Must be similar to our MoT - Ministry of Transport - test in Britain which has been around for as long as I can remember. Vehicles more than three years old must be submitted for annual inspection. Lots of quirky rules - if your bike has indicators, they must operate, but the bike will pass if there are none. Similar with lights, but if you present a bike with no lights it will be given a 'daytime only' MoT pass.France will soon require technical inspection for our motorcycles so I will have to put back indicators, I bought something to equip my dealy driver to start with, it's universal equipment, it's simpler than reassembling the system Originally, I'll equip the others later.... They're pissing us off!
And, this point is relevant for us XS650 types, vehicles over forty years old can be registered as 'historic' and no longer have to be presented. It becomes the owner's responsibility that the bike is technically sound. Oh, and the annual road tax, which is still required, costs £0. So that's alright.