I too live in NE Pennsylvania, so am subject to annual inspections on motor vehicles. I moved here from NY, which also has the annual inspection requirement. I have lived in PA for 6 years now and have two bikes but have only gotten them inspected once in PA. My problem with state mandated vehicle inspections is that they are performed by shops which stand to profit by failing them, knowing that most people will have them go ahead and have them make the repair. My car failed an inspection for a taillight bulb. Shame on me for not checking prior to taking it in. I was quoted $30 to replace the bulb. I told them to pack sand and I would change it myself. Brought the car to get it checked out and get my window sticker, and guess what... I was charged a reinspection fee which brought the total (just for the bulb), to $30! If I had allowed them to change the bulb, it would have been the same amount.
As for motorcycle inspections, I took my bikes to a local shop that is certified to do motorcycle inspections. The mechanic rode my bikes around the block and did a thorough inspection. He failed one of the bikes for a worn rear tire. The tire was near end of life, but still had some meat on it. I believe I could have gotten at least another 2,000 miles on it, but it's a judgement call, right? And he's the judge, so whatcha gonna do? Got a new tire a little earlier that I would have preferred, but so be it. What was interesting was a comment he made while all this back and forth, inspection/reinspection stuff was going on. He told me that he hadn't had his own bike inspected in several years. I found that odd, but my take-away was that annual inspections, at least on a motorcycle in PA is somewhat optional... IF... you are willing to assume the risk of getting a fix-it ticket in the event you are pulled over. A teacher of mine once said, "You pay your money and you take your choice". Haven't gotten my bikes inspected since.
Bottom line is that I think these state inspections can be good at revealing problems which could affect safety for the driver and others on the road, especially for those who are not mechanically inclined, but should be performed by a third party who does not stand to profit from failing the vehicle.
About 25 years ago, back when I lived in NJ. I had a '94 Ford Ranger Splash; that had tinted windows.
With NJ's state inspection stations; it was a crap shoot as to if they would ignore the tinted windows.
So I had to take that pickup to private garage for inspections.
Usually never had a problem. EXCEPT one year.
That year, the A/C quit working and I thought it was the compressor, but was not certain.
SO I told the private shop to:
Inspect truck. If it passes, THEN diagnose why the A/C quit working.
They called me later that day to say truck was done.
When I went to get the truck, they said the A/C compressor died, was X-dollars to fix, and asked me if I wanted them to fix it.
I said "No thank you. I rarely use the A/C and x-dollars is more than the truck is worth."
They then replied. "Ok. Truck failed inspection. Horn does not work."
I made them walk me me over to truck, and watch me press the horn button. It worked.
They said "That's odd, it did not work when we inspected it."
So yea; they pulled the "Pay us or it fails." bs.
AS to yearly inspections catching problems.
Just go watch youtube videos such as "Just Rolled In" to see the scary stuff people are driving around it.
