latest on the new Safety Cert Drive On program...

[adri]

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I got my new to me bike safetied at Studio Cycle on Tuesday. They replied to me over the weekend while they were closed telling me to drop it off at 10:30 AM on Tuesday when they were open. It was along my way to my first job of the day so I couldn't say no to that!

I know a customer said they got their bike safetied at Powersports TO, and they actually got an email from the ministry (?) letting them know the status update (it failed because her bike was a disaster lol).

I didn't get any kind of email from the ministry (is that a thing?) but since I was 45 minutes away from Studio around 1 PM, called them, told them where I was at, and they said come on over it'll be ready, and it was.

I was given a paper to bring with me to the ministry because apparently sometimes the ministry's system doesn't update very quickly. Not sure if it did or not but after an hour line up at Service Ontario, I was out with the plate and the bike in my name.

8 year old motorcycle with 17k km, so not too new, but I definitely gave the bike a good check out myself to make sure all was well before bringing it in... because I'm really cheap so I wasn't going to risk having to pay twice for a safety lol

 

[cruiserider]

I got my new to me bike safetied at Studio Cycle on Tuesday. They replied to me over the weekend while they were closed telling me to drop it off at 10:30 AM on Tuesday when they were open. It was along my way to my first job of the day so I couldn't say no to that!

I know a customer said they got their bike safetied at Powersports TO, and they actually got an email from the ministry (?) letting them know the status update (it failed because her bike was a disaster lol).

I didn't get any kind of email from the ministry (is that a thing?) but since I was 45 minutes away from Studio around 1 PM, called them, told them where I was at, and they said come on over it'll be ready, and it was.

I was given a paper to bring with me to the ministry because apparently sometimes the ministry's system doesn't update very quickly. Not sure if it did or not but after an hour line up at Service Ontario, I was out with the plate and the bike in my name.

8 year old motorcycle with 17k km, so not too new, but I definitely gave the bike a good check out myself to make sure all was well before bringing it in... because I'm really cheap so I wasn't going to risk having to pay twice for a safety lol

Weird with the email thing. Safetied my bike 2 months ago in Mississauga, and received 2 emails from the ministry, before even mechanic called me to come and get the bike. No paper copy, everything was already in the system at Service Ontario.
You don't pay twice, you have 10 days to fix deficiencies and come back for re-inspection.


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com mobile app

 

[Relax]

I got my new to me bike safetied at Studio Cycle on Tuesday. They replied to me over the weekend while they were closed telling me to drop it off at 10:30 AM on Tuesday when they were open. It was along my way to my first job of the day so I couldn't say no to that!

I know a customer said they got their bike safetied at Powersports TO, and they actually got an email from the ministry (?) letting them know the status update (it failed because her bike was a disaster lol).

I didn't get any kind of email from the ministry (is that a thing?) but since I was 45 minutes away from Studio around 1 PM, called them, told them where I was at, and they said come on over it'll be ready, and it was.

I was given a paper to bring with me to the ministry because apparently sometimes the ministry's system doesn't update very quickly. Not sure if it did or not but after an hour line up at Service Ontario, I was out with the plate and the bike in my name.

8 year old motorcycle with 17k km, so not too new, but I definitely gave the bike a good check out myself to make sure all was well before bringing it in... because I'm really cheap so I wasn't going to risk having to pay twice for a safety lol

Do they have a flat-rate price for safety, or is it by time (and what did yours come out to)?

 

[adri]

You don't pay twice, you have 10 days to fix deficiencies and come back for re-inspection.

Great for us, bad for the shops lol. Imagine a bike fails for drum brakes and the owner goes home, replaces them, and brings it back to the shop where they have to take the back wheel off AGAIN at no additional charge? Yikes.

Do they have a flat-rate price for safety, or is it by time (and what did yours come out to)?

I was told $250 before I dropped it off, and I paid $250 when I picked it up.

 

[Relax]

Nice, all horror stories considered, but damn - that's 2.5x what it used to cost me compared to my last safety.

 

[Sochi]

Nice, all horror stories considered, but damn - that's 2.5x what it used to cost me compared to my last safety.

nah, see my other post - Master Mechanic $145 after tax. just make sure your bike is stock and you good to go

 

[timtune]

I've been paying about $80 prior to the new regs.

 

[adri]

nah, see my other post - Master Mechanic $145 after tax. just make sure your bike is stock and you good to go

I'm cheap but... do I want a car tech touching my motorcycle though? Which car tech is the one doing the work, is it the lowest paid/newest kid who's never wrenched on a bike before?

I've seen the utter disregard for correct retorquing of bolts on my truck. If I close my eyes I can hear the sound of the car tech using an impact to put my motorcycle's brake calipers back on, followed by his voice saying "oops" after her's stripped the threads lol

I'm not a fan of paying 3x what I used to pay either, but if I'm having a car tech work on my bike, I better be saving A LOT more than $100 for that....

 

[GreyGhost]

I'm cheap but... do I want a car tech touching my motorcycle though? Which car tech is the one doing the work, is it the lowest paid/newest kid who's never wrenched on a bike before?

I've seen the utter disregard for correct retorquing of bolts on my truck. If I close my eyes I can hear the sound of the car tech using an impact to put my motorcycle's brake calipers back on, followed by his voice saying "oops" after her's stripped the threads lol

I'm not a fan of paying 3x what I used to pay either, but if I'm having a car tech work on my bike, I better be saving A LOT more than $100 for that....

You assume the bike tech takes more care and attention. That isn't universal. Flat rate does not reward doing things the slow and careful way.

 

[Relax]

You assume the bike tech takes more care and attention. That isn't universal. Flat rate does not reward doing things the slow and careful way.

Yup, one of my 998's velocity stacks has a broken tab on it from a Ducati master mechanic prying it off instead of twisting. The guy's generally pretty good, but my jaw hit the ground the last time I removed the tank to figure out why my fuel economy dropped from 48 MPG to only 37, stranding me on Mississauga Rd at the Caledon Brick Works. The stack was flopped over sideways, and the attached shower injector was spraying onto the airbox walls instead of down into the throttle body.

But good help is hard to find, as they say, so I'd stil use him if I had to or was feeling really lazy. Nobody's perfect.

 

[adri]

You assume the bike tech takes more care and attention. That isn't universal. Flat rate does not reward doing things the slow and careful way.

Nah, I think you're mistaking where I'm coming from. Maybe I didn't express myself well enough.

It isn't about assuming car techs are competent/incompetent and/or bike techs are competent/incompetent. It's that, I bet everyone here already knows at least one motorcycle mechanic that we trust to work on our motorcycles, right? So we don't have to make any assumptions. We can just take it to a guy who's already done right by us for years.

OR, we can save $105.... by taking it to a place where
- we don't know who's touching our bikes
- we don't know what their experience working on motorcycles is
- we don't know when the last time they even worked on a motorcycle is
- we don't even know if they feel comfortable working on motorcycles or if their boss just said "here, figure it out"

That's a lot of unknowns to sign my motorcycle up for taking it to a car shop to save $100. I'm cheap, I get super excited inner joy when I get a deal, but, to me, versus taking the bike to the motorcycle guy who's already been doing right by me for years, to save a $100 one time cost, this doesn't seem like the kind of deal I want to take.

Totally get what you're saying about flat rate though! Especially as the guy who's bike needed nothing for safety because I checked it over myself before bringing it in. It sucks paying the same as the next guy who brought in a total POS that was a PITA to work on, but, I'm not about to tell someone else how they should run their business, so, that's their call. Sometimes we lose.

 

[GreyGhost]

Nah, I think you're mistaking where I'm coming from. Maybe I didn't express myself well enough.

It isn't about assuming car techs are competent/incompetent and/or bike techs are competent/incompetent. It's that, I bet everyone here already knows at least one motorcycle mechanic that we trust to work on our motorcycles, right? So we don't have to make any assumptions. We can just take it to a guy who's already done right by us for years.

OR, we can save $105.... by taking it to a place where
- we don't know who's touching our bikes
- we don't know what their experience working on motorcycles is
- we don't know when the last time they even worked on a motorcycle is
- we don't even know if they feel comfortable working on motorcycles or if their boss just said "here, figure it out"

That's a lot of unknowns to sign my motorcycle up for taking it to a car shop to save $100. I'm cheap, I get super excited inner joy when I get a deal, but, to me, versus taking the bike to the motorcycle guy who's already been doing right by me for years, to save a $100 one time cost, this doesn't seem like the kind of deal I want to take.

Totally get what you're saying about flat rate though! Especially as the guy who's bike needed nothing for safety because I checked it over myself before bringing it in. It sucks paying the same as the next guy who brought in a total POS that was a PITA to work on, but, I'm not about to tell someone else how they should run their business, so, that's their call. Sometimes we lose.

Timing is a big issue for the good techs. Most people don't want to wait a month plus for a safety. The good techs are understandably rammed.

 

[Fuzzbuster]

Yup, one of my 998's velocity stacks has a broken tab on it from a Ducati master mechanic prying it off instead of twisting. The guy's generally pretty good, but my jaw hit the ground the last time I removed the tank to figure out why my fuel economy dropped from 48 MPG to only 37, stranding me on Mississauga Rd at the Caledon Brick Works. The stack was flopped over sideways, and the attached shower injector was spraying onto the airbox walls instead of down into the throttle body.

But good help is hard to find, as they say, so I'd stil use him if I had to or was feeling really lazy. Nobody's perfect.

Is this master duc guy someone that I may have used?

 

[Jayell]

Awan Auto Inc., 17 Munham Gate, Scarborough, (416) 856-2663

Not a moto shop, so perhaps less likely to sell unnecessary parts and repairs? $125 plus tax.

I know two guys who have had their bike certified there in the last week. They left as happy customers. Quick, efficient, no fuss.

 

[Relax]

I'm cheap but... do I want a car tech touching my motorcycle though? Which car tech is the one doing the work, is it the lowest paid/newest kid who's never wrenched on a bike before?

I've seen the utter disregard for correct retorquing of bolts on my truck. If I close my eyes I can hear the sound of the car tech using an impact to put my motorcycle's brake calipers back on, followed by his voice saying "oops" after her's stripped the threads lol

I'm not a fan of paying 3x what I used to pay either, but if I'm having a car tech work on my bike, I better be saving A LOT more than $100 for that....

Don't they need to have an actual certified tech do the safety and not juust an apprentice? On top of that, don't they also have to be licensed for bikes? In any case, I'd be erring on the safe side with a car shop the first time and asking if they need to remove anything for the inspection, because they really shouldn't (drum brakes aside, but that would never apply to me). Pad thickness can be checked without removing calipers on everything I own.

 

[Sochi]

I'm cheap but... do I want a car tech touching my motorcycle though? Which car tech is the one doing the work, is it the lowest paid/newest kid who's never wrenched on a bike before?

I've seen the utter disregard for correct retorquing of bolts on my truck. If I close my eyes I can hear the sound of the car tech using an impact to put my motorcycle's brake calipers back on, followed by his voice saying "oops" after her's stripped the threads lol

I'm not a fan of paying 3x what I used to pay either, but if I'm having a car tech work on my bike, I better be saving A LOT more than $100 for that....

just to state the facts and not assumptions: The tech who did my safety at Newmarket MM sounded very knowledgeable on the phone when we discussed the reqs, he's the only one who can do moto safety there and he's def not an apprentice, I'd say the oposite - when I was on site he was directing young guys and was working on new Porche suv which he finished right before my bike got the attention.
I suppose we should do our own due diligence to make sure apprentices don't touch our bikes
And there were quite a few good reviews about him on hte FB is how I decided to go there...
When the bike is tip top shape and STOCK I see absolutely NO reason to pay extra for a super moto mechanic services just to safety it..

 

[Jayell]

Pad thickness can be checked without removing calipers on everything I own.

As I understand things, the tech(s) must photograph the brake pads with the measuring device and reading visible. How can that be done without disassembly?

 

[GreyGhost]

As I understand things, the tech(s) must photograph the brake pads with the measuring device and reading visible. How can that be done without disassembly?

"The" measuring device or "a" measuring device? Hopefully it is "a" measuring device. It would be easy enough to put together a set of something similar to feeler gauges that could measure pad thicknesses while installed and be easily photographed.

 

[Relax]

As I understand things, the tech(s) must photograph the brake pads with the measuring device and reading visible. How can that be done without disassembly?

Same way they would normally do it? This is a pciture of the new tablet taking a photo of the calipers used to measure rotor thickness on a car. Use the other side to measure the pad thickness between the pad and the rotor. On a bike you don't even have to remove the wheel.

 

[dexter]

Awan Auto Inc., 17 Munham Gate, Scarborough, (416) 856-2663

Not a moto shop, so perhaps less likely to sell unnecessary parts and repairs? $125 plus tax.

I know two guys who have had their bike certified there in the last week. They left as happy customers. Quick, efficient, no fuss.

Add me as third guy. Just got bike certified here after seeing the thread. However i did find out that DriveON website allows searching for shops that does "motorcyle" safety.

ONPublicWeb

driveonportal.com

Speaking with Mohammad at Awan Auto , they just have mechanics who undergo training so they can safety the bike. They wont fix if there are issues. Disk brakes are walk in (FiFO) and took them 30 mins to safety my bike from the moment i showed up, Drum brakes require appointment (350$). The safety certificate (pdf) email + details of inspection (pdf)+ invoice (pdf) came right away to my inbox.

Safety inspection charge is 65$ (labour) which is one time fee. You pay the certification fee 60$ if your bike passes. If not they give a list of items to be fixed, you fix it come back (no extra charge) for re-inspection. The certificate will only be issued if all items passes. If your bike fails safety you have 10 days to fix. There is tax to the applicable charge.

Here is how i did it.
1. Agreed sale price of the bike - Got insurance.
2. Got UVIP (you will need VIN) $20 at serviceOn- this helps understand previous ownership details and discloses liens (if any). UVIP includes bill of sale thats a plus. There are no BB values mentioned for a bike so whatever bill of sale says is the amount you will pay tax. Dont put too low a value but it does help a little bit.
3. Asked seller to drop of bike at my place. Booked Lyft for his return.
4. Got Seller to sign UVIP and back of ownership. Fill my portion in.
5. Went to ServiceOntario - Got (new) plate after paying taxes. The ownership paper says MCL - TEMP (Brand: None, Plated). They give the Temp (T) sticker. The plates stay with you (after safety - just remove sticker)
6. Take bike to safety.
Called snowcity (no response), VOS (225$), cycle world ($225) -no appt reqd (FIFO), ottomoto- $250, Canadian tire (McCowan sheppard) - they dont have any motorcycle mech. Awan Auto was the cheapest.
7. Take safety cert to serviceOn ((i just print it out). Get full ownership. (Optionally, u can print out and take the application for vehicle registration)but they do hand it out at ServiceON.

Sources:

Temporary licence plate sticker

How to get a temporary licence plate sticker. It will let you drive a vehicle for 10 days while you complete the requirements for a regular licence plate sticker.

www.ontario.ca

(attach picture for T sticker). I put clear tape for easy removal.

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