National Bike Test

Silent Shrill

There have been many discussions on the subject, but never anything has changed.

Europe states we should have one, Ireland states, "what? for a few thousand motorcycles that would take the test". it just seems a financial disaster for a company to come in, (like the NCT test), and stand around all day twiddling their thumbs, waiting to pounce on the next victim.

I know we're in Europe, and bound by the idiocracy we see, but Ireland seems to stand on things, (which in all honesty is needed), and agrees to stopping turf producing, sugar refining, work that employed many people here, and then import it from abroad. It makes absolutely no sense to the normal thinking man.

What is wrong with using the many motorcycle dealers/workshops, (spread all over the country), and get them to do the test? Obviously not dictating, but putting out tenders to them, with a cost, to have a license to do the test. I would bet all the motorbike dealers would be wanting it. More employment, safer motorbikes, that's just my main 2 reasons, and what do you get for this test? the same as the NCT test, it has undergone the main essentials for safety.

Yes, yes,.....I know some of you are anti paying for a test, but some are anti paying for anything, so join the long line of moaners.

I, for one, being a biker for over 40 years, know what a bike with very little maintenance is actually like to ride. I would not want that for my son/daughter to experience TBH. Nothing but grief. At least if it has some form of test that states it is roadworthy for the next 1/2/3/4/ years, or whatever,.......is that not a good thing?

larchielads

Does the nct not mean that the car was road worthy on the day of the test only and doesn't have to be tested for another 1 or 2 yrs depending on year of the car. Don't think it means it's safe for 1 or 2 years. If that is the case then your bike would only be safe on the day of the test too but the next week somethin goes wrong with yer bike, back u go to the private bike garage that done your test complaining they said bike is grand for year or whatever and yer bike is broke. Can't see many bike garages takin that kind of risk.

Henry Ford III

NCT is an inspection on the day and not a warranty.

It'd make a lot of sense for bike shops to do NCTs.

listermint

So is the OP saying they aren't teaching their son or daughter the basics of looking after their bike and checking things over before riding it ? But a once every other year test will be better than that ....

Where do I sign OP .. where do I .... Sign ..

BronsonTB

There was bike testing plans and thankfully they were scrapped..

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-20233162.html

'What is wrong with using the many motorcycle dealers/workshops, (spread all over the country)'

Because some of these have a local monopoly & know only too well how to rip off customers beacuse they have no choice to use them. Are you in a big city with multiple bike shops available??

geotrig



☝️

 this as workshops are thin on the ground in most places, there is a good mentality for most motorbike owners anyway and most are kept in good order

galwaytt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118046415#Comment_118046415

for shops yes, for owners not so much.

France have already said No to this, as have Finland, NL is (I think) about to as well. Belgium don't have one.

Makes zero sense here economically, and much like NCT's for cars, we've yet to see any evidence that poor maintenance has a measurable effect on accident statistics.

All you have to do is look at the Garda Twitter account and see vehicles -with NCT & DoE - regularly failing roadside inspection for things like tyres, brakes, lights. So adding a bureaucratic and cost layer to motorcycling won't be any different.

That and the fact who would YOU let work/inspect your bike... ?

Henry Ford III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118046880#Comment_118046880

I can appreciate those issues, but once you accept that motorbikes need to be inspected regularly to attempt to ensure a level of RTA compliance and safety, you've got to look at the easiest and most efficient way of getting that done.

MOT testing has been done for many years by private firms in the UK, and whilst it's not perfect it is comparable to our NCT.

Gearing up the existing NCT stations to handle motorbikes would be horrendously expensive given the population - and guess who'd end up paying for that?

GBX

Bike mechanic numbers are thin on the ground. If they add this to the NCT, what standard do they use? Who is going to be trained to do the inspecting - the car testers ? Would those testers need to be motorbike trained/licensed - would take a lot of time to implement should the authorities decide to proceed.

geotrig

and just wait till they drop our "precious"

galwaytt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118046959#Comment_118046959

aye, there's the thing too.

Every NCT tester has a car licence - legal requirement.

How many have bike licences ?......

Of course, I could dust down my bike credentials from the top shelf (gathering dust), for a ridiculous fee :)

Henry Ford III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118046959#Comment_118046959

They'd use the UK standard or very similar presumably.

Going down the NCT route wouldn't be viable I reckon. There are reputable motorbike shops/dealers who could handle this work.

galwaytt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118047117#Comment_118047117

I'd imagine the car industry would then want car garages to do NCT on cars, so that's a can of worms any Dept would want to stay well away from. The contract to Applus is hundreds of millions of Euro, and they're not going to lie down on it either.

And remember, how many of us own multiple bikes ... ?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118046977#Comment_118046977

Absolutely, I don't want the nct guys handling my xdiavel.

Henry Ford III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118049022#Comment_118049022

So with a positive hat on what's your suggestion?

galwaytt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118051326#Comment_118051326

Roadside inspection by AGS is plenty sufficient : the laws or roadworthiness already exist. We don't need another layer of anything.

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118046939#Comment_118046939

The MOT is riddled with corruption, they have a big market so you can always find a place to pass your vehicle, and have a look at our old DOE, to see what happens in a small market with mandatory testing. Even Northern Ireland went with an NCT like setup for their car testing instead of MOT and that is why are we have the CVRT setup like the NCT.

The amount of cars I see which aren't safe is massive and we've had the NCT for years, look at the tyres next time your in a supermarket. If the operators aren't checking their vehicles regularly then how often should we have a mandatory inspection? Because talk to any mechanic and they'll tell you that people only fix issues for the NCT.

Henry Ford III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118065170#Comment_118065170

So what would regime of testing would you suggest for bikes here?

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118065338#Comment_118065338

The only system that works is the NCT, but we don't have enough bikes here to make it viable for a company to do this, and the NCT only proves that the car passed the checks they do on the day the test was done, it's possible to make a car dangerous driving out of the NCT centre and it could be driven for 27 months like this. If we are to do checks as said road side checks of ALL vehicles should be done, the RSA already do this for HGV's and buses it can easily be extended to cars and bikes.

Henry Ford III

Random checks by their nature won't cover every vehicle though. Live away from the main centres of population and your vehicle might never get checked.

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118065783#Comment_118065783

An annual check is not much better, its OK for 1 day of the year the other 364 it can be a death trap.

Hotblack Desiato

Sledgehammer to crack a nut if ever there was one, mechanical issues cause less than 1% of motorcycle accidents.

As stated above the MOT in the UK is completely corrupt, even the dodgiest of dealers will have a full MOT on every car or bike they are flogging, what does that tell you?

What is wrong with using the many motorcycle dealers/workshops, (spread all over the country), and get them to do the test?

The obvious conflict of interest?

We all hear far too many stories of incompetent / crooked dealers, imagine if they could "fail" your bike and then name their price to make it legal again?

Anyone who is in favour of mandatory bike inspection in Ireland is breathtakingly naive and/or simply hasn't thought it through.

As for thinking that a piece of paper awarded on a certain day makes a vehicle safe, roadworthy or even legal for 1, 2 or whatever years - jesus wept 🙄

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118046415#Comment_118046415

Conflict of interest would need to be managed with an iron fist.

1st: Prevent fraudulent failures to drive repair business

2nd: Prevent pressure brought to bear on test customers to get their bike fixed in that shop, rather than a local (cheaper) mechanic.

listermint

Still trying to understand what specific measurable problem Henry is trying to solve for here.....

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118074489#Comment_118074489

That's like saying the government should ban crime 🙄

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118074686#Comment_118074686

Which points to the idea that there is no way local shops could do an independent test...2

What would be the issue in the main NCT centres having a bike mech there? If such a test were actually required

Hotblack Desiato

Such tests are not required and we're not the only EU country opting out of them.

There's a shortage of competent bike mechanics in the country already. I don't want some gimp with a one week training course moving my bike around or riding it around a test centre.

Plenty of iffy stuff happening with the NCT already, I had the wife's car failed once due to "brake pad wear" front and rear supposedly, it was easily seen without removing the wheels that the front pads were well within spec (less than half worn), the rear pads can't be checked without removing the wheels but when I did it was obvious the pads were almost like new. So this guy's x-ray vision must have been a bit off that day... 🙄

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118075501#Comment_118075501

The Northern Irish government, who keep saying that the follow Britain even thought they have lots different, went with the Irish system for their vehicle checks. If you can get flat earth creationists to say that copying the British system is bad it must be bad.

The NCT centres are already full dealing with cars and the CVRT centres with commercial vehicles. Where would they magic up the space for bikes? The cost of equipment wouldn't make it viable for all centres to a bike test which would mean that some people could have to travel for several hours to get a test.

galwaytt

On the issue of 'local' shops, what local shops ?

There is almost none west of the Shannon - you can't expect people to travel 100's of kms for a test in any case.

BronsonTB

Any bike testing plans are scrapped for now so nothing will change OP.

batman_oh

No, another layer of rubbish and cost (like we don't pay enough for everything already) that will achieve almost nothing useful and will just annoy people.