Yamaha RD500: MOT pass rate by registration year

Which RD500 years pass first time, and which fall short of the model's 89.0% average, from 1,955 DVSA tests.

1984

highest-passing year · 91.4%

1986

lowest-passing year · 85.3%

6.1pp

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: 1984 (91.4% of 430 tests). Lowest: 1986 (85.3% of 333). Years more than two points below the model average: 1986, 1987.

Registered	Tests	First-time pass	vs model (89.0%)
1984	430	91.4%	+2.4 pp
1985	941	88.4%	-0.6 pp
1986	333	85.3%	-3.7 pp
1987	98	86.7%	-2.3 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 · 2006–2025

Questions

Which RD500 years have the lowest MOT pass rate?: 1986, 1987 registered examples pass first time less often than the Yamaha RD500 overall (89.0%); the 1986 cohort is lowest at 85.3% from 333 tests.
Which RD500 year has the highest MOT pass rate?: 1984, at 91.4% of 430 first tests (2005–2025).
How much does the RD500 pass rate vary by year?: 6.1 percentage points between the highest (1984, 91.4%) and lowest (1986, 85.3%) 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: Yamaha RD500 reliability, failures and mileage · ranked #1269 of 5428 models· other Yamaha models: YZF-R1, YZF-R6, FZS600, YBR 125, XJR1300, FZ6