Motortricycles/Quadricycles and licencing

chasm

Hi Guys,

Was looking on bikeworlds FB page earlier and i see they are getting the Quadro 350d soon. They state on their page that you can ride it on a car licence - which rules me out because i don't have one!

Anyways, with the new licence categories coming in in January, i was under the impression that 3 wheelers would come under a bike licence from then.
The licence categories, from January next year are listed below - So from next year would i need a car or bike licence to ride one?

AM : Mopeds. Light quadricycles.

A1 : Motorcycles with an engine capacity not exceeding 125 cubic centimetres, with a power rating not exceeding 11 kW and with a power to weight ratio not exceeding 0.1 kW/kg.
Motor tricycles with a power rating not exceeding 15 kW.

A2 : Motorcycles with a power rating not exceeding 35 kW, with a power to weight ratio not exceeding 0.2 kW/kg and not derived from a vehicle of more than double itspower.

A : Motorcycles, Motor tricycles

B : Vehicles (other than motorcycles, mopeds, work vehicles or land tractors) having a
MAM1 not exceeding 3,500 kg, having passenger accommodation for not more than
8 persons and where the MAM1 weight of the trailer is not greater than 750 kg.
Quadricycles (other than those covered by AM) are also covered by this category .

bradknowell

I think once a trike has a seat belt on it then you can ride it on a car license. Not 100% sure on that though. I heard someone say it before .

chasm

Never heard the seatbelt one before. Heard of bike based trike and car based trike and something to do with measurements between front wheels.

The trike always seemed to be a grey area in Ireland. I'm wondering if some of these new regs coming in next year are to tidy up the licence system here? Since 2006 the entitlement of new full B licence holders to ride scooters up to 50cc was removed, yet they were/are allowed to ride trikes/tricycles on that licence??

Mopeds, Bikes, Motor tricycles and quadricycles are "L" class vehicles, and with that EU classification and the new EU-wide licence categories it looks like heavy quadricycles are the only L class vehicle that the B licence will cover because "A1" covers "Motor tricycles with a power rating not exceeding 15 kW." and "A" covers "Motor tricycles" - which i assume means anything over 15kW (I could be totally wrong though as i have learnt that when it comes to rules and regulations concerning motorbikes, nothing is ever what it seems )

The grecav EKE falls under the "light quadricycle" class, which would mean it could be driven on an "AM" licence next year, it's rather. . er. . . well it's different lol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grecav_Eke.JPG

chasm

Emailed the RSA with a couple of questions regarding this and got the following reply:

Q. Will B licence holders who received their licence before 19th January 2013 still hold the entitlement to ride motor tricycles when they are in a different licence group?
A. A person who previously had a category B driving licence with restriction code 73 on the licence will on renewal be given both category B and A with code 46. Restricted to Tricycle.


Q. Will existing A1 licence holders automatically be entitled to drive Motor tricycles (subject to the power ratings above) when the new categories are introduced in January 2013?
A. Yes, a person with the category A1 can drive Motor tricycles (subject to the power ratings above) when the new categories are introduced in January 2013.


So, i'm still not sure whether a car licence will cover the bike mentioned in my first post once the new regulations are in ???
On the plus side though, i will be covered Am very tempted to get a cheap motortrike next year. . . Is there such a thing as cheap though?

Faith+1

Does the code 73 only apply to B licences issued before Oct '06? I have a full B but don't have this code??? Have a full A but I'm just curious

chasm

Faith+1 wrote: »

Does the code 73 only apply to B licences issued before Oct '06? I have a full B but don't have this code??? Have a full A but I'm just curious

I'm not sure tbh. All i know is code 73 means : Restricted to category B vehicles of motor tricycle/quadricycle type. Which i would have thought only covers a person to drive motor tricycles and quadricycles not cars??? So did a plain category B licence (without code 73) ever really cover motor tricycles in the first place??
Maybe it's just me but i'm not feeling overly confident with the info i was given. While stating what a person with a B licence with that code on it is entitled to drive they didn't state whether a plain B licence will also carry that entitlement