Hondog failed MOT

**Mad Ax** · 04-05-12, 15:14

...but not too badly for a 52Kmile hack

Front sidelight is apparently the wrong colour. This surprised me somewhat, since the bulb was supplied with the cheapo aftermarket headlamp that I fitted. I didn't realise having a yellow sidelight bulb and a white dip/main bulb counts as a fail, but no biggy - a new bulb will be easy to fit. I hope. Maybe I'll get the nail varnish remover on the existing bulb and see if it takes off the yellow colouring

Front headlamp aim is too low. However this isn't a major problem because adjusting it is as easy as breathing on the headlamp, for which it also failed.

So this weekend I'll be finding a replacement bulb and making a new bracket to secure the back of the lamp to the bottom yoke so there's some triangulation to stop it from flopping around. The lamp already has a slotted quadrant cast into the back so I doubt i'll be a hugely difficult enterprise, just a time-consuming one.

The biggest ecip fial is a blown fork seal - they looked fine when I stripped the bike down over winter, and I've only ridden it a handful of times since it went back together, but the back of the right fork leg is in a hell of a state - literally plastered with oil.

I'm royally short of cash at the moment, but I'm also hugely short of time and don't have the necessary tools for doing fork seals, so I've justified whipping off both fork legs and running them up to Morpheus in Kingswood next week, hopefully to get them back in time for next weekend so I can get the bike back to the testers within the 10 day retest limit. Morphues quoted an all-in price of £70 for changing the dust and oil seals and refilling with fresh oil.

Fingers crossed for a flying pass in 10 days time!

**1888** · 04-05-12, 15:29

First two were a bit petty. Need to do my seals also but cant get the dam centre bolts out. Must get a vice one day.

**Mad Ax** · 04-05-12, 16:15

TBH I've always thought it's petty to fail an MOT on headlamp beam needing adjustment, especially on a classic-style bike where adjusting it is as easy as grabbing hold of the lamp and giving it a tug in the right direction - but I've had a few bikes fail like that. Maybe it's something to do with the tightening up of MOTs.

I don't have any way to accurately check the headlamp beam (other than the tape-measure-on-a-wall trick) so I'll ask the tester if he can check and adjust the lamp correctly prior to starting the re-test and maybe ask why testers don't / aren't allowed to adjust the lamp during the test if it fails.

**scud** · 04-05-12, 16:27

Just whip the dust seals out of the forks and stuff tissue paper behind them, then just push the dust seals back up, if you do it before you take it for the retest it should soak up any leaks for long enough to get it through.

Should save you the cash until you can easier afford replacing the seals.

**mr nozzle** · 04-05-12, 17:18

Originally Posted by scud

Just whip the dust seals out of the forks and stuff tissue paper behind them, then just push the dust seals back up, if you do it before you take it for the retest it should soak up any leaks for long enough to get it through.

Should MAKE you the cRash until you can easier afford replacing the seals.

Corrected for you. Oil all over the front brake disc, not good!

**1888** · 04-05-12, 18:30

Originally Posted by mr nozzle

Corrected for you. Oil all over the front brake disc, not good!

And it pisses out that much for that to happen. Yeah right.

**Mad Ax** · 07-05-12, 12:10

Managed to lift the front of the bike and rest the headers on a roll of mains cable and a borrowed dumbell weight so I could drop the forks out. Will get the GF to drop 'em in to Morpheus tomorrow to get 'em fixed up - haven't got time to do it myself over the next couple of months.

Haven't made the bracket to secure the lamp yet but I'm kind of envisaging that it won't be that difficult! At least, not as difficult as my usual attempts to make brackets... Pretty sure I've got some stainless sheet at my parents that will hold the lamp in place nicely if I bend it into a suitable shape.

**ink ink** · 07-05-12, 13:58

Originally Posted by mr nozzle

Corrected for you. Oil all over the front brake disc, not good!

Worst is when it squirts in your eye.

**a_morti** · 07-05-12, 15:02

Got any old meccano? Ideal for all sorts of bodge up brackets.

**Big Pete** · 07-05-12, 17:45

Originally Posted by scud

Just whip the dust seals out of the forks and stuff tissue paper behind them, then just push the dust seals back up, if you do it before you take it for the retest it should soak up any leaks for long enough to get it through.

Should save you the cash until you can easier afford replacing the seals.

Old skool pound saver - been there and done that one a few times when I was skint.

Originally Posted by mr nozzle

Corrected for you. Oil all over the front brake disc, not good!

At worst it makes a mess on the fork leg - before you put the tissue in. If you are generating high enough pressure to squirt oil out, you haven't got a big enough airspace and leaking seals are the least of your worries.

USD's can be grim, but the tissue trick works fine on conventional forks.

**fernando** · 08-05-12, 00:02

I thought meccano was so collectable now, would be criminal to use it on an old hack

**Tomcat** · 08-05-12, 08:41

Originally Posted by Mad Ax

TBH I've always thought it's petty to fail an MOT on headlamp beam needing adjustment, especially on a classic-style bike where adjusting it is as easy as grabbing hold of the lamp and giving it a tug in the right direction - but I've had a few bikes fail like that. Maybe it's something to do with the tightening up of MOTs.

I don't have any way to accurately check the headlamp beam (other than the tape-measure-on-a-wall trick) so I'll ask the tester if he can check and adjust the lamp correctly prior to starting the re-test and maybe ask why testers don't / aren't allowed to adjust the lamp during the test if it fails.

Probably because if they did it for one type of bike people would moan if they didn't do it for all and then they'd get stuck for all sorts of other little free rectifications that the owner should have done before presenting the bike for test. I agree it's only a petty thing though and one I've got round by having a good relationship with the tester (the old thing about using your small local bike shop!).

Should have spotted the fork seal thing though... oily rings on the forks are one thing, an oily mess down the back of them is another entirely!!