Guy who did my WOF was clueless

[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.

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

[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 , 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

[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...

[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.

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...

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:Me]

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:Me]

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

[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.