WOF for new motorcycles

[Banditbandit]

Most car drivers probably think like that but I doubt many bikers do. You'd have to be pretty stupid to outsource the responsibity for your own safety to a WOF sticker

You'd be surprised.

I'm with Crasher .. there's a shit load of bikes out there which are not safe yet people still ride them ...

[Scuba_Steve]

I'm with Crasher .. there's a shit load of bikes out there which are not safe yet people still ride them ...

Hey VTNZ keep giving me WoF stickers, must be safe right???

[scumdog]

Yeah. The main prob I see is peeps thinking their bikes are perfectly safe because the current wof says so.

Yep, I've heard lots of idiots say "You can't give me a ticket, it's got a warrant"

Never mind the fact steel-belt is sticking through the rubber bit etc...

Or it only has three of the four wheel nuts on each wheel...

[Ocean1]

Yep, I've heard lots of idiots say "You can't give me a ticket, it's got a warrant"

Never mind the fact steel-belt is sticking through the rubber bit etc...

Or it only has three of the four wheel nuts on each wheel...

Which sorta proves the point: WOFs don't prevent poor maintenance, at best they're an excuse for it.

And again: you can theorise 'till the cows come home, the fact is statistically they make no difference to accident or fatality rates. So why have 'em?

[ducatilover]

Which sorta proves the point: WOFs don't prevent poor maintenance, at best they're an excuse for it.

And again: you can theorise 'till the cows come home, the fact is statistically they make no difference to accident or fatality rates. So why have 'em?

I think the issue is people do not give a fuck. Not many care about maintaining a car/bike, especially correct preventative maintenance. They only care about not getting the ticket, so they will only do what is said to be done on the WoF sheet.

If I really think about the WoF idea, I do not know if it will be worse, or not without them. But I do like the idea of the majority of the non-fuck-givers having the motivation (fines) to not drive a massively unsafe car

We need to educate the plonkers about maintaining their vehicles and the long term monetary gain

[Ocean1]

I think the issue is people do not give a fuck. Not many care about maintaining a car/bike, especially correct preventative maintenance. They only care about not getting the ticket, so they will only do what is said to be done on the WoF sheet.

If I really think about the WoF idea, I do not know if it will be worse, or not without them. But I do like the idea of the majority of the non-fuck-givers having the motivation (fines) to not drive a massively unsafe car

We need to educate the plonkers about maintaining their vehicles and the long term monetary gain

Yet again: comparisons before and after WOF type inspections were implemented/arseholed and between similar states/countries with/without such inspections show no difference in accident or fatality rates.

WOFs don't do anything. Seriously.

As for the can't give a fuck thing: If it's a causal factor in accidents then requiring those that don't give a fuck to get a WOF will either not bother, (what with not giving a fuck and all) or get one, either way it don't change accident rates.

My personal bitch is the cars you see with space saver tyres day after day after day....

Still, you don't have to like it, it doesn't seem right and it orta not be allowed. But it's a fact: A WOF makes you no safer. Not a jot. So why bother?

[Gadget1]

Yet again: comparisons before and after WOF type inspections were implemented/arseholed and between similar states/countries with/without such inspections show no difference in accident or fatality rates.

WOFs don't do anything. Seriously.

As for the can't give a fuck thing: If it's a causal factor in accidents then requiring those that don't give a fuck to get a WOF will either not bother, (what with not giving a fuck and all) or get one, either way it don't change accident rates.

My personal bitch is the cars you see with space saver tyres day after day after day....

Still, you don't have to like it, it doesn't seem right and it orta not be allowed. But it's a fact: A WOF makes you no safer. Not a jot. So why bother?

IMHO, the Wof issue appears to be a way for tptb to address their basic "duty of care" and be seen as doing the right thing for the masses.

[ducatilover]

Yet again: comparisons before and after WOF type inspections were implemented/arseholed and between similar states/countries with/without such inspections show no difference in accident or fatality rates.

WOFs don't do anything. Seriously.

As for the can't give a fuck thing: If it's a causal factor in accidents then requiring those that don't give a fuck to get a WOF will either not bother, (what with not giving a fuck and all) or get one, either way it don't change accident rates.

My personal bitch is the cars you see with space saver tyres day after day after day....

Still, you don't have to like it, it doesn't seem right and it orta not be allowed. But it's a fact: A WOF makes you no safer. Not a jot. So why bother?

I certainly have no argument for that at all. I make sure my vehicles are safe to ride/drive, regardless of WoF. And you're right, people will still drive shit cars

So making a basic car knowledge course part of obtaining a licence may be a good idea. Seeing as average Joe Bloggs doesn't understand what a fucked tyre, or unsafe tyre looks like.

[Kickaha]

Most car drivers probably think like that but I doubt many bikers do.

Contrary to popular belief motorcyclists are just as ignorant and stupid as any other group of road users

Yet again: comparisons before and after WOF type inspections were implemented/arseholed and between similar states/countries with/without such inspections show no difference in accident or fatality rates.

Having seen some of the shit that gets failed for WOF that suprises me

[mossy1200]

I timed my warrant poorly. I had 1.4mm tread at the back so still good for 200km or 3 launches. Bike was 2years old so I still only got a one year WOF to take it to 3years. It was a losing situation all round.

[Ocean1]

I certainly have no argument for that at all. I make sure my vehicles are safe to ride/drive, regardless of WoF. And you're right, people will still drive shit cars

So making a basic car knowledge course part of obtaining a licence may be a good idea. Seeing as average Joe Bloggs doesn't understand what a fucked tyre, or unsafe tyre looks like.

Doubt it'd make much difference. In a time when not checking the fluid levels on an old pommie piece of shit put you seriously at risk of a long walk and you'd think people would know better my brother saw the oil light come on half way home from town. He did ask me if there might be something wrong when he got there, to be fair. I'm not even sure that the subsequent expense and weeks of long walks taught him anything.

Same today. The ratio of idiots per kilometre is a fair bit higher though.

[Mike.Gayner]

If I really think about the WoF idea, I do not know if it will be worse, or not without them. But I do like the idea of the majority of the non-fuck-givers having the motivation (fines) to not drive a massively unsafe car

There's where the issue is - cars that would fail a WOF are not "massively unsafe". In fact, whether or not a jurisdiction has an inspection regime, accidents in which mechanical failure etc is a contributing factor are a vanishingly small proportion. Think about the shit you fail a WOF for - a bit of rust. Ever seen even the rustiest car actually have a structural failure? I haven't, and it's mind blowingly rare. A small chip in the windscreen? Windscreens don't fail catastrophically, the technology is way past that. Even things like suspension linkages making a lot of noise - probability of an actual failure is tiny, and unless it's a tie rod, unlikely to contribute to an accident.

Inspection regimes are bullshit cash cows, they don't contribute to safety and they give people a false sense of security.

edit: My post above specifically refers to cars - if some stupid shit wants to ride his bike without the basic safety checks involved in a WOF, that's his own deal. Bike WOFs are a joke.

[Ocean1]

Having seen some of the shit that gets failed for WOF that suprises me

It is surprising. But I love it when shit like that turns out to be completely counterintuitive. Especially when "the man" has backed the popular cause.

Fair to note that at least a couple of the research surveys had confounding factors that could have hidden small differences, but several surveys showed the same broad result: any differences are too small to measure.

[Ocean1]

Think about the shit you fail a WOF for - a bit of rust. Ever seen even the rustiest car actually have a structural failure? I haven't, and it's mind blowingly rare.

I think the driver behind that particular jerky knee was a car vs truck accident where it turned out the car was in fact two cars that had been pop riveted together.

You just can't legislate for idiots, I don't think they read that shit.

PS: I'm by no means convinced that even that level of idiocy had any effect on the fatal outcome.

[ducatilover]

I'm struggling to think of any examples of mechanical failures that have caused crashes.

I don't really count tyres, I have had a happy looking tyre delaminate at high speed in a corner (no crash involed, but a fair amount of sideways and shitting)
I was passenger in a Falcon that magically de-beaded a tyre and understeered over a bank, nothing the WoF or inspection would help

I've driven cars with perfectly wof-able rubber from China that is seriously fucking dangerous in the dry, and wet, with much random under/oversteer at normal speeds. Yet a set of R888s with 1.4mm of tread will outperform the majority of road tyres in wet, or dry.

Fuck it, I'm not getting a WoF again.
My daily is a sack of shit anyway