Can I ride with a M2 license in England?

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Patrick_C

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I can't find any info on google - I'd like to visit my friend in London and take a short trip out of town on a rental bike. I only recently got my M2 license. Can I use it, or can/should I get an International Driving Permit?
 
I know our Drivers (auto) license is good over there, (I've rented cars in Ireland and England with no problem)

Can't say for sure about the M2... my thought would be that a full M would be fine.
 
Patrick_C said:
I can't find any info on google - I'd like to visit my friend in London and take a short trip out of town on a rental bike. I only recently got my M2 license. Can I use it, or can/should I get an International Driving Permit?
Click to expand...

I'm willing to bet yes. The slightly sketchy place I rented a bike from in London really didn't seem to ask many questions about my license, nor did they ask what "GM" meant or anything like that. My guess is that if your license said M2, or GM2 or G2M2, or whathaveyou, no one would question it, given that they don't know our rules.


All this is a total guess, albeit based on my rental experience about 6 years ago.

You do not need an international license.

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It gave this as part of the answer....

[h=2]You can drive any small vehicle (eg car or motorcycle) listed on your full and valid licence[/h]
Note the word FULL,, but then again as has been mentioned they likely won't know the difference between and M2 and a M.. Try to rent it if they say know then you have the definitive answer.
 
You might be limited (if they do know the difference between M & M2).

https://www.gov.uk/rules-motorcyclists-83-to-88/motorcycle-licence-requirements

A1 motorcycle licence: At age 17 or over, you take a test on a motorcycle without sidecar of between 120 and 125 cc. If you pass you may ride a motorcycle up to 125 cc with power output up to 11 kW, or a motor tricycle with power not exceeding 15 kW.
A2 motorcycle licence: At age 19 or over, you take a test on a motorcycle without sidecar of at least 395 cc with a power output of at least 25 kW but not exceeding 35 kW. If you pass, you may ride any motorcycle not exceeding 35 kW and with a power to weight ratio not exceeding 0.2 kW/kg.
Click to expand...

They have different restrictions for different licenses, not sure what their equivalent of M2 is.
 
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My guess is that you might be limited on the bike size when having an M2. I know that they have graduating licensing over there and depending on your experience license wise will determine the bike you can ride.
 
^ No complaints there - I'm relatively new to motorcycling and likely won't want to go above ~150cc anyway until I feel confident. Looks like it's worth risking with my M2. After all, an M2 is for all intents a full license except for the zero BAC rule.

Thanks for your advice, everyone!
 
You can drive any small vehicle (eg car or motorcycle) listed on your full and valid licence for 12 months from when you last entered Great Britain (GB)

If you’ve got a bus or lorry licence you can only drive buses or lorries that are registered outside Great Britain if you’ve actually driven the vehicle into Great Britain yourself.

You will be limited to 395cc or less that does not have a sidecar.
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