Guy who did my WOF was clueless

[triple]

After going for a WOF at On The Road, Portage Rd, New Lynn. I figure out those guys just don’t have a clue what they are doing, when it comes to a bike WOF anyway. The guy made me do emergency stops using my rear brake. I wasn’t particularly happy about it and thought it unusual to do emergency stops using the rear only. He made me do it three times, on the fourth time, he lost his rag with me and said “I’ve told you the rear break only, stop using that front breaks I’m going to fail you. I looked at him and said “that’s not my break it’s the clutch man”. Then red faced filled in the form with a PASS, not even checking my front breaks at all. What do yer recon ? :

[-JC & Eleanor-]

some people just have no idea :sick:

like the cop that puld me up last night, had no idea - he assumed it was a 250 because it had "250" stickers lol :done:

JC

[erik]

After going for a WOF at On The Road, Portage Rd, New Lynn. I figure out those guys just don’t have a clue what they are doing, when it comes to a bike WOF anyway. The guy made me do emergency stops using my rear brake. I wasn’t particularly happy about it and thought it unusual to do emergency stops using the rear only. He made me do it three times, on the fourth time, he lost his rag with me and said “I’ve told you the rear break only, stop using that front breaks I’m going to fail you. I looked at him and said “that’s not my break it’s the clutch man”. Then red faced filled in the form with a PASS, not even checking my front breaks at all. What do yer recon ? :

Hahahaha :laugh:

If you're looking for somewhere in New Lynn, Keith at Whibus Motors rides bikes so probably knows what he's doing. I've had one warrant done there and my parents take their cars there.

I take my bike to Deane Auto Repairs in Mt. Roskill for WOF's though because I know the guy there.

[Grumpy]

Sounds like a bit of a tosser. To think people like that are in charge of the road worthiness of our vehicles. Perhaps he would have been better to get someone who knew what the fuck they were doing.

I heard a story of a guy getting a fail because of his pack frame. Bloke said it could be dangerous in an accident. True or not I don't know but the thing I did when I went my first WOF down here was do a little research first to find out who was ok with bike warrants.Strangely though, I take mine to a car dealership now and they have been excellent.

[iwilde]

Shit! Dont go their again. I go to the vechical testing station in Manukau, top dude! Spent 90% of the time talking about Ninja's as he's got a 85 900GPZ

[Jantar]

After going for a WOF at On The Road, Portage Rd, New Lynn. I figure out those guys just don’t have a clue what they are doing, when it comes to a bike WOF anyway. The guy made me do emergency stops using my rear brake. I wasn’t particularly happy about it and thought it unusual to do emergency stops using the rear only. He made me do it three times, on the fourth time, he lost his rag with me and said “I’ve told you the rear break only, stop using that front breaks I’m going to fail you. I looked at him and said “that’s not my break it’s the clutch man”. Then red faced filled in the form with a PASS, not even checking my front breaks at all. What do yer recon ? :

Welcome to the site.

Yes, its best to get your warrant done by someone who actually rides. I always take bikes to a bike shop for a warrant. I also give them a good check over myself first and point out any areas that I believe may require attention. I also tell them that if anything needs doing to the bike, then just do it. However there has only been one item in the last 4 years that the bike shop found, that I'd missed, and as it had to do with brakes, I'm glad they found it.

[-JC & Eleanor-]

maybe its because at these places these funny creatures DRIVE not RIDE these funny things with four wheels.... to me the other two wheels seem like hhhhmmm... trainer wheels??

haha :yes:

JC

[Clivoris]

You think that's bad?:shutup: My doctor gave me a breast exam last week.:gob: If he ever asks me how my periods are I might have to start going to one that doesn't write his own prescriptions.

[JMemonic]

I understood that to be able to issue WoF on a motorcycle the tester must hold current motorcycle licence, sounds like this guy does not, which would make the warrent invalid. I am sure more knowledgeable minds than mine will know if this is correct.

[Shaun]

After going for a WOF at On The Road, Portage Rd, New Lynn. I figure out those guys just don’t have a clue what they are doing, when it comes to a bike WOF anyway. The guy made me do emergency stops using my rear brake. I wasn’t particularly happy about it and thought it unusual to do emergency stops using the rear only. He made me do it three times, on the fourth time, he lost his rag with me and said “I’ve told you the rear break only, stop using that front breaks I’m going to fail you. I looked at him and said “that’s not my break it’s the clutch man”. Then red faced filled in the form with a PASS, not even checking my front breaks at all. What do yer recon ? :




I think you should sent that post to the LTSA! There are to many fuck wits out there doing bike wof's that do not know what they are looking for, and some one is going to get killed because of it, and there own lack of mechanical know how

[Sniper]

like the cop that puld me up last night, had no idea - he assumed it was a 250 because it had "250" stickers lol :done:


Thats pretty standard for most people who see 250 stickers on a NSR 250 :no:

[figjam]

Yes, its best to get your warrant done by someone who actually rides. I always take bikes to a bike shop for a warrant.

I'm so with Jantar. I refuse to take my bikes to a testing station. I got sick of idiots who didn't know what they were doing and how it was a different procedure every time. Not to mention how I had to lean the 12 on it's side stand for them. Excuse me? Would they even let me near the car while the warrant was being done? Let alone help. What are we bloody paying them for?

The thing that finally did it for me was when I was told they had to ride my bike for it to get a warrant. Luckily I was getting the 250 done and I begrudgingly let him, but there is no way anyone I don't know rides my ZX-12, particularly this guy, after I watched him lurch around and struggle around on my ZZ-R250, wondering if the testing station had cover.

Take it to a bike shop where you will probably not have to wait in a queue and it will be done by someone who has a clue.

[Bonez]

I must be lucky. The testing station I go to has two testers who own or have owned motocycles. They're the only ones that seem to give m/cs a look over.

Write them a letter pointing out the testers lack a m/c knowlege. It may save someones life in future.

[Hawkeye]

The first time I had to get the bike WOFed, I took it to the testing station in Porirua. I had to go back at a specific time because the only guy they had 'qualified' to do the bike tests only works part time.
As said before by JMemonic, to test a bike, they must hold a bike licence. Ok once you have that sticker, no one knows the difference. But I for one prefer to ride something that I know has been checked by someone that knows what they are doing. I now take the bike to a bike shop. That way, I can be sure that the bike is safe to ride.

[Steam]

I now take the bike to a bike shop. That way, I can be sure that the bike is safe to ride.

A couple of people have said this, and it concerns me. Surely most bikers should be aware enough of the condition of their bike to be sure it's safe? How could someone miss rust or frayed cables or worn brakes, etc?

[slimjim]

But I for one prefer to ride something that I know has been checked by someone that knows what they are doing. I now take the bike to a bike shop. That way, I can be sure that the bike is safe to ride.
:yes: :yes: :scooter: so bloody true, fuck reckon only bike shop's should do warranty's, as i have watched them do mine, and right down to bearing head checking, fuck never seen at testing station put a bike up on lift and check this,
yet they do it to a car's steering, so stop get pussy warrant's and take it to a bike shop:yes:

[Dooly]

They took my authority to issue bike WOFs off my garage some years back under the last WOF regime as we were told that because we were a car garage we could only do cars.
I suspect it was because I was the only one with a bike licence and into bikes and only did a few WOFs a year on them.
Now it all changed a few years back and I can do bike WOFs if I want to sit a test and pay quite a bit of cash, but I guess having the Honda dealer over the road I'll drop my bike there.
The guy who tested the bike in regards to front brake etc.....seems truly a numpty head.

[Karitane pete]

I take the GSXR to my local garage, he does a fair and good job, he also repairs Massey ferguson Tractors :laugh: , can't be bothered riding in to town.
I've found over the years that sticking to the one place for WOF's can save a lot of time and hasiles.

"Little Story"
He had a nice low K's trail bike in for a WOF one day, he did the little test ride up the road to test braking to find that the front one worked very poorly, turned out that the owner had sprayed crc on the disc to stop it rusting:niceone:

[Ixion]

A couple of people have said this, and it concerns me. Surely most bikers should be aware enough of the condition of their bike to be sure it's safe? How could someone miss rust or frayed cables or worn brakes, etc?

I agree. It would seem very unlikely to me that a biker would be unaware of any defect on his bike that could pose a safety issue.

I get my WoF at the place that is least anal. I know my bikes, and their foibles. Most of them are old, mechanics at bike shops do not understand them any more and fail them because they are different to the latest sprotsbikes.

BTW , would someone explain to me what is so terrible about leaking fork seals? Given that the leak is never more than a smear of oil on the staunchion, and any loss of oil could be replaced once or twice a year. And that a totally rooted rear shock will pas without question. And that leaking seals on a bike with shrouds or fork gaiters will pass simply because the tester cannot see the oil smear.

[Mr. Peanut]

Given time, could the fork seal fail totally; spewing oil everywhere? Though that's unlikely, if anything a leaky fork seal would reduce the chance of catastrophic failure, because it would more gradually release pressure...

:mellow:

[notme]

Shit! Dont go their again. I go to the vechical testing station in Manukau, top dude! Spent 90% of the time talking about Ninja's as he's got a 85 900GPZ

Older gent?

I take mine there - last time he said "she's a bit loud eh mate?" and before i could even go "um, er, ahhh" he said "it's a good thing I'm old and deaf - it sounds OK to me!" and passed it. :rockon:

And yeah, he will talk your ear off !

[yungatart]

Mstrs took my little EL in for WOF- the guy comments - Gee thats a big bike! Huh? A week or so later Mstrs takes the 1100 in for a Wof - same guy, never says a word about the size of the bike.... go figure!
He did comment that bikers are more aware of their bike's condition, and there is so much that they can't really assess properly on a bike.

[Clivoris]

BTW , would someone explain to me what is so terrible about leaking fork seals? Given that the leak is never more than a smear of oil on the staunchion, and any loss of oil could be replaced once or twice a year. And that a totally rooted rear shock will pas without question. And that leaking seals on a bike with shrouds or fork gaiters will pass simply because the tester cannot see the oil smear.

I've had fork oil migrate to the front disc via leaky seal and brakeline. No fun to be had there.

[Motu]

Because the WoF is for the day of issue,not in 2 months time when the seal will fail.The misconception is that the WoF is for 6 months - but no,it's a test of the condition between the last test and now...this moment in time.No future forecasts.....who knows if you will take the bike home and park it up unused for 6 months,or ride to Timaru? It's a safety check and these days a compliance check making sure it still has the bits and pieces it had fitted when new.

I am unimpressed with the testing station types - for a start a WoF tester (AVI) is supposed to be a mechanic,if not qualified then with enough years working on tools to be a Journeyman,an accepted qualification in itself.I don't know where the testing station AVI's have got their experiance in the motor trade,but it's certainly not on the workshop floor,they are totaly clueless about basic mechanical knowledge of cars let alone bikes.Some were also pushed through to get motorcycle licences,they have the piece of paper,but don't understand or ride bikes.And the over riding policy of the testing station is there shall be no foulups! - having a crash inspector come back and say someone died because of an undected fault is on the top list of it didn't happen here. That's why these guys are so anal and petty on the rules,it's by the book,and no,I won't use logic or reason,and imagination is unknown to me,you fail your WoF sir.

Most of the bikes I do WoFs for are friends or at least people I know,and like Ixion I know they know their bike better than I do,and in no way will they ride an usafe bike.Just a hint that something is not right and they'll get in a panic,I know next time I see them the bike will be more than fixed.Someone totaly clueless on a commuter get's a much more thorough inspection.....not that I miss much on my friends bikes,but I know they won't be killed by worn chain and sprockets.

As to the original post - there are two brakes on a bike,it needs to be able to come to a halt in the required distance with each seperatly,pretty basic I would think,and I can understand why he got a bit pissed of with your inability to do what he asked.

[Ixion]

Given time, could the fork seal fail totally; spewing oil everywhere? Though that's unlikely, if anything a leaky fork seal would reduce the chance of catastrophic failure, because it would more gradually release pressure...

:mellow:

It seems improbable. The clearances between stanchion and slider or bush are tight, any leakage past them would be slow, and there is little pressure on the oil, it's not like engine oil.

I'm not advocating riding round with leaky fork seals BTW, just wondering why they are such a big horrendous "ohhh , ohhhhh , eeeeek " to testers who will happily ignore far more significant problems.

[MSTRS]

As to the original post - there are two brakes on a bike,it needs to be able to come to a halt in the required distance with each seperatly,pretty basic I would think,and I can understand why he got a bit pissed of with your inability to do what he asked.

As far as I am aware, the clutch is on the left side of the handle bar and the front brake is on the right...the tester should know which lever is which. Which is what the original poster was trying to say.

[Motu]

He mentions a front break lever.....do you think he also used it to stop with?

[MSTRS]

After going for a WOF at On The Road, Portage Rd, New Lynn. I figure out those guys just don’t have a clue what they are doing, when it comes to a bike WOF anyway. The guy made me do emergency stops using my rear brake. I wasn’t particularly happy about it and thought it unusual to do emergency stops using the rear only. He made me do it three times, on the fourth time, he lost his rag with me and said “I’ve told you the rear break only, stop using that front breaks I’m going to fail you. I looked at him and said “that’s not my break it’s the clutch man”. Then red faced filled in the form with a PASS, not even checking my front breaks at all. What do yer recon ? :


He mentions a front break lever.....do you think he also used it to stop with?
No. The tester made mention of, but poster said was the clutch (so engine wouldn't stall on rear lock-up, I presume)

[Mr. Peanut]

It seems improbable. The clearances between stanchion and slider or bush are tight, any leakage past them would be slow, and there is little pressure on the oil, it's not like engine oil.

I'm not advocating riding round with leaky fork seals BTW, just wondering why they are such a big horrendous "ohhh , ohhhhh , eeeeek " to testers who will happily ignore far more significant problems.

It's an easy fail. Makes them look good :sunny:

[Goblin]

. He made me do it three times, on the fourth time, he lost his rag with me and said “I’ve told you the rear break only, stop using that front breaks I’m going to fail you. I looked at him and said “that’s not my break it’s the clutch man”. Then red faced filled in the form with a PASS, not even checking my front breaks at all. What do yer recon ? :




As to the original post - there are two brakes on a bike,it needs to be able to come to a halt in the required distance with each seperatly,pretty basic I would think,and I can understand why he got a bit pissed of with your inability to do what he asked.
Eggs Zachary! I woulda lost my rag too! I dont have enough patience to deal with people who can't follow SIMPLE instructions.

[MSTRS]

But bikes have the rear brake as a foot pedal/lever and the front brake is a lever on the right side of the handlebars. The clutch is another lever on the left side of the handlebars. The way I read it, the original poster WAS using the rear brake only, but pulling in the clutch so as to not stall the engine!!

[Virago]

Eggs Zachary! I woulda lost my rag too! I dont have enough patience to deal with people who can't follow SIMPLE instructions.

However, it does appear that you can't follow simple descriptions.

As I understand the original post, he was following instructions, and using rear break (sic) only. He was however hauling on the clutch as well, which the tester thought was the front brake.

[Goblin]

But bikes have the rear brake as a foot pedal/lever and the front brake is a lever on the right side of the handlebars. The clutch is another lever on the left side of the handlebars. The way I read it, the original poster WAS using the rear brake only, but pulling in the clutch so as to not stall the engine!! Oh yeah...:Oops:
Now Im as red faced as the wof dude!:whistle:

[crashe]

Take your bike up to Waipareira Ave, Henderson for your next WOF.....

I take my baby in there for all her WOF checks....

They do get you to ride your bike for a short distance to apply the foot brake ONLY... then get you to redo it but only using your hand brake...
It is making sure that both are actually working.
I ride mine right over to where all the mirrors are and ride along in front on them... as there is more room.

Sure we use both brakes but this way they can see if one brake is not up to par.


Sometimes they may want to do the riding..... but I refuse them and say sorry it is only insured for me to ride the bike so I will do it. They except that answer.

I get to do the pulling the bike over so that they can check front and back wheels.


Oh at any given testing station, the tester must have a bike license to do a WOF test on your bike... so you have to time it right at some testing stations to get a person who is legally allowed to do a WOF on a bike.
Yep I got told this at my testing station.
So I can be sitting around for ages waiting on the one person to do mine as I watch all the others totally ignore me.

Occassionally they wont get you to ride it... but make you push it a short distance with your brakes on... but the bike wont move so then they pass it... footbrake you sit on it and try to roll your bike forward...if it wont move.. they pass you...

[nudemetalz]

The guy at the testing station said to my wife that her front brake on her bike needed some adjustment as the lever was too slack.
We did this and when she went back, she said that we bled them to get the air out of the line. Apparently he looked very confused. She had to point out the "Inboard Front Disc" label on her VT250 and the brake fluid reservoir on the brake lever also wasn't enough of a clue either !!

hmmm,...bit of a worry...

[Edbear]

Welcome to the site and good first post!

I only use Tim, (Classic_Z), in Whangaparaoa, he's a good bloke and you only need to check out his resto job on the Z1300 to have confidence in him!

Only other place I've been impressed with is VTNZ Warkworth, there's a guy there who knows bikes well and has actually saved someone's life by picking up a cracked wheel which would probably have gone unnoticed by anyone else.

[Lou Girardin]

As Shaun said, have you contacted LTNZ? If he's not reported, he'll just carry on spreading ignorance.

[Unforgiven]

I dont go to on road, anywhere, Ive heard way to many horror stories from people who have.
Id rather fail a WOF, and fix the problem rather than them miss it and wind up in a ditch somewhere.

[Ixion]

Look at it this way.

You ride your bike many hours a week. You clean your bike. You spend a lot of time paying attention to your bike. Looking at it. Listening to it. Doing the pre-journey "walk around and poke stuff before setting out" checks. And everything on a bike is pretty visible and obvious, it's not like a car where you can't see all the stuff under the car without a pit or hoist.

So what's the odds of some dude spotting something in a 10 minute onceover , that you didn't already know about?

Especially as the majority of testers don't really know jack shite about bikes. (The exceptions do tend to be pretty knowledgeable).

[dickytoo]

I use papakura motorcycle services in papakura. colin is a great guy and is very helpful.

he's helped me out many times with all sorts of stuff even though i only use him for wofs. his old man races classics and he's very much a motorcycle enthusiast.

[ManDownUnder]

Last WOF I did the guy asked me to lock up my front brake (going forward)...

smooth concrete floor, bit of dust and you want me to do WHAT?

errrrrrr... no, even if you are willing to pay the panel damage

[Jantar]

A couple of people have said this, and it concerns me. Surely most bikers should be aware enough of the condition of their bike to be sure it's safe? How could someone miss rust or frayed cables or worn brakes, etc?
The only time I've had the bike shop pick up a fault with my bike that I wasn't already aware was brakes, but not worn brakes, or brakes that weren't functioning correctly, it was a slight perish crack in the rubber covering on the (30 year old) brake line, and he only found it when inspecting the lines with a mirror. As I said earlier, I'm pleased when the WOF tester picks up something that I might have missed.

[Motu]

, I'm pleased when the WOF tester picks up something that I might have missed.

Practically unheard of these days - normally we get told we are failing them just to get the work,and it has passed the last 3 times like that.But if something is missed those same people come down on you like a ton of bricks.

I am getting heartily sick of WoFs - at lunch time a guy came in for a WoF,asked how much and then started to bleat about the price.....I said ''take it or leave it'' and turned back to my lunch completely ignoring the guy.....there is probably a thread on some forum now where he's complaining about the arrogant WoF tester.Fuck them.

[iwilde]

Older gent?

I take mine there - last time he said "she's a bit loud eh mate?" and before i could even go "um, er, ahhh" he said "it's a good thing I'm old and deaf - it sounds OK to me!" and passed it. :rockon:

And yeah, he will talk your ear off !

Yeah thats him, hell of a nice bloke. You're lucky you don't own a Ninja, no change out of half an hour!

[TLDV8]

I have had no trouble at the Takanini VTNZ.Same guy does bikes each time and he rides himself.As far as i know you do not have to lock the wheels up,just show them that a quick and controlled stop can be done.Lifting the rear off the deck while not locking the front seems to be a pass no problem.
Also have no problem pulling the bike over on the side stand so the front and rear end can be checked (It may be easier for bikes with centre stands.)
Way better than the hillbilly at Shafts one time who rolled a floor jack under the sump of my Ducati and was going to jack it up..... He got the word quicktime.
Just folk doing their job,normally just a ride in,ride out (I did have to swap back to stock brake lines before the last WOF)

[cowboyz]

i had the bike shop put in new rear brake pads when they put a new tyre on cause it was easy. I didnt want the bike shop to do the WOF cause my rear brake line is a briaded cable with no markings on it so they will fail it everytime even though it works better than the OEM rubber hose which split.

So I took it down to Onroad and they passed it with flying colours. Riding it home I there was grinding in the rear. So a closer look I founf that the brake pads were put in back to front.
Now bad bad for the mechanic who wasn't paying attention adn putting them in backwards. bad bad bad for the tester who didn't notice it when doing the warrent.

Cant win really.

[NighthawkNZ]

After going for a WOF at On The Road, Portage Rd, New Lynn. I figure out those guys just don’t have a clue what they are doing, when it comes to a bike WOF anyway. The guy made me do emergency stops using my rear brake. I wasn’t particularly happy about it and thought it unusual to do emergency stops using the rear only. He made me do it three times, on the fourth time, he lost his rag with me and said “I’ve told you the rear break only, stop using that front breaks I’m going to fail you. I looked at him and said “that’s not my break it’s the clutch man”. Then red faced filled in the form with a PASS, not even checking my front breaks at all. What do yer recon ? :




ok... that fracking funny... :laugh: :eek: :lol:

hope you told him that the rear brake is only 15% of your stopping power...

[Scouse]

Vote with your feet and dont go back

[Motu]

Metal to metal will pass the required brake test,and on cars it's easy to miss thickness because sometimes we can't get a visual on the pads...we aren't allowed to remove wheels.But on bikes of course the pads are easy to see,most of the time anyway.