Roadside Motorcycle Inspections are a Thing

When I was a kid my family was setting out for a road trip on our summer vacation.
We didn't get very far from home when our vehicle was waved over for a roadside motor vehicle inspection. It was one of those random checks that seem to pop up in the summer months and have no apparent rhyme or reason for which vehicles get chosen.

In short, our car failed for some very minor reason, I can't remember what it was because I was just a little kid, but I do remember my dad not being very happy. We got a big REJECTED sticker where the MVI sticker should have been and told it needed to be fixed and re-inspected within 10 days. 

I've thought about that a bit on and off over the years, especially when I saw one of those mobile inspection units, and wondered if some places do that for motorcycles. Well, now I know. 

Roadside motorcycle inspections are a thing in Denmark and have been since last year. They're really coming down hard with some big fines for noise violations. Some say 'loud pipes save lives' but they sure has hell won't save you money in Denmark.

In Finland they did for a short while at least. This article details a plan in Finland that had roadside checks on motorcycles and mopeds to gauge their condition. Apparently, there is no mandatory motorcycle and moped inspection period in Finland and they decided to get a snapshot what the bikes were like.

Let me take a trip down memory lane for a moment: I remember one guy I knew who had a Honda CM400e and he was missing some spokes in his rear wheel. (I think he had a few screws loose upstairs too, to be honest.) And he would ride that bike around like it was working perfectly, but you would see him on the roads and the back wheel would be flexing and wobbling like crazy. It didn't stop him, but it should have. I can just imagine what would have happened if he came across a roadside motorcycle MVI checkpoint. 

You could argue that these checks are a good thing, because it's more important for a motorcycle to be entirely roadworthy than it is for a car or truck or SUV. After all, you're out there exposed and heavily dependent upon your skills and the condition of your bike for your safety. Those are two things you can control, unlike how dumb a lot of drivers are, so isn't it a good idea to ensure your bike is in the best condition possible? If that takes an imposing roadside reminder from traffic officials, I'd say it's a small price to pay for safety. 

What do you think? Is there too much government intervention and meddling in motorcycling and on our roadways?