testing trike

[Fade]

been working on my trike this morning and found that it is nearly ready for MOT. but i need to test brakes and clutch and check the gears are working as i have never run this engine before. the trike is sorned so will i get done for testing it in my street as my luck is so bad i would get caught
cheers

[Gypsy]

pre book a MOT anywhere... then you can say you are driving it there lol... just dont go to the MOT :D

[BigBod]

Yep, you could get done. If it is sorned, the only way you can ride it is if you are on your way to have it MOT'd. This needs to be booked in advance.

Alternativly, just do what the rest of us do and run it up and down the road. It would have to be a real hard faced bastard to nick ya for just making sure all was okay for an MOT.

[Gypsy]

our trike is serviced by a cop , even he rode it up and down the road to test it out knowing there was no MOT on it

[Sir Ewok]

The short answer is YES as it is not taxed and MOT'ed. If you know somebody with access to trade plates, you can ride it on those. Find an off road place (like Tesco's car park) and tow or trailer it there and do your testing there. Gypsys idea is a good'un, but make sure you drive too and from the general direction of the station you are 'booked' into. The law says that you can only take a vehicle that is untaxed and tested on the road to a pre-booked MOT as long as you are going by the most direct route to and from the test station. This is obviously open to interpretation but don't go 15 miles in the totally opposite direction or book with the garage on the corner of your road. Hope that helps.

[devon-tony]

beware of the tescos testing ground, although it may be private property they can still do you for it!!

some time ago I read of a case where at a private party someone was done for drink driving on private field, was due to the fact that even though it was private property , it was open for the public to go onto and therefore a member of the public could be struck by the car!!??

and only about a year ago, a local guy was done for driving his car around his own land with no driving licence etc, police said that it was illegal!!???

so this is where my other questions come into play, I spoke to a local copper who said that it would be possible to charge someone for drink driving on private property!!, lets just hope that they dont come to a bike rally LOL

the safest bet would be to book an MOT and then go in the vague direction of it, or even better actually go for the test, then will know if the brakes etc are ok

Tony

[Doro]

reminds me of a case where a guy was done for having no insurance whilst steering a car which was being towed. The towed vehicle didn't even have an engine in it! And they were using a rigid tow bar. At court they had to get the law books out to try and find a similar case, thus proving that they didn't actually know whether it was an offence or not. The insurance company said the guy would be ok. At the end of the day it was literally the judges' opinions. They said he'd broke the law and fined him £60 and added 3 points to his licence. He was insured to drive other cars, just not that one. But, was he driving it?

the law is an ass

[devon-tony]

thats the other problem for motorists, the "insured to drive other cars" clause, several people to my knowledge have been caught out by that one, my mate was drivig a car home for his mum, she had just purchased the car and his insurance said that he could drive any car that didnt belong to him, some woman drove into the back of him, it went to court in the end as he wasnt legally insured!!

you are only insured to drive any other vehicle so long as its already insured by someone else, he was given 6 points and a massive fine to make an example of him

he argued it and got together letters etc explaining that he would lose his job, his home etc and be on benefits because of this but the judge ignored them saying that it was a pathetic attempt to get off the hook...

his father got a brilliant legal guy and they took the case further, his insurance company actually agreed that the wording was innacurate and would be prepared to help him out, in the end he was cleared of it and had the fine and points overturned, the judge got a right going over by local legal people because of the fact that he just ignored all the letters etc branding my mate a boy racer that thought he could ignore the law!!!

[devon-tony]

or the case that I had several years ago of an officer arresting me for being in charge of a motorcycle with no helmet on and with a bottle of beer in my hand,

I was approached by a PC while sat on a bike and he asked if I had any keys on me, to which I replied yes of course, he then explained that I was in charge of the bike as I was sat on it and had the keys, I left it for half an hour nearly, before asking if it mattered that I didnt have the keys to that bike as it wasnt mine!!!!, mine was parked next to it, and that was the one that I had the keys for

sad thing is though that although it was very funny, I got pulled at least twice a day for the next 4 weeks :( so ended up keeping a diary and went for harrassment, then they stopped :)

[Fade]

cheers for all the info gonna book MOT for friday morning :D