Victory Gunner vs BMW R1250

The BMW R1250 passes its MOT first time more often than the Victory Gunner: 95.8% vs 91.9%, a 3.9-point lead.

MOT reliability, side by side

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

Metric	Victory Gunner	BMW R1250
First-time pass rate	91.9%	95.8%
Outright fail rate	5.0%	2.1%
Vs comparable bikes (age & mileage adjusted)	+4.6 pts	+8.5 pts
Engine size	1,731cc	1,254cc
Rank among all models	#488 of 5428	#32 of 5428
Median miles at test	9,019	11,082
MOT tests analysed	456	33,642
Most common failure	lamps and reflectors	brakes

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	Victory Gunner	BMW R1250
2021	92.6%	92.9%
2022	91.3%	95.1%
2023	92.6%	95.8%
2024	91.7%	95.8%
2025	83.0%	96.2%

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	Victory Gunner	BMW R1250
0k-10k miles	95.2%	96.6%
10k-20k miles	91.4%	95.6%
20k-30k miles	81.6%	94.6%

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

VICTORY GUNNER 91.9% pass · 456 tests BMW R1250 95.8% pass · 33.6k tests

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