The Moped Spot

In order to ride a moped on Britain’s public highway you need to satisfy all of the following arguments.
• You must be at least 16 years old.
• You must have a valid driving licence with category ‘p’ entitlement.
• You must have a valid MOT or a vehicle which is less than 3 years old.
• You need to pay road tax and display the licence disk.
• You need a minimum of 3rd party liability insurance.
Assuming you satisfy the initial argument and are at least 16 years of age I recommend you follow this step by step guide to riding a moped below.

Step 1: Apply for your Driving Licence
The first step to riding a moped is to apply for a provisional driving licence. You can get an application form from any Post Office or even apply online if you are a British Resident and hold a valid UK passport. This will cost you £50.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Motoringtransactions/BeforeyouapplyD/DG_172559

Step 2: Take a CBT (Validate Your Licence)
CBT stands for Compulsory Basic Training. This is a training course designed to ensure that you are aware of the hazards on public roads and are reasonably capable of controlling the vehicle you intend to ride. The course also teaches basic maintenance checks and the difference between the various types of bike you might wish to ride. It usually takes around a day to complete and will cost you about £140.

Book your CBT at http://www.shires-motorcycle-training.co.uk

Step 3: Buy a Motorcycle Helmet and Accessories
You’ll notice this comes after step 2, the CBT. That’s because the CBT is designed to teach you some of the basics about choosing the correct equipment. Once you have completed it you should have a better idea about what you want and need.

Buy reasonably priced start-up equipment at http://www.shires-motorcycle-accessories.co.uk

Step 4: Choose your Bike and Buy It.
There’s a huge variety out there. In fact there’s so much choice it warrants its own article. Again this comes after step 2 on purpose because once the CBT is complete you will have a much better understanding of what suits *you* personally.

http://themopedspot.com/?p=9

Step 5: Ensure the Bike is Roadworthy
The British MOT is a fairly comprehensive test of many of the components of a bike to check their roadworthiness. This includes tyre tread, brake operation and suspension. It lasts for 12 months but is not an all-inclusive 12 month roadworthy test. In fact it is only really a valid test on the day in which it is taken. Bulbs can fail, tyres wear out and suspension breaks. Even if the bike you buy has a valid MOT it is still your personal responsibility to maintain it in a roadworthy condition at all times if you are using it on the public highway.

http://www.fasttrackmotorcycles.co.uk/motorcycle_MOT.html

Step 6: Get Some Insurance Cover
Most companies offer immediate cover these days whether you’re dealing with them over the phone or on the internet. The minimum cover required is third party liability. This means that you are insured for other peoples losses if an accident is considered to be *your* fault. You can also get Third Party, Fire and Theft which also covers you if your bike is stolen or catches fire unexpectedly and Comprehensive which covers you for loss for any eventuality.

http://www.bennetts.co.uk/

Step 7: Road Tax
If your bike came with a valid tax disk skip to Step 8. Otherwise take all your documents from the previous steps to a Post Office and pay for the relevant Road Fund Licence. You will need:
• The green tear-off part of the Vehicle Registration Certificate.
• A valid MOT certificate for the vehicle.
• Proof of insurance.

Step 8: Buy Some L-Plates and Fit Them.
Unless you take your full motorcycle or moped test you must by law display full-size L-Plates to the front and rear of your bike at all times.

Step 9: Ride It!
That’s it. You’re done. But do consider taking your full test at some point. It may cost a little more to begin with but will make you a much better and safer rider as well as reducing your annual insurance payments significantly. It also means you won’t have to take a new CBT course every two years and you can lose the L-plates.

Open up a dictionary – or indeed take a look online – and most places will tell you that a moped is a small motorised bicycle which has pedals as well as a small, low powered motor. In fact the very name itself seems to originate from these two forms of power, motor and pedals. Over time however, the term has come to mean, and even be legally defined in some cases, as something slightly different.

Many countries, throughout Europe especially, have come to define a moped as a specific type of vehicle, typically with no pedals whatsoever! The British Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) legally define a moped as a motorcycle with an engine capacity no greater than 50cc and with a maximum design speed not exceeding 50 kilometres per hour, or about 31 miles mph.

However in the rest of the EU the maximum design speed of a ‘moped’ is restricted to only 45 km which sometimes results in some rather disappointed British teenagers on chic Italian bikes when they attempt to race their, arguably less stylish, Japanese riding friends…

But that is not the end of the story in the UK. These restrictions did not become British law until 1977 and vehicles registered prior to the 1st September 1977 are exempt from the maximum design speed with some of them able to attain speeds in excess of 50mph. And that’s without modification folks.

Unfortunately though, this appears to be loophole reserved for the British. As far as I’m aware the majority of other countries worldwide enforce the speed restriction when it comes to the legal transportation of the young. Although many, including Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal do allow the riding of such vehicles by citizens as young as 14; which arguably increases the general awareness of two wheeled transport amongst the general public as the volume of smaller vehicles is significantly larger in cities than those where the legal requirement is higher.

This site then is dedicated to all of the above and more. Because if you de-restrict a moped then by some definitions it ceases to be one at all and instead becomes a small motorcycle… but I won’t let a minor detail such as that spoil our fun…

Please feel free to add comments or ask questions to your heart’s content people. If you’ve found this site and read this far then I owe you some of my time back in return.

Thanks for reading

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