BMW R80GS: MOT pass rate by registration year

Which R80GS years pass first time, and which fall short of the model's 89.1% average, from 585 DVSA tests.

1989

highest-passing year · 91.7%

1981

lowest-passing year · 87.4%

4.3pp

spread across 3 years

Pass rate by registration year

first-time pass rate · cohorts with 50 or more tests · registration year from first use date

Highest pass rate: 1989 (91.7% of 60 tests). Lowest: 1981 (87.4% of 111).

Registered	Tests	First-time pass	vs model (89.1%)
1981	111	87.4%	-1.7 pp
1989	60	91.7%	+2.6 pp
1991	82	89.0%	-0.1 pp

Older cohorts are survivors: the worst examples have already left the road, which tends to lift the earliest years. A first-time MOT pass is a roadworthiness check, not a full mechanical inspection.

Pass rate over time

first-time pass rate by test year · 2006–2017

Questions

Which R80GS years have the lowest MOT pass rate?: none: no registration year of the BMW R80GS falls more than two points under the model's 89.1% overall pass rate.
Which R80GS year has the highest MOT pass rate?: 1989, at 91.7% of 60 first tests (2005–2025).
How much does the R80GS pass rate vary by year?: 4.3 percentage points between the highest (1989, 91.7%) and lowest (1981, 87.4%) cohorts with at least 50 tests. Older cohorts are survivors: the worst examples have already left the road, which tends to lift the earliest years.

Full report: BMW R80GS reliability, failures and mileage · ranked #1243 of 5428 models· other BMW models: R1200, R1150, S1000, F800, K Series, K1200