BIKERELIABILITY Reg check
League table/ ROYAL ENFIELD/ BULLET 500/By year
Registration-year report · 2005–2025

Data as of: DVSA MOT results to 2025

Royal Enfield Bullet 500: MOT pass rate by registration year

Which Bullet 500 years pass first time, and which fall short of the model's 88.2% average, from 25,698 DVSA tests.

1999
highest-passing year · 89.9%
1997
lowest-passing year · 80.2%
9.7pp
spread across 18 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: 1999 (89.9% of 217 tests). Lowest: 1997 (80.2% of 111). Years more than two points below the model average: 1996, 1997, 1998.

78%85%92%1992: 88.6% pass (88 tests)1993: 86.5% pass (111 tests)1994: 89.3% pass (290 tests)1995: 88.3% pass (282 tests)1996: 85.5% pass (124 tests)1997: 80.2% pass (111 tests)1998: 84.6% pass (130 tests)1999: 89.9% pass (217 tests)2000: 87.3% pass (842 tests)2001: 88.3% pass (1,704 tests)2002: 87.6% pass (3,164 tests)2003: 88.4% pass (2,305 tests)2004: 87.9% pass (2,676 tests)2005: 89.5% pass (2,621 tests)2006: 88.7% pass (2,530 tests)2007: 89.6% pass (2,897 tests)2008: 88.1% pass (3,400 tests)2009: 86.7% pass (2,014 tests)199220012009
RegisteredTestsFirst-time passvs model (88.2%)
1992 88 88.6% +0.4 pp
1993 111 86.5% -1.7 pp
1994 290 89.3% +1.1 pp
1995 282 88.3% +0.1 pp
1996 124 85.5% -2.7 pp
1997 111 80.2% -8.0 pp
1998 130 84.6% -3.6 pp
1999 217 89.9% +1.7 pp
2000 842 87.3% -0.9 pp
2001 1,704 88.3% +0.1 pp
2002 3,164 87.6% -0.6 pp
2003 2,305 88.4% +0.2 pp
2004 2,676 87.9% -0.3 pp
2005 2,621 89.5% +1.3 pp
2006 2,530 88.7% +0.5 pp
2007 2,897 89.6% +1.4 pp
2008 3,400 88.1% -0.1 pp
2009 2,014 86.7% -1.5 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 · 2005–2025
85%89%94%2005: 92.2% pass (102 tests)2006: 89.6% pass (722 tests)2007: 88.8% pass (890 tests)2008: 88.1% pass (1,130 tests)2009: 86.5% pass (1,338 tests)2010: 87.9% pass (1,557 tests)2011: 88.8% pass (1,874 tests)2012: 87.3% pass (1,996 tests)2013: 88.0% pass (1,931 tests)2014: 86.5% pass (1,773 tests)2015: 88.3% pass (1,742 tests)2016: 89.4% pass (1,575 tests)2017: 87.2% pass (1,497 tests)2018: 89.4% pass (1,069 tests)2019: 87.6% pass (1,068 tests)2020: 90.9% pass (891 tests)2021: 88.3% pass (1,138 tests)2022: 87.9% pass (1,045 tests)2023: 89.0% pass (952 tests)2024: 89.6% pass (700 tests)2025: 88.8% pass (708 tests)20052025

Questions

Which Bullet 500 years have the lowest MOT pass rate?
1996, 1997, 1998 registered examples pass first time less often than the Royal Enfield Bullet 500 overall (88.2%); the 1997 cohort is lowest at 80.2% from 111 tests.
Which Bullet 500 year has the highest MOT pass rate?
1999, at 89.9% of 217 first tests (2005–2025).
How much does the Bullet 500 pass rate vary by year?
9.7 percentage points between the highest (1999, 89.9%) and lowest (1997, 80.2%) 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: Royal Enfield Bullet 500 reliability, failures and mileage · ranked #1544 of 5428 models· other Royal Enfield models: Interceptor Int 650, Bullet 350, Himalayan, Bullt, Bullet, Bullet Classic Efi E4