The World of Autojumbles at your FIngertips

Against

The vast majority of these incompetent repairs as well as plain old neglect were not all down to amateurs and self taught mechanics. Several were carried out by people who should have known better.

How many of today’s enthusiasts know how to systematically check over a car or motorcycle to a good safety standard? It’s all very well saying I have a friend who helps me to keep things running but is that friend a qualified mechanic to MoT inspection standards or is he just another enthusiast with a self taught mechanical ability? These people are quite often great enthusiasts and mates who no doubt start out with the best intentions and want to help keep their friend’s bikes running and perhaps save them some money on dealer servicing charges at the same time.

If you are old enough, just think back to pre-MoT days. It was not unusual to see canvas showing through the rubber carcass of tyres. Buckled wheel rims were not uncommon and the angle between brake arm and cable were way over that optimum 90 degrees. This is exactly why the MoT test came in. It was to improve safety all round and that is exactly what it has done. So why get rid of a proven system?

For a pensioner, motoring is getting more expensive and to abolish MoT charges would help financially each year when that worrying MoT time comes around. But why do old bikes cost the same to MoT as a modern bike? We have all experienced how quick a vintage or classic MoT is compared to a modern bike that will need emission checks and all the other modern devices checking etc. No, we should not abolish the MoT test for pre-1960 vehicles, just give us a sensibly reduced charge to reflect the amount of checking needed.

Dave Blanchard.
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