coleio

Hi, I've been looking at old mopeds and little motorbikes which a certain class of old blokes seem to potter on through empty country lanes, in the sun, carrying vegetables tied on with old bit of string. I know about cars/vans but can find very little information about mopeds. Does anyone know the rules or where I can find more information ? As I have a UK licence would I be allowed to ride these?

mfesharne

I'd recommend you check this with your local GNR and/or motorcycle shop but my fairly recent research suggested that bikes under 125 cc no longer need licences or road tax and possibly may not even need insurance (that last point might be restricted to 50cc? or less). Crash helmets are however compulsory on all bikes.

I'm pretty sure that if you have a UK bike licence you could ride a bike here on it the same way a UK car licence is acceptable here.

FWIW, I've just bought a 125 cc Chinese made copy a mini motorbike that's small enough to go in the back of my Jeep, cheap enough to undercut a used Euro or Jap bike and and fast enough to clock about 80 kph. I've only done a couple of hundred km on it but so far it's been fine.

The Portuguese importer is at greenfactory.pt and they have English speakers available.

Mike

You must drive in accordance with your licence and just to confuse matters the entitlements for mopeds and small bikes are different between UK and Portuguese licences.

Third party insurance is compulsory. It is an EU requirement.

daisyman1951

Does anyone know if my full (un-restricted) bike licence would allow me to ride a big bike? Thanks

mfesharne

Mike,

I think you'll find it's more complicated than that.

A few months ago, I was thinking of buying a petrol version of the odd little machine pictured below & went to my local GNR office for advice on what was & wasn't legal.

4 GNR guys spent well over an hour researching it, going through the traffic acts & making calls for verification.

In the end they told me these machines can be used on the road, do not require insurance or tax etc but do require a crash helmet.

I took the precaution of asking them to copy the relevant part of the act so I can keep it....... I still have the document & am happy to email it to you if you wish but it is (obviously) in Portuguese.

At the same time, they also told me the same applies to other machines of somewhat larger capacity & more like a real motorcycle.

FWIW, although I'm going from memory, I think you'll find that there is some reference to no licence/insurance etc on the greenfactory.pt site I mentioned previously.

I'm not interested in arguing or getting into a pissing match & I could be wrong but that is what I was told by the GNR & I'm happy to email the document they gave me to anyone who wants to see it.

I have to say, I was surprised this thing was even road legal & even more surprised it didn't even require anything else.

In the end I didn't buy it anyway because it felt unsafe at walking pace, let alone anything else but FWIW, here's what they look like.

Mike

If in doubt and have a UK licence have a look here - https://www.gov.uk/vehicles-you-can-drive

Mike

If you have Category A then yes.

Mike

If you hold a PT licence and want to ride a bike - http://www.imtt.pt/sites/IMTT/Portug...otociclos.aspx