MOT Exhaust

A recent comment by Oiler made me think about punching holes in the back plate. With a new bike the MOT is a distant thought but if you keep it, the holes would fail the test according to this:

http://www.motuk.com/Motorcycle%20MOT.asp

Technically a hole down the middle would also fail it but maybe give it more chance of it getting through. Remember these are visual checks and not noise ones. Depends on the tester of course. If I had holes in the back I'd probably make up 2 plates and stick them on just for the test. What they don't see, they don't know about!

The daft thing is, you could have an aftermarket pipe as loud as hell that passed with an advisory but a fail for a much quieter holed pipe that did not comply with the visual check! Best way would be to ak a tester if the holes would fail the bike, before taking it in for a test.

What a game eh!

Some tester are little hitlers and follow the rules to the letter while others use the discretion that the law allows actually them. Never met an MOT tester yet that would dream of getting down on one knee and shining a tourch up an exhaust but you never know when one will appear. Get friendly MOT guy and keep going back to him or just ask them if they feel it is OK as you will need an MOT soon and see what they say. If they say no way then dont go back if they say no problem then go and book the MOT. Most bike tester are OK, its mainly the big garages that are attached to showrooms that you need to stay clear of

The garage I get my bikes tested at is owned by two of the main guys from the local scrambling club. So to them if it looks OK, it is OK. Simply because any powered up scrambler will have bloody loud & ear bleeding pipes on as a rule.
As crash says, just make an enquiry but most bike test stations are pretty good & often are run by a biker.