What Is The Minimum CC Motorbike Allowed On A Motorway? | The Bike Insurer (2024)

Thinking of riding on the motorway but not sure if your bike legally can? Well you’ve come to the right place to get your answers.

Simply put, the answer is 125cc, any less than 125cc will be too slow for the speed of the road and therefore will present itself as a hazard and isn’t permitted to be used on M roads, the official law states:

“Motorways MUST NOT be used by pedestrians, holders of provisional motorcycle or car licences, riders of motorcycles under 50 cc, cyclists, horse riders, certain slow-moving vehicles and those carrying oversized loads (except by special permission), agricultural vehicles, and powered wheelchairs/powered mobility scooters.”

This “under 50cc” also includes 50cc so, unfortunately, you cannot take your souped-up hairdryer down the M6.

Therefore if you are a 125cc rider, you legally can ride this motorcycle on the motorway and the bike will be able to keep up with the flow of traffic and the required speeds, there is just one catch though.

If you are riding a 125cc motorcycle with a CBT license (Compulsory Basic Training) you cannot ride on the motorway as you do not have a full motorcycle license, it is illegal for a rider to ride on the motorway with L plates and an incorrect license and you could face a hefty fine or punishment for this.

Thankfully though, there is a way around this to be able to ride your 125cc motorcycle on the motorway and that is simply to pass your full motorcycle test, if you are under the age of 19 years old then that means you will need to go through your A1 license.

The A1 will not give you access to any faster or bigger ‘cc’, but it will give you a pretty pink license and the ability to ride without L plates, thus allowing you to ride on the motorway.

If you are over the age of 19 years old, you can opt to do the A2 motorcycle license which will grant you access to a motorcycle with a maximum power output of 47HP which will be more that sufficient to be able to keep up with motorway speeds and have enough power left over to be able to overtake and get past slower vehicles.

Riding on the motorway with a motorcycle has plenty of advantages including being able to filter past traffic, many times whilst in a car we’ve been forced to sit through hours and hours of slow moving traffic but on a bike that issue is no more, watch the other drivers sit with envy as you breeze past them on your two wheeled machine.

Riding a motorcycle on the motorway is also more economical and you can expect to spend less money on fuel whilst doing so, plus with cheaper maintenance costs over a long time, this could prove to be a better decision than driving a car.

Of course, there are some downsides which include less space to store items you are carrying, plus on the incorrect motorcycle you may find yourself being rather uncomfortable for long periods of time.