Pointless Safety inspection

[DiverRay]

Actually, I think the big rigs ARE being checked now. I KNOW the "new" engines MUST meet some smog rules. I just don't know how far back they go.

[b.walker5]

California has smog inspections for cars, every other year at about $45 all in.

Yeah, we have those too, for cars and bikes, but its part of the Warrant of Fitness check. Warrants can be issued by any authorised garage and not many bother with the full check, preferring to use the eyesight test for 'excessive smoke', by wringing the throttles neck and watching the exhaust on decelerate. One guy redlined my 1100 so much one day that i asked if he wanted to buy it since he obviously loved it so much, and if he kept that up it'd be worthless anyway.
Kills two birds with one stone, as they can check for 'excessive noise' at the same time.
Govt appointed Testing Stations however are a different animal. They'll do a full anal probe with a gas analyser, and db meters etc.

And dont even get me started on trucks. The police have an entire division of road nazi's that'll pull over trucks en masse to do roadside overweight, driving hours log books, and safety checks. The already have to go through rigid six monthly safety checks, but they can be stopped anywhere anytime for a roadside check as well. Penalties are harsh if caught with something not right, for both the driver and and the company.

[ViperRon]

Virginia is not too bad on inspection but they do check the major stuff in most good places however I have had issues. Here in Va if you have an issue with inspection you call the state police and they will check them out. If you are an inspection station you do not ever want the state police to have a reason to check you out. Now if you really want your bike checked out just wiz by a state trooper with loud pipes he will tell you what all is wrong. The one issue here is some areas have different requirements and they can be tough. Northern Virginia has counties and cities that require emission tests. The one thing you can do is buy an antique plate and be exempt however there are many travel requirements on that plate. I do like the New Zeeland insurance plan because here in the USA insurance can be tricky.

[CatatonicBug]

Man, that's a lot of inspecting going on down under! I have no complaints about safety inspections themselves. Actually, growing up in California, I often wondered why they DIDN'T have a safety inspection along with the bi-annual Smog Check. Watching cars going down the freeway with one headlight pointing up in the air (easy to see in the coastal fog), or pieces of bumper hanging off drove me crazy. I don't see why an ATV should need a safety inspection, or need to be registered, since it never drives on the roads, and I don't see why ANY vehicle needs an inspection more than once every 2 years.

I would happily pay $40 every 2 years for a safety inspection on my bile, in addition to the $58 annual registration if it meant that the inspection was actually WORTH that money. I suppose I can't complain, since I did get about $7 worth of an inspection... It just bothers me when there are detailed guidelines created for specific reasons, yet the people responsible for enforcing them pay little to no attention to them.

[TopCatGr58]

Me thinks he doth protest too much!

Hey Bug,

Funny you should mention inspections. I am trying to sell my Mom's 300, but it was from Ala. a no inspection state. I found out that I could get it inspected still with the Ala. plates, to make it easier for selling since a prospective owner could see that it was road worthy enough to pass the inspection and will be good for a whole year. Since the fellow that has been doing my bike inspections was on duty this weekend, I also went ahead and took my bike in as well....since I got the battery fixed, and it was running right.

As has been mentioned, a majority of the inspection process is a fund raiser for the state. With my bike, they do NOT ride it, just ensure that all of the lights work...have checked the beam alignment when I first put in the HID projector conversion, that it has good rubber and thick enough brake pads, and a horn to be heard by, and while it's running, visually check for excessive smoke, noise, leaks both oil and fuel....THERE'S your fuel system inspection test...it runs and doesn't leak=fire hazard. They rely on ME/owner to ensure that it performs to my satisfaction....ie. steering bearings, and that if it didn't then it would be up to me to fix it.

Yes, it's also a process in an attempt to try to ensure that the vehicles on the road are road worthy enough to be operable in a safe manner....both to prevent harm to the rider/driver, as well as to others...pedestrians and other motorists.

For those states that don't have inspections....kinda makes me think that the mindset is that "Bikers Lives Don't Matter" to paraphrase a popular current social statement, and that if the biker doesn't care enough to keep his/her bike in road worthy condition, then they are just contributing to the organ donor supply anyways!

I know I would actually prefer not to have to bother with getting a formal state inspection....I care enough to keep my bike in proper operating condition, and could do without the time bother having to go to the inspection station, either wait for hours in line, or leave my bike there for hours, having to have the SWMBO come and get me and then take me back there hours later to pick it up, as well as the $12.00 fee I have to shell out.

You guys in the UK/Down under with SOCIALIZED MEDICINE/Gov't policies have my sympathies...I'm a conservative democrat...I believe in gov't oversight where it's really needed....ie. USDA for the food I eat, but I don't want them telling me what I can/can't do with my bike if I want to MOD it as long as it is still operationally safe! Oh well, don't want to start a Hot Button topic thread!

T.C.

[jetmechmarty]

Just lucky, I guess. No inspections here for motorcycles.

Or anything else.