Harley-Davidson XL 883 R Sportster: MOT pass rate by registration year

Which XL 883 R Sportster years pass first time, and which fall short of the model's 88.6% average, from 4,296 DVSA tests.

2008

highest-passing year · 89.5%

2010

lowest-passing year · 87.6%

1.9pp

spread across 6 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: 2008 (89.5% of 626 tests). Lowest: 2010 (87.6% of 314).

Registered	Tests	First-time pass	vs model (88.6%)
2005	1,336	89.2%	+0.6 pp
2006	1,125	87.9%	-0.7 pp
2007	597	87.9%	-0.7 pp
2008	626	89.5%	+0.9 pp
2009	276	89.1%	+0.5 pp
2010	314	87.6%	-1.0 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 · 2008–2025

Questions

Which XL 883 R Sportster years have the lowest MOT pass rate?: none: no registration year of the Harley-Davidson XL 883 R Sportster falls more than two points under the model's 88.6% overall pass rate.
Which XL 883 R Sportster year has the highest MOT pass rate?: 2008, at 89.5% of 626 first tests (2005–2025).
How much does the XL 883 R Sportster pass rate vary by year?: 1.9 percentage points between the highest (2008, 89.5%) and lowest (2010, 87.6%) 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 R Sportster reliability, failures and mileage · ranked #1402 of 5428 models· other Harley-Davidson models: XLH 883, Flstf, Flstc, XL, XL1200C, XL883