Honda SL230: MOT pass rate by registration year

Which SL230 years pass first time, and which fall short of the model's 87.3% average, from 575 DVSA tests.

1997

highest-passing year · 94.4%

1998

lowest-passing year · 81.9%

12.5pp

spread across 4 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: 1997 (94.4% of 107 tests). Lowest: 1998 (81.9% of 127). Years more than two points below the model average: 1998, 2000.

Registered	Tests	First-time pass	vs model (87.3%)
1997	107	94.4%	+7.1 pp
1998	127	81.9%	-5.4 pp
1999	89	87.6%	+0.3 pp
2000	79	84.8%	-2.5 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 · 2006–2015

Questions

Which SL230 years have the lowest MOT pass rate?: 1998, 2000 registered examples pass first time less often than the Honda SL230 overall (87.3%); the 1998 cohort is lowest at 81.9% from 127 tests.
Which SL230 year has the highest MOT pass rate?: 1997, at 94.4% of 107 first tests (2005–2025).
How much does the SL230 pass rate vary by year?: 12.5 percentage points between the highest (1997, 94.4%) and lowest (1998, 81.9%) 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 SL230 reliability, failures and mileage · ranked #1818 of 5428 models· other Honda models: CBR600F, CBR900RR, CBR1100XX, CB500, C90, VFR800 Fi