Victory Octane vs BMW R1150

The Victory Octane passes its MOT first time more often than the BMW R1150: 95.5% vs 88.5%, a 7.0-point lead.

MOT reliability, side by side

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

Metric	Victory Octane	BMW R1150
First-time pass rate	95.5%	88.5%
Outright fail rate	3.1%	6.8%
Vs comparable bikes (age & mileage adjusted)	+6.6 pts	+6.7 pts
Engine size	1,179cc	1,130cc
Rank among all models	#46 of 5428	#1449 of 5428
Median miles at test	5,814	33,151
MOT tests analysed	287	170,963
Most common failure	Identification of the vehicle	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 Octane	BMW R1150
2020	93.5%	88.0%
2021	95.5%	87.9%
2022	98.1%	88.6%
2023	100.0%	89.1%
2024	100.0%	88.1%
2025	88.9%	89.1%

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 Octane	BMW R1150
0k-10k miles	97.5%	92.9%
10k-20k miles	89.4%	92.1%

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

VICTORY OCTANE 95.5% pass · 287 tests BMW R1150 88.5% pass · 171k tests

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