Hello - and help! Failed MoT.....

Hi,

I've had my 99 Monster M900 for four years this May but only discovered this website today! My bike failed the MoT on two counts and I was looking for some clues to make the rectification work as painless as possible and stumbled across a link to UKMOC from DucatiSuite (Lance Busch).

Last year I changed the cambelts and gave my Monster a bit of maintenance TLC. I didn't get to ride out much as we had a new baby (not a motorbike a real one!) and I was doing the new man thing. This year I am planning to ride as much as I possibly can - which still probably wont be a massive amount.... but first I need an MoT pass certificate.

First failure is front brake light switch - which works fine when not fixed to its mounting but as soon as I tighten the little screws it goes all intermittent. I've already searched this one on the forum and decided to try one last time and open it up and look at the contacts. If that doesn't do it then it's the ritual destruction and new switch purchase.

Second MoT failure is slightly more involved but (I hope) only slightly. The rear shock connection to the swingarm has a whole load of play in it and I would guess that the connecting bolt and bush are worn as a result of running dry. Again I've searched the forum but drawn a blank - plenty of problems reported for upper linkage but lower connection seems to be trouble free - except for me! Does anyone have any experience of changing this? And would it be wise to do the job in isolation or should I be thinking about servicing the rear end - so to speak...?

Any help much appreciated and once again hi to you all.
Happy and safe riding - BabyDriver