Adventure Bike Rider Forum

I rode my wife's Beta Alp 200 yesterday for the first time in months - don't want to hand it back :whistle:

Simon

Simon,

Am I right in thinking that you can ride a 125cc in Spain on a Category B car licence with three years experience? I'm sure I read something about Spain's scooter hire companies being up in arms when the 3rd European Licence Directive came in and threatened to restrict everyone without bike licence to 50cc.

Freeloadeur wrote:Simon,

Am I right in thinking that you can ride a 125cc in Spain on a Category B car licence with three years experience? I'm sure I read something about Spain's scooter hire companies being up in arms when the 3rd European Licence Directive came in and threatened to restrict everyone without bike licence to 50cc.

Hi Freelodeur, funnily enough I was thinking I hadn't seen you on here for a while . . .

To be completely honest i don't know but I don'y think so. All of the stuff I see just says that you have to have a Class A1 license to ride up to 125 c.c.s and unless your license has tis category marked then I'm fairly certain that a hire firm wouldn't rent you a bike - and 100% certain that the police would not allow it!

The reason I'm not sure is that I don't how driving licenses are put together, either here or back in the UK, and there do seem to be some odd anomalies. For instance Polly used to have a class c large vehicle license - good girl! - but let it go a few years ago as the periodic medical checks cost much more (and are more severe) that the usual ones. So the class c disappeared but she still has class BE, trailer over 750 kgs.

While I'm on the subject - there's a great new site/blog run by some Guardia Civil, who are getting backing by virtue f funding for translators and legal advice. This answers loads of FAQs and is getting better by the day. Obviously the legal side is top notch, but the language in translation appears a bit patronising . . .

Regs

Simon

Hi Simon

You're right, I've not been on as much, what with being involved in organisation for the Overland Event, and getting ready to move house.

I should have known Google would provide. This rental company http://www.rentabike.org/en/conditions.htm says:

· In Spain you can drive a 125cc Moped/Motorbike when you have a Car license longer then 3 years
· Minimum age: 18 years ( Motorbike licenses A-1/A)  or 21 years (Car license for at least 3 years)

And I've just found the Spanish law bit, http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_dato ... t1.html#a5

Articulo 6.4

El permiso de las clases B, B + E, C1, C1 + E, C, C + E, D1, D1 + E, D y D + E no autoriza a conducir motocicletas de dos ruedas, con o sin sidecar. Las personas que estén en posesión del permiso de la clase B en vigor, con una antigüedad superior a tres años, podrán conducir dentro del territorio nacional las motocicletas cuya conducción autoriza el permiso de la clase A1

A1:

Motocicletas ligeras sin sidecar con una cilindrada máxima de 125 centímetros cúbicos, una potencia máxima de 11 kilovatios KW y una relación potencia/peso no superior a 0,11 kilovatios/kilogramo (KW/Kg.).

So the more mature biker should be fine. Opens up a whole new market for you. Come learn to ride a 125cc on the Spanish trails.

Blimey, you doing me out of a job

For those who don't have Spanish the boss says 'within national territory' meaning Spain!That looks like a UK license holder can only do this within British territory too?

The Spanish Biker wrote:Blimey, you doing me out of a job

For those who don't have Spanish the boss says 'within national territory' meaning Spain!That looks like a UK license holder can only do this within British territory too?

Yeah, that "within national territory" is the interesting bit, assuming (and assumption is no defence from the law) that is a standard European wording the same thing used to be found on a French licence, when it was legal to ride a 125cc bike there with just a Category B licence.

The explanation given to me at the Prefecture, when I asked if a UK licence holder had the same rights as a French licence holder, was that it was down to individual nations within the EU to decide whether car drivers could ride a 125cc on their licence. So qualification in one country, does not automatically apply in other countries, but does apply to all EU licence holders within that country's borders.

Basically, if the Spanish can, then the rest of us can.