What licence for 250cc?

[Guest]

Hi there,

I am planning to bike from London to Liberia this Summer. I have been suggested to ride a 250cc bike. I have a full UK driving licence and I was wondering what kind of licence I will need to get so that I can ride a 250cc motorbike across Europe and Africa? The journey will take a couple of months and I don't plan to continue riding in the UK. For this, could I get the L plates and not worry about completing the full test because I don't plan to be riding long-term? I think I will also need to do the CBT (if this is separate) and the theory test but correct me if I'm wrong.

Does anyone know what this will cost?

I'm new to the forum but no doubt this will be the first of many questions! I'll greatly appreciate any advice.

Orlando

[rennie]

hello and welcome

please put your location in your profile

and say hello in the newbies section.

you can only ride up to 125 with just CBT!

for a 250 you would need CBT. MOD1 and MOD2.

Even then your licence may not be valid in some countries.

more info can be found in the cbt/training section

[Bogof]

I have a full UK driving licence and I was wondering what kind of licence I will need to get so that I can ride a 250cc motorbike across Europe and Africa?

 

Your licence will need to be a FULL licence, not provisional, to be valid in any other country.

[Guest]

Thanks for the responses and to Rennie for pointing me to the Newbie section. I have updated my profile a bit and have posted in the Newbie section. Thanks also to Bogof for the info about getting a full licence. Any ideas what this will cost for a 250cc? I've also been advised to maybe consider a slightly larger engine size. If I were to go for a 400 would I be able to use the same licence or would it be another (more expensive) process?

All the best.

Orlando

[Tango]

At your age you can go for the A2 license, which will allow you to ride most bikes up to 35KW........so it's not solely dependant on the size of the engine. The only caveat is that if a bike is restricted to 35KW, it's unrestricted power cannot exceed double the 35KW.

[Bogof]

Any ideas what this will cost for a 250cc? I've also been advised to maybe consider a slightly larger engine size. If I were to go for a 400 would I be able to use the same licence or would it be another (more expensive) process?

 

Budget somewhere around £700 for full training and tests

[Hoggs]

Budget somewhere around £700 for full training and tests

 

The cost is the most painful part! I think the CBTs are around a £100 (not sure if you've done that yet sorry ) the theory is £23, and then they have different length courses for training for the mod 1 and 2. I did a four day course that I think was the wrong side of £650 but I went for an extra day training to try and pass first time as if you fail then you have to factor in retest costs - The cost of the actual test I don't think is that great but the cost to hire a bike from the instructors and their time riding to the test centre is what bumps it up.

I really hope this hasn't put you off, just don't want you to get a shock later down the road! It is totally worth it though

[Guest]

Thanks for giving me an idea of costs! I realise that these are hoops you can't avoid jumping through so I guess I'd better get saving! Would the cost be slightly less if I had a bike already? Not sure how much lower than £700 I could hope to do it for?

All the best

[Hoggs]

Would the cost be slightly less if I had a bike already? Not sure how much lower than £700 I could hope to do it for?

 

The problem with that is you need to do the A2 test on a 400 (I think, although most places use 500s) minimum and you wouldn't be allowed to ride to and from anywhere without an instructor present if you only had a CBT as you can only ride up to a 125.

You can do shorter courses which are obviously cheaper but it will depend how quickly you pick it up (I had been riding for a couple years on a 125 before my test so had picked up some bad habits I needed to shake!). You will probably get a better idea during the CBT and you can talk to the instructors about how long they think you may need.

[Guest]

I can see what you mean. I'll look into getting this sorted as soon as I gather the funds. I confess that I'm a novice so haven't developed any bad habits - or any at all... I cycle a lot and in London too so have got an awareness of the road and got the instinct that tells me everyone's going to kill me if I'm not careful. But I realise that there is a huge difference between having a motor in your bike or not.