Can you ride a motorbike with a car driving licence?

Question

if it is possible can someone advice me in the steps i need to take inorder to be able to ride a bike on road, legally.. thanks

Answer 1

ermm.only up to 125cc i think...one of the crappy ones that sound like a lawn mower. And that's wearing L plates, and not being able to ride on motorways and such.

There are variants on the restrictions, it depends when you passed your driving test, but in order to ride any engine size, anywhere, you are required to pass your CBT and theory..and a further prac I think! (and get your driving license updated to include these)

Rather than on here, you should be looking at the directgov website :)

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

A car licence counts as a provisional licence, except that you can ride a 50cc scooter restricted to 32mph without a cbt. To ride up to a 125cc bike you need to do your CBT, which is not a test, this will permit you to ride any bike up to 125cc which has less than 14bhp (I think, somewhere around there).



For either of these you MUST ride with L plates, and not use motorways or carry pillion passengers. It doesnt matter that you have a car licence, you must still go back to those L plates. Then of course, you need tax, mot and insurance for your bike like with any other vehicle.



To progress further, depending on your age you can go 1 of 2 ways.



Firstly, if you are under 21, you can book and sit your theory test (again, having a car licence makes no odds as the theory questions are different), and then book and sit a practical test, in the same way that you get a car licence. Provided you pass both of these, you will be given a restricted motorcycle licence as you are under 21, this entitles you to ride any sized engine provided it is restricted to 33bhp or less, and you may use the motorways and take passengers, you also get to ditch the L plates at this point.



The restricted licence lasts for 2 years, and is then upgraded to the unrestricted licence without sitting another test, allowing you to ride what ever you want. So it is possible to ride any sized bike aged 19+.



There is no way to upgrade it sooner than 2 years, unless you turn 21 during those 2 years, in which case you can sit a further practical test to show your competence and have your licence upgraded to a full licence.



However if you are already 21 or older, you can sit a course which incorporates all the tests and training, usually lasting 3 - 5 full days. This course is the direct access course, which includes doing your cbt, your theory and practical tests with the required training inbetween. This will give you your fully unrestricted licence straight away and costs (at last check) £400 - £500 which includes all associated fees.



However, a word of warning - if you do sit the direct access course, please think very carefully about which bike you want to ride. They are completely and utterly different to handle on the roads in the dry, let alone in the wet, and there is no way a 5 day course can teach you to control the power in say...a R1 or CBR1000, this has to come from experiance. If necessary, just ask to have the bike restricted, the restrictor can be removed at a later date when you feel confident enough to handle the power. You always have to remember that whilst bikes have significantly less bhp than cars, they are alot lighter and the power to weight ratio is alot higher. An R1 may have 120 odd bhp, which is about the same as an average family car, however it will literally piss all over a ferrari. You must respect this power, something that alot of people dont when they take the route of direct access, especially as you only have 2 wheels and surface contact which is less than the surface contact of your shoes. Not being able to control this power will be a danger to yourself and other road users, and will detract from your enjoyment.



Im sorry to lecture, but I, unfortunately have seen, heard and known so many people who have gotten a bike that is too powerful for them to control and they have ended up in a ditch. Not all of them got back out of the ditch afterwards. I would hate for the same to happen to you, riding a motorcycle is extremely enjoyable, but it is fraught with danger for inexperianced and even experianced riders, but more so for the inexperianced.



They all tried being the big men, as to who could handle the most power, and not all of them could control it sufficiently.



If you want to draw comparison to power of a restricted bike, when mine was restricted to 33bhp it would do 0-60mph in less than 4 seconds and reach 120mph.

Answer 4

This question was asked in the UK and Ireland section and 5 Americans have answered it with an American answer. Only the Fadius answer is correct, very long but correct.

In short -

You already have a provisional motorcycle licence allowing you to ride a restricted 125 cc max, 14.8 bhp max bike/scooter. Before going on road you ned to do a CBT (see link below) and would need L plates on the bike along with insurance tax MOT and protective clothing.

Answer 5

Faddius and Timbo Is Here have got it right.



You can ride a bike of upto 50cc with no extra licence (if you passed your test after 2001 you need to do CBT), but for a larger bike you need to do your CBT and test.



Once you have done your CBT, you can ride with L plates (you don't need to have a passed driver like in a car) but have to pass your test within 2 years.

Answer 6

1

Answer 7

No. First you'll need to get a motorcycle permit. Then normally you can find a bike shop that will give you the road test. It's not difficult but riding without a motorcycle endorsement is the same penalty as driving without a license. Meaning, get caught and you won't be driving a car either....

Answer 8

they will only give you a full moped licence at 28mph but may be 31 mph, they use to be 25mph with a Puch Maxi and Rayleigh Runabout, or Thomos mopeds, but keep changing the speed, maybe to stop people suicide over taking at 28mph on a built up area, i guess its back to cbt to ride a 50cc with a anti thrash engines, restricted 125 for health and safety reasons, but you can ride a scooter with leg protectors on a t full speed 125, thats 60mph average speed, with atop speed of 73mph, or take a "A1" 125 cc motorbike full licence, take of the L plates, ride on the motorway, carry a passengers (not advised if you go over 35mph carrying a passenger because it makes the bike unstable, and larger bikes you should not go over 40/45mph with passengers) and the A1 test is only £15 for practical test modual 1, and £75 for modual 2 test, cheaper than the larger 400cc test and full A licence test that are hundreds of pounds that no body passes first time. or get a cycle, because the EU restricts motorbike sales, because of health and safety concerns, to about 140,000 new registrations per year in the UK, where as cycles they out number bikes 3.4 to one on the road because of this, motorbikes only make up 1% of all road transport, the lowest number out of all the formats, the other 99% are safer i guess, don't forget motorbikes never reached a peak and then declined from hight into obscurity, with the golden age of motorbiking cleashay, they was infact banned from mass sales by the health and safety act, more than likely folowig 1929's motorbike accident figures publication in the early 1930's. 1929 still is the biggest motorbike accident scenes i UK bike history and still holds the record in 2014 for this black spot of history, take into consideration that in the 1920s they could sell up to nearly 350,000 more bikes a year in Britain, now since the 30s only 140,00 by the law, that's why L pate riders a re restricted to 125 bikes, that are restricted to 50cc bikes because even 125 bikes was to dangerous for L-plate riders in 1983, before the change a L-plate rider was able to ride a 300cc at 106mph approx, a semi restricted 350cc, semi restricted to a 300cc, not 250 bikes, but real 300cc bikes, hence the flooding of the market of scooters, because they offered leg protection for riders, when attempting to put highway bars leg guards to geared motorbikes, it threatened to be a disaster, it was a known factor in increasing motorbike sale, and this would brake the health and safety act, because motorbikes are limited for sale in the shops by the law, in the late 70's and early 80's motorbike sale soared in Britain, creating a out cry, that the health and safety act was about to calapsed, and the government acting automatic in January 1981 and announced that they are forced to act out a act of geniside on the learner bikes, this happened because for decades before the 1970s, the government proposed new legislation to make it compulsory to ware helmets on the road on motorbikes, but it took a back seat for years because it was well suspected as a false economy the fact it would only increase motorbike sale in the UK, and therefore it was illegal until years latter to make people ware helmets by the law, by 1980 the health and safety act was almost non resistant on motorbikes, and the record had been set at 365,000 new motorbike registrations in that year, never matched previously or since in history. Even the EU law proposal is criticized, that they propose legislation that all rider ware fluorescent vests on there bike, its a proposal only, and there may be evidence that it could" increase motorbike sales" figures, by making riders feel safer than what they really are, alike the 1994 highway bar leg protector EU proposal, it will stay on the shelf until its made law, like the helmet pending for decades, but will only be made law , and that's why there pending legislation to cope with a increase in motorbike sale, this is a good idea to have proposals, because it insures the motorbike format, and make it look planned ,and have a brain.

Answer 9

Contact local YOU WILL KNOW IT'S D V L A OR D M V they will give you good advice & HELP online

Answer 10

i presumed that once one had an entire utilising license, it additionally lined him to holiday any motor motorbike. terrific ingredient to do is to telephone your interior sight motor cycle keep or touch the DVLA human beings.

Answer 11

You will need to insure the motorcycle. The bike will not be insured under your car insurance. Contact your insurance agent for motorcycle insurance.

Answer 12

No, thats diferent caregory you need to get. A motorcicle permit

Answer 13

also depends on your state laws