Motorcycle Safety Inspection - my experience June 2025

Sochi

Sochi

Well-known member
Forum Sponsor
Just did safety for my daughter's bike I am selling.

First of all, what a hassle selling htese days - absolutely no offers from Kijiji, and FB MP is a crazy waste of time. Moreover, I think the word is out about the new Safety Inspection process, so most buyers want to have safety included in the selling price... Luckily, there is one guy who is realistic, gave me extra as a deposit and payment for safety, so I could proceed.

I did some reading on FB groups, and the closest places to me were:
  1. Sherpa – cost $324 + tax, and they were booked through July (called on May 28th).
  2. Master Mechanic Newmarket – $130 + tax (!) and they had an opening for June 9th.
I spoke with MM on the phone when booking, and he told me he WILL fail if:
  • non-OEM tail (no tail-tidy, as I understood).
  • Integrated turn signals.
  • Non-standard/too small/etc. turn signals.
  • No catalytic.
  • Non-OEM exhaust.
  • Non-OEM mirrors (or too small/missing one—not sure what he meant here, didn't have time to elaborate).
  • Bab rubber, obviously.
  • Also, he said he can't do any work/check (?) on drum brakes. I wasn't sure here as well but didn't care to ask more—who has drum brakes anyway? LOL
When I arrived there, I waited for 20 minutes. You give them the key, can't go inside the shop, have to wait in the waiting area. Took 30 minutes—passed, no problem.
This bike is bone stock, all works, clean and good rubber so I never worried it passing..
The mechanic was kind of serious, no eye contact, obviously didn’t want to talk there. OK with me—not your regular mom-n-pop bike shop...
They are busy car shop so there is no interest in fixing your bike as I saw it.

So, bottom line—if your bike is bone stock, just go straight to any shop that offers a reasonable price, and they will safety it (Mister Obvious here haha).

Would be interesting to hear experiences with specialized bike shops—if they are more "flexible" on things like tail-tidy and exhaust.
Also, how it would affect bike what traded to dealers situation. Post your experience please.

Worst case, I figured, I'd just have to put back my ugly OEM Yamaha tail and OEM exhaust back (and I kept them, thank G) to sell my "slightly" modified Yamaha.
 
Good to hear.

I spoke with an honest friend that owns a shop (they deal with cars and trucks, not sure about bikes). New safeties run almost double the time (physically measuring drum brakes is slow and gives you very little more info than an eyeball inspection). Similar to MM, they have started sending a pre-safety checklist to clients to save time. Also, before they even start the safety, they give the vehicle a quick once over and if they see any obvious fails, they tell you to take care of them before they bother with the tablet. Some things that they would previously pass as they are not a safety issue (for instance a cracked tail light lens with no missing pieces and no water in light) they now have to fail (and the tail light was a $1500 part). Painful.
 
adri said:
I have about 4 stock exhausts in my garage right now....


I'M ABOUT TO BE RICH YOU GUYS!!
Click to expand...
Does every harley dealer still have a scrap metal dumpster full of new exhausts? There about to be a lot of ****** off owners when they realize that the vehicle they rode off the showroom floor can't pass a safety for less than a few thousand dollars.
 
Seriously though, thanks for sharing that. I had a customer do a safety. She told me got an email from the ministry telling her that her bike failed hours before she ever heard back from the dealership that failed her.

No surprise on her bike failing though. He rear tire came from Fred Flintstone, and her rear rotor came out of a bag of Ruffles, so, fair play to the dealer.

She's going to try to sell the bike because she was quoted $600 in parts and $1,200 in labour to get it up to snuff for passing safety... so $1,800 on a motorcycle she paid $1,200 for. People don't get that cheap motorcycles are the most expensive motorcycles if you can't work on them yourself.
 
GreyGhost said:
Does every harley dealer still have a scrap metal dumpster full of new exhausts? There about to be a lot of ****** off owners when they realize that the vehicle they rode off the showroom floor can't pass a safety for less than a few thousand dollars.
Click to expand...
LOL. They're going to start having the apprentice carefully wrap these up and put them on shelves to sell back to those same motorcycles three years later when they're being sold.
 
I'm fresh off the safety inspection/carnival ride.
Last week, I needed a safety, and since hearing the nightmares that dealerships are causing people, I needed to avoid them all.
There were 3 m/c shops (non dealerships) within 10 minutes from here that did them prior to the new system. Now, none of them participate.
But, one has a plan.
Take the bike to the bike shop, and for $100 it gets a once over (a safety inspection not tied to the govt). Anything that would prevent a "pass", gets discussed at this point.
I did that Wednesday. All was good.
Then, it's off to the auto service shop, drop the bike off (for 1.5 days) and $237 later, the bike gets a "pass ok".
Once the mechanic signs off, and hits "send", the ministry has the information immediately.
 
I'm curious on what basis that one shop is failing based on non-factory exhaust as there is NO requirement for this.

e-Laws | Ontario.ca

www.ontario.ca www.ontario.ca

These are the only 2 mentions specific to exhaust.

1749606283827.png

As for the other stuff...there is no mention of emissions equipment, so a missing cat shouldn't matter. There's also nothing about exhaust noise levels.

There is no mention of the requirement for OEM lights or locations, only that they must fulfil the legal requirements.

Mirrors...not stock shouldn't be a fail at all, they just need to work as intended. Stupid tiny teardrop mirrors might very well fail under section 211 of the vision requirements, but yeah, saying "these aren't factory, you fail" if they're perfectly functional just not OEM is just wrong.

This shop is being a bit overzealous IMHO.

That aside, 30 minutes for one of the new inspections seems rather quick considering all of the photo requirements, and disassembly that is needed to get said photos.

Anyhow.....
 
PrivatePilot said:
I'm curious on what basis that one shop is failing based on non-factory exhaust as there is NO requirement for this.

e-Laws | Ontario.ca

www.ontario.ca www.ontario.ca

These are the only 2 mentions specific to exhaust.

View attachment 74533

As for the other stuff...there is no mention of emissions equipment, so a missing cat shouldn't matter. There's also nothing about exhaust noise levels.

There is no mention of the requirement for OEM lights or locations, only that they must fulfil the legal requirements.

Mirrors...not stock shouldn't be a fail at all, they just need to work as intended. Stupid tiny teardrop mirrors might very well fail under section 211 of the vision requirements, but yeah, saying "these aren't factory, you fail" if they're perfectly functional just not OEM is just wrong.

This shop is being a bit overzealous IMHO.

That aside, 30 minutes for one of the new inspections seems rather quick considering all of the photo requirements, and disassembly that is needed to get said photos.

Anyhow.....
Click to expand...
Safety for vehicles requires lights in compliance with cmvss. I doubt you could find a single aftermarket light with the necessary labeling. I'll dig through your other points when I am at a computer.

EDIT:
The light-duty vehicle list and Motorcycle list diverge substantially and I'm not sure why. Obviously some of the divergence makes sense, but why require OEM or equivalent muffler on ldv and not motorcycles?


wrt LDV list:
For the light-duty vehicle checklist, the muffler must be OEM or one that meets OEM standard (p 13). That would be a tough sell for 99% of aftermarket mufllers marked as off-road use only. This would also capture noise without specifically stating it. The same page talks about cats but interesting doesn't call out a missing cat as a fail. My understanding was safety and emissions equipment had to be OEM or equivalent to that required at the date of manufacture. I don't see a specific reference to that though. Maybe because at the time, emissions tests still existed so the combination caught everything?

Reflectors are specifically a fail for missing or not labeled to show cmvss compliance.

Mirrors, for a non-oem mirror, surface area of 125 cm^2 is required (p 2).

wrt Schedule 6:
Lighting clauses that may cause trouble "(d) each lamp and reflector shall be securely mounted on the vehicle and none shall be missing;", "(j) no lens or lamp assembly shall bear markings that indicate “not for highway use” or a similar meaning." What are aftermarket lights putting on for marking? I haven't looked recently.

Mirrors, I'm mostly with you but understand the shop not wanting to waste time deciding whether an aftermarket mirror is equivalent or complies. It may or may not but you could waste an hour just trying to get you documentation in order for that one checkbox. That would be an easy item for an auditor to flag and require justification.
 
Last edited:
GreyGhost said:
Safety for vehicles requires lights in compliance with cmvss. I doubt you could find a single aftermarket light with the necessary labeling. I'll dig through your other points when I am at a computer.
Click to expand...

Most of the requirements for superfluous markings like “DOT” on lenses and other silly stuff like that has been struck from the regs.

As long as said lights meet the requirement (mainly, brightness, colour, and visibility angles) they’re fine, they don’t necessarily need to be OEM.

 
PrivatePilot said:
I'm curious on what basis that one shop is failing based on non-factory exhaust as there is NO requirement for this.
Click to expand...

Had someone about a month ago tell me a shop said they weren't going to safety his tires because they were five years old. I told him to call someone else. He got it safetied with those tires elsewhere the next day.

The basis you're asking about is called greed. They do it on the basis of greed.
 
Looks like I’ll be returning my stock exhaust to the Scrambler then! Good thing I kept it and I’ll just toss in the second exhaust with the bike.

I guess a $500 non refundable deposit would make sense if buyer wants a safety. Otherwise you go through the hassle and buyer bails, and seller is stuck with a safetied bike for 36 days.
 
mimico_polak said:
Looks like I’ll be returning my stock exhaust to the Scrambler then! Good thing I kept it and I’ll just toss in the second exhaust with the bike.

I guess a $500 non refundable deposit would make sense if buyer wants a safety. Otherwise you go through the hassle and buyer bails, and seller is stuck with a safetied bike for 36 days.
Click to expand...
Or you could just say the price includes a safety, then when the deal is done and you're paid you take the bike in.
 
Concur;

I always get the buyer to cover safety, that proves they are serious. And if the vehicle needs something we can negotiate deducting it from the agreed upon price.
 
Evoex said:
Concur;

I always get the buyer to cover safety, that proves they are serious. And if the vehicle needs something we can negotiate deducting it from the agreed upon price.
Click to expand...
TImes have changed though..... up until this year, you could get anything to pass. Just buy a cert on Kijiji

Now.... just looking at this thread, they erring on the side of caution and flagging anything.

Not sure I would buy as is, unless it was bone stock.
 
GreyGhost said:
Everyone wants to limit their risk. Selling a bike as safetied for a price you think you are happy with and then getting a big bill for the safety would piss you off.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I can see that point, but I'm pretty comfortable in that I believe I know the general condition of my bikes vis-a-vis a safety. I'm not one for aftermarket exhausts or flush mount signals etc. so not a concern.

I AM CONCERNED about getting a safety for my Norton Commando. Drum rear brakes combined with an uncommon rear wheel removal/installation setup would be an issue for someone unfamiliar with it. When the time comes I'll bring the manual.
 
Soulcatcher668 said:
TImes have changed though..... up until this year, you could get anything to pass. Just buy a cert on Kijiji

Now.... just looking at this thread, they erring on the side of caution and flagging anything.

Not sure I would buy as is, unless it was bone stock.
Click to expand...
Not a concern for me, i keep all the stock parts. 😁
 
Evoex said:
Not a concern for me, i keep all the stock parts. 😁
Click to expand...
While that should guarantee a pass, it may be an expensive and time consuming exercise. A check engine light is an automatic fail for hdv, I haven't looked to see if similar for ldv and bikes. That could get you into replacing exhaust, reflash, safety, replace exhaust, reflash. What a load of poo. None of that process had even a tiny effect on safety. Just money burning for no purpose.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom