An MOT test is a regular occurrence for every vehicle and new statistics from the Department for Transport have shed light on the motorbike industry. The statistics have shown that motorbikes are the vehicles that are least likely to fail an MOT test. In 2016 and 2017, 1,011,080 were tested and only 10,3734 were classed as ‘failed.’

This means that 17.7% of bikes failed at the first try. Over 41% of the failures were fixed within one hour, retested and passed, leading to a ‘final failure rate’ of 10.3%. Every other category had a final failure rate that was at least double the number of motorbikes. More than 28.6 million cars were tested and 7.7 million failed. A further 2.45 million failed but were repaired and passed within an hour. That added up to an initial failure rate of 35.4% and a final failure rate of 26.8%.

There was also a significant difference for coaches and buses, with a final failure rate of 25.1%. Goods vehicles between 3000 kg and 3500 kg achieved a failure rate of 45.4% on the first try and a final failure rate of 35.9%. Overall, the MOT final failure rate in 2016/2017 was 26.5%.

The data demonstrates that motorbikes are improving their pass rate at a faster rate than other vehicles. For example in 2009/10, the final failure rate for bikes was 13.3%. Compared to this year, there’s a big difference.

The statistics also revealed that motorbikes were failing MOTs for trivial reasons. The most common cause for failing was lighting and signalling, with 9.8%. The next most common cause was brakes at 4.8% and then steering at 3.9%. In comparison, 18.3% of cars had lighting problems, 12.2% failed on suspension and 10% failed on brakes.

This means that motorcyclists are skilled at looking after their vehicles and are constantly improving.