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Laws on buying a motorbike

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:12 pm
by NinjaMonkeys
Hey guys me again, I was just wondering. In England what cc bike can I purchase when im 17? I heard the maximum cc i can buy is a 125cc can anyone tell me if this is true or if i can buy a higher cc bike. thx :)

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:48 pm
by Shiv
www.bikechatforums.com would be your best bet.

I'm fairly certain this is mostly an American board, but there's plenty of Europeans on BCF. I can hardly understand what they're talking about half the time.

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 5:57 pm
by Kal
To be fair its a long long time since I was 17 so I had to go look it up on the DVLA website.

You can purchase anything you can afford, but the limits for legally riding on the road look something like this...

At age 17 or over, you will have two types of full motorcycle licence to aim for - the A1 light motorcycle licence or the standard category A motorcycle licence.

To gain a full A1 light motorcycle licence you must successfully complete CBT and pass a theory test followed by a practical test on a vehicle between 75cc and 125cc. A full A1 licence permits you to ride any motorcycle up to 125cc and a power output of up to 11kW (14.6 bhp) without `L' plates, carry pillion passengers and use motorways.

To gain a full standard category A licence you must successfully complete CBT and pass a theory test followed by a practical test on a motorcycle of over 120cc but not larger than 125cc and capable of at least 100kph. In practice the normal test vehicle will be a 125cc machine. A full standard category A licence permits you ride any motorcycle with a power output of up to 25kW (33bhp) and a power-to-weight ratio not exceeding 0.16kW/kg without `L' plates, carry pillion passengers and use motorways. You are restricted to a motorcycle up to 25kW for two years (not counting any periods of disqualification). After two years you may ride any size motorcycle
I read that as saying you have a choice, you can be licenced for 125's or you can be licenced for 33bhp - about 250cc's.

In practise I cant see the point of cat A1, you may as well go for a full catagory A. Then at 19 your licence will 'upgrade' itself to unlimited and you can ride whatever you want a full 2 years before you would be old enough to take the Direct Access.