Many more two-wheel and light vehicles must undergo a French MOT or contrôle technique every three years since a new law came into force in April. We look at what this entails.
The requirement for motorbikes, trikes, quads and vehicules sans permis to have a contrôle technique (CT) provoked noisy demonstrations from motorcyclists.
But the government was unmoved and the new requirements stand.
Like for cars, the CTs are issued by dedicated centres, independent of garages.
If you have an older motorbike, or other vehicle in the new category, the first deadlines are approaching fast – before 14 August for vehicles first assigned number plates before January 2017, and whose carte grise shows they were put on the road between January and April.
For other vehicles registered before 2017, the CT must be done before the end of the year, with newer bikes following a roughly six-month process until all bikes over four years old are done.
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As with cars, the penalty for riding without a valid CT is a €135 fine (€90 if paid in the first three days), however no licence points are removed.
The police can even to suspend your vehicle's registration, giving you one week’s notice to get a CT. If you get into an accident that is your fault, your insurer may also not cover you for harm to yourself and your vehicle if you drive without a CT.
Lack of bike centres
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There are, however, far fewer CT centres for motorbikes than there are for cars, at the moment. An example is the network of Dekra franchises, which has centres in most towns for cars but had only 10 bike centres for an area stretching from Bordeaux up to the north of Charente-Maritime on the CT for bikes launch day.
“Almost all the centres will be added on to existing ones for cars,” said Karine Bonnet, managing director of Dekra France and president of the trade body Contrôle Technique France.
“But not all were ready for April 15 and there is still a backlog for them to get the equipment they need for motorbikes.
“When the dust settles we think at least half of our centres will do cars and motorbikes.”
France has more motorcyclists its roads than other European countries and as a consequence they have more political weight, which is why the country took so long to work around its opposition to the scheme.
The final result is a system that is less strict than for cars.
Instead of needing a CT certificate every two years (since the last test), bikers will need one every three years. For new vehicles the rule is as for cars: four-and-a-half to five years after the vehicle is first allowed on the road.
As with cars, the check focuses on safety and environmental concerns. It is the second point, especially controlling noise pollution, which was one of the bones of contention when the CT for bikes was first requested by the EU.
But the first checks will not include noise pollution – only those from 2025. Many two-wheelers in France no longer have the factory-fitted exhaust, with modified, noisier pipes sometimes fitted before the bike leaves the showroom.
Sometimes these give a little more power – most of the time the riders just like making more noise.
Ms Bonnet said mechanics who will do the tests had to have 35 hours of specific training. The new equipment the centres need, including for sound testing from 2025, will cost up to €20,000.
Other parts of the test covering brakes, steering, lights, rear-view mirrors and suspension, including tyres caused less controversy.
Bikers can watch checks
The first week of the new CT saw 13% of bikes in need of repairs and a contre-visite, compared to an average of 20% of car CTs.
Unlike with cars, where owners are usually kept out of the workshop area, bikers can be invited in by the mechanics doing the test, especially to help manoeuvre the bike from one stand to another.
“Germany, where our company headquarters are, has had motorbike CTs for years,” Ms Bonnet said. “The 13% fits in with experience there, and problems found are serious from a safety point of view – bad tyres first of all, then lights and brakes, often leaks in brake systems. It is a myth that all motorcyclists are like mechanics and look after their vehicles.”
As with cars, to sell a motorbike needing a CT, you need to present to the buyer a CT certificate dated within six months.
The government estimated the new bike tests would cost around €50, but the price is not regulated and is reportedly around €60-80. A car CT price also varies significantly, but is on average about €78.
CT changes for cars
For cars, a new, stricter CT introduced in 2018, which saw the number of points of control rise to 450 from 200 has settled down in most areas.
The main change involved environmental checks, especially of exhausts.
When these new checks were introduced, many more diesel and petrol cars were called back for the dreaded contre-visite, where faults have to be fixed and the car retested within three weeks.
Partly as a result of this, sales of engine cleaners have skyrocketed since the change. Most such cleaners cost around €50 and require the fuel tank to be down to the last quarter, the product is then tipped into the fuel tank, and then the car driven with high revs (over 3,000rpm – a lot for a diesel motor) for at least half an hour.
It works, and the cleaned engines produce less pollution than before.
There is anecdotal evidence that some pollution measuring machines are less strict than others – some CT centres have found customers deserting them while others have queues.
Once you have had your CT done, you will receive a certificate (which you should keep in the car), and the test centre places a sticker in the corner of the windscreen, showing when the next is due. However, displaying this is not a legal obligation.
Anyone importing a car more than four years old from a non-EU country, including the UK, has to put the car through a French CT before it can be registered with French plates.
Classic/vintage cars and motorbikes with a special registration document as a véhicules de collection do not require tests if they are older than 1960, otherwise, they are every five years.
There is no CT for caravans and trailers, but for camping cars the rules are as for cars.
