|
It's just off the A17 between Kings Lynn and Long sutton........and Bertha passed, of course:)
Pat
|
"without access to a forge and an anvil"
Sounds reasonable - I assume that's what the makers used! :-)
|
The plot thickens. I was about to compose a grumpy letter to the original garage, and only then spotted several advisories on the original failure notice (I hadn't got past the front sheet before!).
Among these were 'worn tyre' notices (the tread is way above the wear indicators and measures between 2.4 and 2.9mm in the centre of both tyres) and mention of the clutch lever, which I shortened after its one and only contact with the road.
This means it doesn't have the ball end, but it doesn't stick out either, and the end is smooth and polished, and I was told explicitly by a previous tester that it wasn't an issue anyway. The reference quoted against the notice is 6.2.1g, and the mystery is that the bike MOT manual runs out at section 6.1, which is the bit about the horn. Is there another manual I don't know about?
|
|
Was the original tester part of a motorcycle business or was it as a bolt on to some other business ?
|
|
Can the new tester not see how it failed the last time?
|
Glad it went through. I too would be interested to know the second tester's view on the original failure.
On a related note, for anyone further saaarf (Reading / Basingstoke / Camberley ish) areas, I can recommend a good, fair bike test centre if anyone needs one.
Mods - is it worth having a sticky thread for recommended garages / repair people? Always nice to share good experiences, and help people avoid getting ripped off.
Cheers
DP
|
>> Mods - is it worth having a sticky thread for recommended garages / repair people?
This was raised by one of the other mods a little while ago. Certainly a consideration.
|
>> >> Mods - is it worth having a sticky thread for recommended garages / repair
>> >> people?
>>
>> Certainly a consideration.
You have to have a little care - I'd be inclined to limit the ability to recommend to those who've made above a certain number of posts, or something similar, to avoid the problems thap plague "trip advisor" or sites of that ilk.
|
>> You have to have a little care -
I think I was getting confused with another suggestion that was previously made - a useful links area. Ultimately not my decision, but I'll put it to the boss when I next chat with him.
|
|
I didn't ask him, I'm afraid, MM. If I'd spotted the advisories, I would have asked about those, though. I wouldn't wear my tyres down to 1mm anyway, but I've no idea what prompted the comment.
|
It is a bike business, PU, but I think most of their business is scooters (wince) so maybe the tester has it in for bikers. To be fair, they do have one or two bikes in the window, but I think they're just there for show. I can't see many people migrating from a 50cc Kymco to a Yamaha V-max (they had a s/h one for sale)...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yamaha_1700_VMax.jpg
Still curious about the new section in the MOT manual, though!
|
|
A friend had a Vmax - huge thing !
|
|
The V-Max is a crazy bike. Can easily be tuned to over 200 bhp! Very popular with the drag racing fraternity. :)
|
I think you'll find that the current version (now 1.7 litres) makes nearly 200hp as standard! Mind you, it's not exactly light, but I guess you need something to hold the wheels down.
And I remember being impressed by the 6-cylinder Honda CRX, which claimed 100hp...
|
>> I think you'll find that the current version (now 1.7 litres) makes nearly 200hp as
>> standard!
It's a monster. But eye wateringly expensive at £20,000!!
I loved the unpretentious attitude of the old one. Just built to go very very quickly in a straight line. Handling? Pah, it's for wimps. :-)
Mind you, I hear that holeshot racing offer a 600bhp twin turbo conversion on the new one..... Gulp.
|
MOT appeal - Dwight Van Driver
