Forum

[Mickey]

Hi Barry, I think it depends on how the the MSVA inspector interprets the regulations. I too initially fitted a speedo converter to convert both functions to m.p.h. with little 'mph' & 'miles' stickers on the glass covering the original markings on the face. I was told that the speed graduation & markings must be on the face of the instrument & be illuninated from underneath (no stickers allowed) Thats why I dismantled the speedo & replaced the graphic plate. (Realised after that I could have just fitted an ordinary Bullet speedo temporarilly - just to get it through the test.) Mick

[STU]

Sounds like scare-moungering to me! My friends Honda Bros import has a KPH only speedo. It has adhesive markers ON the glass and it passes its MOT test (UK-Midlands location) every year.

Yes I thought that you need to also have KPH markings on an MPH speedo (or other way around) in the UK, but if all these people have been passing their MOTS then I don't think that Watsonian Squire can be accused of anything, ESPECIALLY as they have to get their bikes type approved or whatever to sell them into the UK market!

My Electra XS has a MPH transfer on the KPH dial by the way.
Perhaps Bulleteers tester was over-officious, perhaps this would only happen in N.I, either way I don't think that it is a minfield at all - at least not unless we all start failing MOT's.
As far as if the law changes to make dual marking compulsory this will not be retrospective as if we all had to change speedos then the MOT mileage recording system will be compromised.

Norm you missed Alex's point. He doesn't care if you think Electra owners are defensive, he thinks that his bike is great. I have had my share of problems with mine but it still is great and I've had it longer than any of the 30-odd other bikes that I have owned - nearly six years now.
I'm not defensive but you keeping knocking them Norm is just knocking peoples major buying decision - which will always produce a defensive response!
Not even Jap bikes are 100% reliable, and don't start with Italians, Brits, American or even German - they ALL have their problems.

[Barry_Q]

I think 'interpretation' figures a lot here. The graduations and speed markings were indeed on the face of the speedo and illuminated from below. I didn't use the stickers that came with the Motrax, but custom made a couple at work (White MPH and Miles on a clear background). I didn't have a problem.

[simon]

Hilarious bureaucratic malarkey isn't it! Whoever can't tell the difference between 60kmph and 60mph is clearly not fit to straddle a machine. I have machines with either one or the other and neither with both which is infinitely less likely to result in confusion. I love the way that the legislators get their knickers in a knot over this bollocks and the good people who hand out the MOT's or WOF's as it is over here simply ignore it as the irrelevant nonsense it is.

[Alan R]

Hello there, Enfield Chums !!!-----MICKEY, I think the answer to your two bikes is that the Lightning is not a "Type approved" in the UK, hence the MSVA requirements etc. and all that go with it. The 350 however is type approved within the UK so would not need the inspection etc....My Suzuki was the same. I've just looked up its' records and it had an MoT 2 days after arriving--- but that was NOT the MSVA inspection but the then-owner putting it onto the UK roads. Yes, the North Ireland/Irish Republic border is a good example. If my friend from Eire visits me here in the UK on holiday(up to 6 months, I think ??) he can drive around with his Kms only vehicle( which is a pre-1984 )---- BUT if I buy it from him I would have to have it changed to MPH just because I'm resident here----nothing at all to do with safety etc. As you said }---- "Une boîte de Pandore"---indeed !!

[Norm]

Stu,
I have an Electra

[Mickey]

To return to Adrians (Bulleteer)posting which we've slightly hi-jacked with MSVA & MOT postings etc I've just checked the current legalities.
"ROAD VEHICLES (CONSTRUCTION & USE) REGULATIONS 1986"
"EVERY motor vehicle if first used on or after 1 April 1984 "shall be capable of indication in BOTH m.p.h. & Km.p.h."
WOW!!!!!!!! Can't ignore Adrians point. I wonder what Watsonian & our hosts have to say!!!!!
REgards again, Mickey.

[MartinB]

I have a cycle computer on my Electra (maily for its trip meter)which can read either MPH or KPH but not both at the same time.Presumably if your speedo is MPH and the computer is set to KPH you're legal?

[apparently lucky eddie]

My mate recently took his Hyosung (don't ask!)for MOT and the tester asked, after plying said mate with a bacon butty and a cuppa, if he might give it a run up the road as he had never heard of, seen or ridden a Hyosung before. The speedo on this machine has not worked for a very long time, hence the zero mileage between tests, and this would have been perfectly obvious to the tester but the bike passed with no advisorys. It might be a requirement to have a speedo in KPH/MPH or even miles per year but it clearly does not have to work.

[STU]

I know that you do Norm, and I have read with much interest how you have spent a lot of time modifying it and making it a unique hybrid.
The thing is that you are always the first to knock them and tell us how we are all doomed when the spares run out etc, and how the elec start will never work etc.


I have faith in our hosts, enough Electras were sold in the UK to make it viable for them to produce the parts that we need to keep our bikes on the road. Also the Indian factory produced and sold thousands into the home market - including the non-uk 350cc version which was sold a few years before any 500's arrived into the UK.

The elec start I believe is indeed weak but only damaged when the engine kicks back. Mine did it all the time and destroyed the sprag after 7500kms. However, once I replaced the TCI with Watsonians green version (and the battery) it has never kicked back since and I therefore believe (hope!) that the sprag will have an easier life and live longer.....

All the best. Stu