Honda 400/4: MOT pass rate by registration year

Which 400/4 years pass first time, and which fall short of the model's 85.0% average, from 988 DVSA tests.

1977

highest-passing year · 89.7%

1976

lowest-passing year · 79.9%

9.8pp

spread across 5 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: 1977 (89.7% of 311 tests). Lowest: 1976 (79.9% of 234). Years more than two points below the model average: 1975, 1976.

Registered	Tests	First-time pass	vs model (85.0%)
1975	123	82.1%	-2.9 pp
1976	234	79.9%	-5.1 pp
1977	311	89.7%	+4.7 pp
1978	207	84.1%	-0.9 pp
1979	73	87.7%	+2.7 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 · 2006–2018

Questions

Which 400/4 years have the lowest MOT pass rate?: 1975, 1976 registered examples pass first time less often than the Honda 400/4 overall (85.0%); the 1976 cohort is lowest at 79.9% from 234 tests.
Which 400/4 year has the highest MOT pass rate?: 1977, at 89.7% of 311 first tests (2005–2025). Years more than two points above the model average: 1977, 1979.
How much does the 400/4 pass rate vary by year?: 9.8 percentage points between the highest (1977, 89.7%) and lowest (1976, 79.9%) 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: Honda 400/4 reliability, failures and mileage · ranked #2491 of 5428 models· other Honda models: CBR600F, CBR900RR, CBR1100XX, CB500, C90, VFR800 Fi