Kawasaki VN1500 D1: MOT pass rate by registration year

Which VN1500 D1 years pass first time, and which fall short of the model's 85.9% average, from 951 DVSA tests.

1996

highest-passing year · 86.0%

1999

lowest-passing year · 78.0%

8.0pp

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: 1996 (86.0% of 480 tests). Lowest: 1999 (78.0% of 50). Years more than two points below the model average: 1997, 1999.

Registered	Tests	First-time pass	vs model (85.9%)
1994	65	84.6%	-1.3 pp
1996	480	86.0%	+0.1 pp
1997	108	80.6%	-5.3 pp
1999	50	78.0%	-7.9 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 · 2006–2023

Questions

Which VN1500 D1 years have the lowest MOT pass rate?: 1997, 1999 registered examples pass first time less often than the Kawasaki VN1500 D1 overall (85.9%); the 1999 cohort is lowest at 78.0% from 50 tests.
Which VN1500 D1 year has the highest MOT pass rate?: 1996, at 86.0% of 480 first tests (2005–2025).
How much does the VN1500 D1 pass rate vary by year?: 8.0 percentage points between the highest (1996, 86.0%) and lowest (1999, 78.0%) 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: Kawasaki VN1500 D1 reliability, failures and mileage · ranked #2232 of 5428 models· other Kawasaki models: ZX-6R, ZX-9R, ZZR600, ER5, ZZ-R1100, ZX