MOT & Lights

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by Dangerous Dave

The thing to remember is, if you have switch then you must have a light that works and if you have a light/lense you must have a switch that works it.

You sure? You can have as many switches as you like, if you are not required to have a light then it doesn't have to be fitted just because you have a switch on the handlebar. Likewise a light doesn't have to have a switch (I can't turn the headlight off on my K5), unless it is a light that must be controlled, for example a high beam, but even then it doesn't specify a switch.

They TL failed because of a switch, well it would have failed if I didn't know the bloke.

[Red Herring]

Which switch, and what didn't it operate?

Headlights, still had the OEM switch gear fitted on the right.

[Red Herring]

Did you have a rear position lamp?

Originally Posted by Red Herring

Did you have a rear position lamp?

No, all I have is a brake light (only operates with the brake using a pressure switch).

[northwind]

Yeah, there's a fair amount of silliness in the MOT regs. Like, my bike has no front position light, it's not a requirement. But if it did have one, and it didn't work, that's a fail. Every year, I nearly fail for this, and have to tell the tester that it's not a blown bulb, it just doesn't exist (he always thinks the position light is in the headlight). And because the rules are so daft, lots of people get passed when they shouldn't, or told "I shouldn't pass that but I will" when actually there's no choice, and then go on the internet and say "This is the law because my MOT tester said so" and THEN, they post that 10-year-old document off the internet and say "Look, here's all the MOT stuff" when you can tell at a glance it wasn't even complete when it was current, and now it's incomplete and ancient.

Originally Posted by northwind

no front position light, it's not a requirement. But if it did have one, and it didn't work, that's a fail.

Correct, I have the same problem every year....

Sorry to digress but I thought I'd tell you what I saw on telly the other night.

On a road wars or some such program a copper pulled a track bike for no lights etc. The copper and fella had to wait for a vehicle inspector to get there who then had to read through his rulebook to find that it was ok as it was on a daylight MOT. He said it was a blo*dy stupid law and by the time they were done the biker had to wait for a mate with a trailer to collect him as it'd gone dark!

Originally Posted by teriyakimonkey

On a road wars or some such program a copper pulled a track bike for no lights etc. The copper and fella had to wait for a vehicle inspector to get there who then had to read through his rulebook to find that it was ok as it was on a daylight MOT. He said it was a blo*dy stupid law and by the time they were done the biker had to wait for a mate with a trailer to collect him as it'd gone dark!

Very old repeat that...

Yes the rules are stupid and complex, even the coppers do not know them because it is not something they deal with often (or even once a year). I have nothing fitted to the TL, including switches, except a brake light. This has never caused any problems, I went for a brake light for safety more than anything when taking it for a quick trundle along the public roads. All I do is pull the box connector out from the wiring and the light is disabled and ready for track use.