Thinking about ditching four wheels completely in favour of two? If so, are there certain bikes you can go ahead and ride without even having to know what CBT stands for? Or is it a case of having to start completely from scratch? 

In the past, if you owned a car driving licence you were legally allowed to ride a motorcycle up to 125cc without gaining any additional motorbike qualifications. But over time, this has changed, meaning that even if you do possess a full car driving licence, you still need to take a CBT test before you don your leathers, helmet and head out on the open road.

Are there any bikes you can ride with just a car licence?

In short, no there isn’t. If you just own a full driving licence, you can’t ride any sort of motorcycle on the roads without taking the relevant tests and having further entitlements.

However, there is an exception. If you gained your driving licence before Feb 2001 you can ride a moped up to 50cc no more than a speed of 50km/h. Without having to have taken your CBT or other tests.

As stated above, if you have a full car driving licence you can ride a motorcycle up to 125cc, but you need to have completed your CBT first. This is just a day long course that begins with basic motorbike training in a car park and then finishes with you riding the motorbike yourself out on the road. Once you’ve completed this, you can ride anything up to a capacity of 125cc with L plates and you have two years before you have to retake your CBT.

Does category “A” on your motorbike mean you can ride a motorbike? 

In short, yes it does. Category A entitlement means you can ride any motorcycle, even with a passenger and on motorways.

If you have Category AM on your licence, this means you can ride mopeds only, A1 up to 125cc and A2 restricted, which replaces the old 33bhp limit.