Oh dear Emma, sounds like you have a poorly outfit
What is the sidecar ? and what is it attached to ?
Many OLD sidecars have "adjustable" wheel bearings, which can be tightened up to remove any play or slack
Newer sidecar chassis have ball bearing races on the hub, which are easily replaced for a few pounds, so no major scare there
Unless the suspension has collapsed totally, there is no obvious reason to fail it
I think the tester just doesn't like sidecars or wants to try to make money from you
Either way they are just plain "out of order"
Lights are a perennial curse with outfits
Almost always manifests in bad earths on the wiring
I'd come and sort it if I knew where you were ?
I've had the best part of 50 years building outfits and NEVER had one fail the M O T
There may be someone nearer who knows outfits but you can PM me if you need a hand
Had a quick peek at your profile pics and I see the outfit
It will have bearings in the hub which may or not be worn, and the suspension is the same type as most lightweight trailers so they rarely fail unless all the rubber in the block disintegrates
Was it the same garage as MoT'd it in the past? If not then maybe try a second garage. I had an old BMW airhead that failed its MoT supposedly on the grounds of having a twisted frame with the wheels out of alignment by 50mm. That's a serious fail, but rather than agreeing to the garage's request that they should re-jig the frame and add some strengthening gussets, I took it to an independent and highly-qualified bike engineer who didn't actually do MoTs. He said that frankly, he didn't know what they were on about. It went to another MoT station, and passed, and stayed passed every year until I sold it. The BMW incidentally, rode hands-off in a straight line and showed none of the asymmetric tyre were I'd have expected. The tester at the first garage, a franchised dealership long out of business, did say however that all BMWs went like that because 'they had frames made out of liquorice sticks'. Guess he just didn't like BMWs.
I think he just didn't like side cars. He failed it on "Side car suspension movement is excessively stiff" ?! I don't even understand what he means?!
I've just bought it ( and the Yamaha Diversion it's attached to) so was expecting a few teething problems... but he just dismissed it. It was previously MOT'd in Ipswich ( Aargh )...
It's booked in elsewhere on Thursday, so fingers crossed, just wanted to test the water and see if this was a problem others had encountered too.
Emma, Good luck with the MOT on Thursday.
Wills,
I would like to tell that so called bike mechanic to wash his mouth out with soap. "BMW's made out of liqourice sticks", whatever next!
Good luck with MOT Emma, I'm afraid the motor trade is full of people who think they know what their doing, and some people who do know what their doing!( I'm in the trade, I think I don't know what I'm doing most of the time). Plus I'm afraid to say it. you are a lady customer (£££ signs, blag). I used to have a Vespa and Bambino sidecar, it drew crowds wherever I went, at leasr it made people laugh.
![Help, my side car failed it's MOT miserably! - Forums [Biker Match]](/images/backgrounds/strips/8mobileLQ.jpg)
![Help, my side car failed it's MOT miserably! - Forums [Biker Match]](/images/backgrounds/strips/8desktopLQ.jpg)
