Royal Enfield Bullit vs Kawasaki ZXR400

The Royal Enfield Bullit passes its MOT first time more often than the Kawasaki ZXR400: 89.5% vs 73.1%, a 16.4-point lead.

MOT reliability, side by side

first-time pass rate, outright fail rate and tests analysed · 2005–2025

Metric	Royal Enfield Bullit	Kawasaki ZXR400
First-time pass rate	89.5%	73.1%
Outright fail rate	3.4%	18.9%
Vs comparable bikes (age & mileage adjusted)	+2.7 pts	-9.9 pts
Engine size	350cc	398cc
Rank among all models	#1113 of 5428	#4490 of 5428
Median miles at test	10,160	23,651
MOT tests analysed	466	14,200
Most common failure	lighting and signalling	lighting and signalling

First-time outcomes on normal tests, 2005–2025. "Most common failure" is the component group with the most recorded defects on failed tests. Read pass rates against test counts: a smaller sample is noisier. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT results.

"Vs comparable bikes" is the first-time pass rate minus the rate expected for each bike's own mix of age, mileage and test class, in percentage points: positive means better than comparable bikes. How this works.

Pass rate by test year

first-time MOT pass rate in each calendar year both bikes were tested

Test year	Royal Enfield Bullit	Kawasaki ZXR400
2006	96.9%	73.0%
2007	86.1%	72.3%
2010	88.6%	68.5%
2011	87.1%	71.2%
2012	91.7%	69.5%
2013	85.7%	68.6%
2014	93.3%	70.6%
2015	80.0%	75.5%

Each year mixes bikes of different ages, so a fleet that is getting older tends to slip.

Pass rate by mileage

first-time MOT pass rate by miles on the clock at test

Mileage	Royal Enfield Bullit	Kawasaki ZXR400
0k-10k miles	87.7%	87.1%
10k-20k miles	88.3%	77.4%
20k-30k miles	88.6%	69.9%
30k-40k miles	95.1%	67.8%

Bands with fewer than 30 tests for either bike are left out.

ROYAL ENFIELD BULLIT 89.5% pass · 466 tests KAWASAKI ZXR400 73.1% pass · 14.2k tests

See each bike's full report (trend, mileage curve, failure breakdown and rivals) on its own page.