Bikes and scooters too

It is the part of what we do that people have been finding out about by word of mouth rather than from this website. So, plainly: yes, bring the bike.

Same testers, same garage on Annfield Road, same quote-before-we-start and the same straight answer about what it needs.

• MOT testingClass 1 and class 2, solo or with a sidecar.
• ServicingTo the manufacturer’s schedule for your bike.
• TyresSupplied and fitted for bikes and scooters.
• RepairsBrakes, suspension, engine work and electrics.

What an MOT costs

DVSA caps the motorcycle test fee, and it is a good deal less than a car:

• Solo motorbike or scooter, any engine size — maximum £29.65
• With a sidecar — maximum £37.80
• Three-wheeler up to 450 kg unladen — maximum £37.80

Those are the legal ceilings rather than our price, so ring us for ours. A bike needs its first MOT on the third anniversary of its registration, then every year, and testing it up to a month minus a day early keeps the same renewal date. Riding without one can cost you up to £1,000 — GOV.UK will tell you the date free from the registration.

Servicing a bike

Bikes are less forgiving than cars about being left. There is no bodywork hiding the drivetrain from salt and rain, the oil capacity is a fraction of a car’s so it works harder and degrades faster, and a chain that has been ignored will wear its sprockets out with it rather than politely failing on its own.

Service intervals are set by the manufacturer, usually by mileage or by time, whichever comes first — and the time limit is the one that catches out a bike that only comes out in summer. Tell us what you ride and roughly when it was last done and we will look up what yours is due.

Tyres and repairs

Describe what it is doing — a noise, a leak, something that has changed about how it brakes, steers or runs — and we will find out what it actually is before quoting. Nothing gets done without your say-so, same as with the cars. What we take on:

• Tyres — supplied and fitted for bikes and scooters
• Brakes — pads, discs, fluid and the rest of the system
• Suspension — forks and rear shocks
• Engine work
• Electrics — charging, starting and the fiddly intermittent ones
• Chains, sprockets and drive, and the fluids that go with a service

If something turns out to be more specialist than we would take on, we will tell you that straight rather than have a go. That is worth more to you than a garage that says yes to everything.

Electric bikes, e-mopeds and which is which

This one catches people out, and the answer depends on what you have rather than what it is called.

An electrically assisted pedal cycle — pedals, a motor of no more than 250 watts, and assistance that cuts out at 15.5 mph — is legally a bicycle. No MOT, no tax, no insurance, no licence, and you need to be 14 or over. Nothing for us to test.

Anything beyond that is a moped or a motorcycle in law however it was sold: it has to be registered and taxed, you need a licence, a helmet and insurance, and it needs an MOT once it is three years old. If you are unsure which yours is, ring us and describe it — it is a five-minute conversation, not a trip across town.

Booking a bike in

The online diary only handles cars and vans at the moment, so bikes go through the phone or a message. Ring 01382 690898 or send us a message with the make, model and registration, and say whether it is an MOT, a service or something that needs looking at.