UK Motorcycle regulations - Basics

[MCTID]

I bought a new Suzuki GT 500 in Canada in 1975. The law at that time in Canada was that when the ignition was switched on, the lights also came on. Over the years I got used to switching on the lights - in my car as well as my bikes - when I started the engine....it just seemed common sense to me and although we shouldn't have to do these things, I always think that you are a long time dead, so why not.

Personally I can't understand the thinking behind not showing lights at all times, and not wearing some brightly coloured and reflective kit and therefore being easily seen by all and sundry.

There are some very smart Lawyers out there who will chop you into little pieces in a court of law if you fail to do all that you can to make yourself more visible and if you don't, when that tw*t in the 40 Tonne Truck has flattened you and your bike, they will easily make out to the Magistrate that you were actually an 'Accident waiting to happen'. Honest it happens every week up and down the country.

As a Health and Safety Practitioner I know just how easy it is for clever lawyers to make you out to be the 'Guilty party' - so please don't make it any easier for them.

Ignition on....Lights on.......Hi Vis clothing/ vest/ bright and reflective strips on your clothing/ light or white coloured helmet.

You know it makes sense.

[andy120t]

Ignition on....Lights on.......Hi Vis clothing/ vest/ bright and reflective strips on your clothing/ light or white coloured helmet.

You know it makes sense.

Ignition on - ride the wretched thing...  I appreciate and understand the sentiments voiced above but 'motorikes are vulnerable'. Wear what you want to wear; ride what you want to ride; hi-viz makes a lot of sense but it's not for everyone.   

....and having written that, I've been driving today and was amazed at how far away I could see some thatchers in hi-viz jackets on a barn roof. about a mile or so away across a field)- which made me realise how much more visible we can be - so it's about approriate visibility items  on clothing, not just a  huge yellow coat?

[Tomb]

I think Frank Shepherd must've turned a blind eye to the brake light for the MOT, unless the rules were different then, as it had no electrics whatsoever ( magneto ignition).

If you have no lights fitted there is no requirement for brake light. Get a copy of the MOT testers handbook, theres a little side bar of exclusions in the left column.

https://www.mot-testing.service.gov.uk/documents/manuals/m1s01000301.htm

From.....
https://www.mot-testing.service.gov.uk/documents/manuals/m1i00000101.htm


Tom (worked in MOTing)

[mike the bike]

Don't get me started on twat car drivers, usually grey cars, that drive round in shitty weather with no lights on whatsoever , in stealth mode.   On a recent trip on the M4 in such weather I glanced at the driver to see what kind of idiot they were.  In no way am I being sexist here, I'm just reporting what I saw;
17 women idiots before I saw the first male idiot.
Then there's the matrix signs that warn of 'Poor Driving Conditions '   Drivers can see that for themselves,  what the signs should read is;
'put your bloody lights on'. and  'don"t drive so bloody close you bunch of twats'
Here endeth the rant,

[royhall]

Don't stop there Mike, your posts are great. Can't beat a good rant, especially when your right.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[Trigger]

The one that annoys me is riders on their hands free phones and looking at their little GPS, they have mounted between the handle bars.
Had a accident with another rider 3 years ago, who was on the phone to his missus and did not see me sitting behind him for sometime before I went to overtake him and then he decided to overtake the truck in front of him when I was up the side of him.
Hi Viz doesn't work if no one is looking at you 

[Nurse Julie]

I find the problem with hi vis jackets these days is they are used by so many people  for no apparent reason that they have lost their meaning. When you only saw people wearing them who were in a situation of danger, they stood out, not any more, they just mingle in with all the others that wear them as a fashion statement. And as for those hi vis jackets that have POLITE emblazoned on the back, making it look like POLICE, they really are stupid.

[Nurse Julie]

And......even if your riding your bike with hi vis everything on, all lights on and looking like a mobile Christmas tree, the car driver that ran into you will still say 'i didn't see you'. That's because they weren't bloody looking in the first place 

[royhall]

I find the problem with hi vis jackets these days is they are used by so many people  for no apparent reason that they have lost their meaning. When you only saw people wearing them who were in a situation of danger, they stood out, not any more, they just mingle in with all the others that wear them as a fashion statement. And as for those hi vis jackets that have POLITE emblazoned on the back, making it look like POLICE, they really are stupid.

(POLITE)That's usually horse riders. We have a couple near me who also put a blue flashing light under the saddle belt.  I thought impersonating a police officer was an offence. Plus, who the hell keeps horses in the middle of a town (Steptoe finished years ago).

[Nurse Julie]

Agree Roy but bike riders also wear them, their choice and right I know but they look bloody stupid.

[mike the bike]

I agree with Julie's comment about Hi Viz being so ubiquitous that it loses it's impact.  I've got a hi viz Stanley knife in my toolbox,  marketed as 'easy to find'.  Can't argue with that, it is easy to find.  It wouldn't be easy to find if all my tools were hi viz though.

[Tomb]

 

[Chris400F]

Nice one Tomb! Couldn't agree more!!
Threads sometimes do this, but hopefully cantarauk can weed through the posts and get some useful information to answer his original question.
Tomb's earlier post with the MOT Testers handbook links could certainly be useful.

[Bryanj]

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/585845/mot-inspection-manual-classes-1-2.pdf


should be the MOT testers manual and tell you all you need to know to pass

[cantarauk]

Thank you all for the comments and as mentioned I am weeding through to work out my requirements.

What I forgot to mention was that the bike is a UK 1972 500 that is been converted to a cafe racer of sort. Does that make any difference ?