The technical inspection of two-wheelers in France has finally been set by decree. Planned for years, it has caused major controversy among French bikers, but will see the light of day in 2024.
Long discussed and debated, the technical inspection of two-wheelers is coming to fruition and will become compulsory from April 2024 for the first vehicles concerned, because the dates will not be the same for everyone.
The decision was taken with the aim of complying with the 2014 European directive, which requires this technical control for the safety of motorcyclists and the reduction of environmental impact. How, after the publication of a decree in the Official Journal this Tuesday, October 24, will all this harmonize?
A technical inspection which will be carried out gradually, depending on the registration date of the two-wheeler
Motorcyclists will have to submit to the control according to the registration date of their vehicle, with implementation staggered until the end of 2026. The first to be affected are the owners of two-wheelers registered before 1er January 2017. Depending on the date of entry into circulation, they will have to carry out the inspection from April until the end of 2024.
In 2025, it will be the turn of other owners of category L vehicles to carry out their first inspection, provided that they are registered between 1er January 2017 and December 31, 2019.
For vehicles registered between 1er January 2020 and December 31, 2021, they will be able to wait until 2026 to undergo their first technical inspection. And finally concerning those put into circulation after the 1er January 2022, they will only have to carry it out in the 6 months preceding the expiration of a period of 5 years from the date of first putting into circulation. Then it will be every three years. In other words, if you bought your two-wheeler in October 2023, you will have to do your “MOT” between April and October 2028, then the second in 2031.
An obligation smoothed over several years to align with the specificities of the French two-wheel fleet
This technical control obligation has therefore been smoothed out (to say the least) over several years to avoid congestion in the control centers. The latter will also have the possibility of obtaining an extension of approval, in the event that they already carry out checks for other types of vehicles.
A first decree, published in August 2021, provided for the entry into force of the measure in January 2023 for all vehicles registered before 2016. The date was postponed to definitively take into account the specificities of the two-wheel fleet in France .
The obligation of an MOT has provoked the anger of the French motorcycling community, which is demanding a passage “ as cheap and simple as possible “. Nearly 4 million two-wheelers will be affected by this measure, imposed by the European Commission, which also wanted it to come into force from January 2022 for 125 cm3.
Source : Official newspaper
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