Do I have a full motorbike licence?

[JonN981]

Hi, could I ask for some advise please? I rode various motorcycles in the early seventies, and I have a feeling I passed my motorcycle test in about 1971, age 16, however I am not absolutely sure and I have no evidence of that. Hard to believe I know, but it was almost half a century ago! I do recall riding with pillion passengers and no L plates though. I quickly moved on to cars at age 17 and forgot about bikes altogether. Obviously the rules have changed enormously since then. I now have a photo card licence showing entitlement to category A from prior to 07.11.74 up to 24.10.24. There are no restriction codes following ( I am aware of the issue around code 79(tri), and that's not shown, nor any other code). I no longer have my old paper licence to see what was shown on that.
I think I can ride any motorcycle, is that right?

[Pothole]

Seems to be right. I too have A entitlement.

[tom_e]

Stick your details in here https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence it'll tell you exactly what you can ride/drive.

[JonN981]

Thanks,
Yeah, done that. This is what I get under category A. Seems to confirm what I think. Still a little unsure though.

[JonN981]

And this is what my licence looks like:

[bogie]

Based on that Id say you have full cat A bike licence.

East to double check on the website linked above

[Pica-Pica]

Yes, cat A = full motorcycle licence.

[Pica-Pica]

Yes, cat A = full motorcycle licence.

[graylag]

JonN981 said:

And this is what my licence looks like:

It seems a bit strange that you passed your bike and car licence on the same day according to that. Although maybe something changed on that date in 1974 as there is a less / more than symbol there.

Does it definitely say “Vehicles you can drive”. Mine looks like this and has two different dates for when I passed my car test to my bike test. It also has a section for provisional vs ones I can just drive

[JonN981]

Yeah, it does definitely say "vehicles you can drive".
I think I probably passed both bike and car tests prior to 1974, and that would explain the "prior to" symbol "<" before each category.
I assume DVLA just don't keep or bother with dates before that? Not sure.
Thanks guys. Any further input very welcome. I guess I'm just finding it difficult to believe I could go out on a modern super bike tomorrow! Not that I'm planning to do that, just wanting to be sure where I stand.

[BobSaunders]

You have grandfathering rights from passing your test in 74. I believe there was a period where DVLA used to strip out entitlements forcing some people to re-test.

[crofty1984]

If you're still not sure, call DVLA tomorrow. When you finally get through to a human I've found there very helpful.

[Pothole]

JonN981 said:

Yeah, it does definitely say "vehicles you can drive".
I think I probably passed both bike and car tests prior to 1974, and that would explain the "prior to" symbol "<" before each category.
I assume DVLA just don't keep or bother with dates before that? Not sure.
Thanks guys. Any further input very welcome. I guess I'm just finding it difficult to believe I could go out on a modern super bike tomorrow! Not that I'm planning to do that, just wanting to be sure where I stand.

No further input necessary. You know where you stand, you've been told about 5 times.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

JonN981 said:

I have a feeling I passed my motorcycle test in about 1971, age 16,

Not sure about 1971, but by 1979 you had to be 17 to take a motorcycle test. But you do have the entitlement according to your licence.

[gareth_r]

1971 was still the good old days. At 16 you could ride a 250 solo or any sidecar outfit on L plates, and anything when you passed the test.

The law changed in December 1971, and the sports moped was born.

The next change was in 1977, when mopeds no longer needed pedals, but were restricted to 30mph.


And "they" have been trying to kill motorcycling ever since.

Edited by gareth_r on Monday 1st October 10:15

[mad4amanda]

Jon, did I speak to you yesterday in Horsham about this?
if not it is an amazing coincidence!

[JonN981]

Gareth_R: That's right. I do remember having a 650 BSA with sidecar for a short period. Probably on L plates.

Mad4amanda: No not me at Horsham, I'm up in North Yorkshire.

[Biker 1]

As others have mentioned, you almost certainly have a full motorcycle license. However, I would strongly suggest you go take several refresher lessons before you hit the road!

[Rushjob]

The Op took his test in 1971, got full licence which in those days was a little folder/ book type document which was valid for 3 years.
In 1974, Op applies for renewal of full licence as its about to expire, by now DVLA driver records are computerised having gone over from paper in 1973.
New licence issued in 1974 with the dates showing test passed before Nov 74 to reconcile on the new system which may not have allowed paper licence dates to be retrospectively entered.
Not saying this is exactly what happened but is likely.
I remember something like this coming up on a PNC course in the 80's.

[gland]

My licence looked identical on the back to the OP's and I did my car test in 1996. I'd never been on a motorbike until last year.

• Edited to add the most important bit: the paper part of the licence showed that A, G and H were provisional.

Edited by gland on Monday 1st October 10:35