Trike msva test

Hi - flyingosca here, those of you with long memories will recall my numerous problems with my Yamaha xj900 trike and trying to get it ready for the MOT and ultimately (because VOSA changed their minds) the dreaded msva test.

Long story short the trike went thru the MOT and failed the sva on some 'stupid' little things.

1. Fuel tank cap was 18mm high, only 15mm is permitted although the fuel indiavtor on the other side of the tank which is the same height was ok because it does not fall under the regs.
2. Mirror edges were not 'round enough' even though they are brand new and carried the 'E' mark. My mirrors were 2mm radius and needed to be a minimum of 2.5....
3.Pillion rider foot rests were too square and stuck out too far....... ends need to be rounded.
4. Headlights on my trike are twin, and fixed together. they failed because they both dipped and had main beam. Only one is allowed to do each function so I have had to cut wires to reduce my lighting capability by 50%.
5. front mudguard was 'too thin' so I've had to fix some rubber 'edging' to it to make it less likely to cut someone if I ride into em... (I somehow feel that a plastic mudguard ain't going to be the thing that does the damage)...
6. They said the diff moved when the brakes were applied and as the trike is a hard tail this put extra strain on the rear axle where it is welded to the frame... Fair enough I suppose. When Richard Hammond in Cirencester looked at the problem for me they notriced a few crap bolts (one or two very loose) and a cracked weld so no wonder it moved!! The lads sorted the problem for me (thanks guys - do I get a discount next time?) now all that remains is for me to book it in for a retest and keep my fingers crossed for a freindly examiner!
watch this space!

good luck with the retest...can't believe the regs are so tight on things like the fuel tank cap height...who decides that 15mm is fine yet 18 is not!?

What a load of horse crock.....
I cant belive that load of rubbish they come up with.

Mind you this is why I stopped building kit cars as well, they had so many regs that you could build a car as long as it was the same as the one the kit car people built, it couldnt be an individual car.

When I was in Avonmouth for the test the other day (test took 2 hours and 20 mins by the way - you start to lose the will to live) there was a guy who sells on these kit type cars and to enable him and the examiner to get in and out of the car easily they unhooked the doors which are held in place by two hinges on each side of the wind-screen.

The car failed the test for silly things - the same as my trike but one of the fails was the fact that these exposed hinged were too 'square' and needed to be rounded in case someone cut themselves on it...

There is someone sitting behind a desk in Brussels at this moment who is quite obviosuly very seriously psychologically disturbed to come up with all this crap.

Rules and regs are fine, I have no problem with them if they lead to safety and all that. But some of these things are just plain stupid.

:o words fail me, apart from good luck for the retest! [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

BB

Firstly thanks for your advice you gave me via e-mail!

I cant believe the level of bureaucratic cr*p and red tape you are having to go thru! >:( Im "lucky" with the trike Ive just bought as its already registered as a trike and therefore will cut out ALOT of the problems and hassel your getting (hopefully), Ive just got all the fun of running a Reliant engine!!

Hope the re-test goes well for you, you deserve a break for all the had work your putting into the project. :)

Just a thought could you remove the mirrors and foot rests