Licenses for driving motorbikes or mopeds - Germany

Hi ,
O.K so i am now living in Germany near Mannheim and needed to find a job,,,anyway,,i got an offer and it looks like i might take it,, its about an hour away on the trams/buses so i was thinking of getting a motorbike or moped/scooter,,the thing is when i was in England i used to drive a 125cc with learner plates on(about 12 years ago)this was allright because i have a full car driving licence,but since then in England i think the laws changed,anyway,does anyone know what the score is here in Germany for me with my normal car driving licence?can i still drive a 125cc or am i limited to a 50cc or something,,i passed my car driving test in 1990,
many thanks in advance,
cheers!!
Hampibaba

You can drive a 50cc Moped/scooter that is limited to 45kph on a car licence, but to drive a 125cc you have to have held a car licence since 1980, according to this post at least, which rules you out.

Have you done a CBT? That may allow you to ride up to 125cc

What's a CBT?

Compulsary basic training

CBT

I don't think that will help as it only qualifies you for a provisional licenence,i.e. you still need L-Plates and there is no such thing here, you can only drive as a learner with a driving school, you can't practice on your own. My daughter has been going through her scooter lessons recently and will take her practical test on Thursday, she already passed the theory test and when she, hopefully, passes, her licence will have cost approx. €750.

Hi, I have a similar question - I am a Brit currently living in the U.S. I have two drivers licences - my British one and an American one. I took my motorcycle test here in the U.S. last year and now have a motorcycle endorsement on my U.S. drivers licence. I never took a motorcycle test in the U.K., so I don't have the motorcycle endorsement on my U.K. drivers licence. I'm moving to Germany later this year, and am wondering if I can ride a motorcycle there using my U.S. driver's licence? I would REALLY like to avoid taking another motorcycle test if I can!

Thanks

Your US license may help a lot depending on which state it is or where you are moving to in Germany.

AFAIK, only car licenses may be transferred from Canada or certain US States without having to take any tests. Motorcycle and truck licenses must be re-done. The buggers even reduced my weight allowance from 11.5 tons to the regular 3.5 tons and told me that if I want more then I have to go back to school. They insisted that I'd need to test even just to get the 7.5 ton small truck license. My car license was a straight swap, so I decided not to bother getting the extra weight allowance since I rarely ever needed it, but it was a "nice to have".

Do double check since there just might be some exception for some US State that I'm not aware of.

Oh, doesn't sound too hopeful then My licence is from Michigan, and I am moving to the Potsdam area. My wife has the same issue - we learned to ride at the same time. Will check it out once we get there. Hopefully we won't have to take a bunch of lessons in Germany as we already know how to ride. Just trying to save ourselves a few €€€

You're lucky that Michigan has a full reciprocity agreement with Germany, so your car licence will be a straight swap.
http://germany.usembassy.gov/germany/servi...rs_license.html

If you can find a friendly driving school, they might be willing to fast-track you towards the motorcycle exam without having to do lots of practice hours - assuming you can show your competence on the bike. But if you are forced to go through the whole thing, it could easily end up costing over 1000 euro to get a motorcycle licence in Germany. My niece just spent around 2000 euros on hers, but she was a complete beginner and obviously needed more practice than you would.

Getting a motorcycle license in Germany

If you convert a license based on a reciprocity agreement, you will generally get an license for the classifications B, M, S, and L.
Here are the descriptions:\
http://www.bmvbs.de/en/Transport/Roads-,21...ing-licence.htm

Category B
Motor vehicles with a maximum authorized mass not exceeding 3,500 kilogrammes (kg) and having not more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat (also with a trailer having a maximum mass which does not exceed 750 kg or the unladen mass of the tractor vehicle, where the maximum authorized mass of the combination does not exceed 3,500 kg).

Category M
Two-wheeled mopeds and cycles with an auxiliary engine with a maximum design speed not exceeding 45 km/h and a cubic capacity not exceeding 50 cc.

Category S
* Three-wheeled mopeds and four-wheeled light motor vehicles with a maximum design speed not exceeding 45 km/h and a cubic capacity not exceeding 50 cc in the case of positive-ignition engines and a power not exceeding 4 kW in the case of other internal combustion engines, or a power not exceeding 4 kW in the case of electric motors;
* in the case of four-wheeled light motor vehicles the mass of the unladen vehicle may not exceed 350 kg, excluding the weight of the batteries for electric vehicles.

Category L
* Tractors designed to be used for agricultural or forestry purposes and actually used for such purposes, with a maximum design speed not exceeding 32 km/h, and combinations formed from these vehicles and trailers if they are driven at a speed not exceeding 25 km/h and - in cases where the maximum design speed of the tractor vehicle is over 25 km/h - they display signs (in accordance with Section 58 of the German Road Traffic Registration Regulations) indicating that that they may not be driven at a speed exceeding 25 km/h, plus
* self-propelled machines and floor conveyors (e.g. fork-lift trucks and the like) with a maximum design speed not exceeding 25 km/h, and combinations formed from these vehicles and trailers.

Thanks for the quick replys everybody,,,damm it !!! ,looks like its a 50cc for me then as i cant go spending loads of money yet,

Folks at the motorcycle club tell me that a person with only a car license can drive a trike in Germany.
So you might want to consider something like this:

Anyone have an idea of costs for taking the written exam for a car license and the costs of obtaining the motorcycle endorsement? Unfortunately my Florida license puts me in a bind.

Jason

You can't just take the test I'm afraid, you have to take the driving lessons, both practical and theory, as well. It usually costs in excess of €2000, very expensive. If you can somehow get your hands on a drivers licence from another state that does have a reciprocal agreement before you come do so! There are a few threads about this, try doing a search.