Harley-Davidson XL 883 N Iron 18: MOT pass rate by registration year

Which XL 883 N Iron 18 years pass first time, and which fall short of the model's 89.2% average, from 1,597 DVSA tests.

2017

highest-passing year · 89.8%

2018

lowest-passing year · 89.2%

0.6pp

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: 2017 (89.8% of 157 tests). Lowest: 2018 (89.2% of 1,288).

Registered	Tests	First-time pass	vs model (89.2%)
2017	157	89.8%	+0.6 pp
2018	1,288	89.2%	+0.0 pp
2019	148	89.2%	+0.0 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 · 2021–2025

Questions

Which XL 883 N Iron 18 years have the lowest MOT pass rate?: none: no registration year of the Harley-Davidson XL 883 N Iron 18 falls more than two points under the model's 89.2% overall pass rate.
Which XL 883 N Iron 18 year has the highest MOT pass rate?: 2017, at 89.8% of 157 first tests (2005–2025).
How much does the XL 883 N Iron 18 pass rate vary by year?: 0.6 percentage points between the highest (2017, 89.8%) and lowest (2018, 89.2%) 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: Harley-Davidson XL 883 N Iron 18 reliability, failures and mileage · ranked #1212 of 5428 models· other Harley-Davidson models: XLH 883, Flstf, Flstc, XL, XL1200C, XL883