The A2 motorbike licence is a crucial step towards bigger bikes for young riders. Here's how to pass

The A2 motorbike licence is the single quickest and most cost-effective way for 19-year-olds to learn to ride a motorbike and progress to a full UK licence.

In order to gain an A2 licence, you’ll need to:

• Be over 19-years-old
• Have done the CBT or hold an A1 licence for two years
• Have passed a motorcycle theory test
• Have passed both modules of the motorcycle practical test

Once you’ve done this, you’ll gain your A2 (otherwise known as ‘restricted’) licence to ride a motorbike.

Next, you’ll need to wait until two years have passed before being able to upgrade the full licence, although if you turn 24 in the meantime, you can do this sooner. This involves doing mod 1 and mod 2 again.

So, let’s look into what you can ride once you’ve passed…

What is an A2-compliant motorbike?

An A2 motorcycle a maximum power output of 47bhp. However, it must also have a power-to-weight ratio of 0.26bhp/kg, which means in reality if your bike has the maximum 47bhp then it’ll need to have a minimum kerb weight of 175kg.

What about A2-restricted motorbikes?

Just to muddy the waters a little further, you’re also allowed to use a more powerful bike, as long as it has a restrictor fitted to lower the power-to-weight ratio to the same 0.26bhp/kg.

Each bike has its own method of restricting power output, but popular examples include throttle stops, inlet or exhaust reducers or ECU restrictors.

A restricted bike must produce no more than double the maximum power figure as standard and produce less than 0.2kW/kg.

Which A2 motorbike is best?

You can check our A2-compliant motorbike reviews to see what individual models you like, or see our best A2 motorbikes article for a round-up.

Thinking of following your racing heroes onto the circuit? We’ve also pit two popular A2 bikes together in a track shootout on video, as you can see below.

In this video MCN videographer Joseph explores his A2 options