The Beginners Friendly Guide on Pre MOT Inspection

Hello, my fellow riders and welcome back to this MOT blogpost. Today we're going to go through a couple of tips on what to check before you take your car for an MOT.

Overview of the MOT Inspection

As I said in the beginning, this is a bit of a tutorial on things that you can check before you go to the MOT Birmingham to give you that extra fighting chance of it actually passing.

Just have a look around, this one is MOT-age and it is a Lexmoto Iska. The guy who owned this worked on a building site, so more rust than normal. Usually, rust isn't an issue unless it is actually eating into the frame like quite a bit. This one has got some surface rust, but it's fine, and all of this will be cleaned up before we sell it on.

Fork Seals and Pitting

The main thing to look out for is whether there's any oil on them. If there's any oil on the forks or down here, it means the fork seals have gone and you will need to get them replaced at some point. The fork seals have gone on this one on one side, and I'll show you a picture up here of before and after. Also, make sure there's not excessive pitting on the forks because that is classed as an MOT failure as well.

Tyres and Chain Check

tyres are supposed to have 1mm on a vehicle (it's 1.6mm on a car). Most vehicles have marks on them to show you when your tyre is down to the limit.

The chain is going to need replacing as well because it is rusted and there are going to be some stiff spots. Whoever had this previously tightened it up way too much. When you spin your wheel. If it’s fine at one point and then goes stiff, then fine again, and then stiff there are two possibilities. 

Surface Rust and Legal Requirements

Did you know that legally you do not have to have wing mirrors on your car for an MOT? Older cars don’t have to have indicators either. But what you want to do is go into your MOT station with the car as complete as possible because it just gives a better impression.

Panels and Sharp Edges

Check that all the panels are secure. These ones need fixing here somewhere. I think it might have just lost a rubber but make sure they’re secure. Also, if you’ve fallen off before and snapped your brake or clutch lever, that would be an instant fail as well.

Brake and Bearing Checks

When it comes to looking at the brakes, they want to make sure that your brakes are not seized on. So, they will lift it up, spin the wheel, and make sure it spins. They will also check the bearings on the front and back wheels and check for excessive scarring on the disc. This one’s got a little bit of scarring, but it is still fine because there is no lip along the top. Brake pads this one still have quite an amount left.

Rear Suspension and Additional Notes

On the rear suspension, again, some surface rust is fine. This has just got some surface rust on it. If you look at the shaft of the rear suspension as well, that is the same as the front. They would be looking for leaks. During car servicing Birmingham you can do a rear suspension check.

Checking the brakes, it has some scarring, but it’s not excessive and there is still material on the pad. The reason why this tyre isn’t going around very well is because that chain is way too tight.

Battery and Electrical Requirements

Legally, because it's a vehicle, it doesn’t have to be running. But it does have to have enough power in the battery to operate your rear lights, your indicators, your horn, and the front headlight. Legally, you do not have to have clocks on your car, but again, you want your car to go in as complete as possible. The car does not have to run, but you want it to be as complete as possible.

MOT Retest Strategy

What I tend to like to do with this sort of thing is take a car down to the MOT station as it is and get them to do an MOT. They will then fail it which is fine. You have two weeks to repair whatever's wrong with it and take it back.

Usually, they’ll go and check that you haven’t used it excessively over the time in between the retest. If you haven’t done that, then they will go ahead and check whatever it was that they’ve written down, and then yeah, that’s fine. 

Structural and Steering Issues

They will also check engine mounting points. If they are excessively corroded, they will fail your car. If any of them are loose, they will fail your car. There are other things that they check that they can fail the car on, but you're probably not going to be checking them anyway. This is just a quick guide on what to look out for when you are preparing for an MOT.