Just out of interest I am wondering if I have to prove my chosen bike is 33bhp restricted to the insurer, as I am just wondering even if it is will I receive paperwork etc, just getting worried about what to do any advise would be greatly appreciated,

Oh btw I'm looking at Honda CB500F, Kwak ER-5 and Suzy GS500e if that helps.

I think you get a certificate to say that it's restricted.

Insurance companies may not ask for the certificate, however if you only have a restricted licence and your bike is not restricted, you do not have a valid licence and your insurance is automatically invalidated. If caught you will be reported for No driving licence, and no insurance to start with and the bike confiscated as evidence.

I wonder, do the insurance companies routinely check for the existence of the kit when paying out? Presumably 90% of the scooter boys are flirting with that little conundrum!

Lad I was doing a CBT with did it on his own de-restricted Gilera, I presume the instructor should have sent him home ....

A mate of mine is selling ER-5 restriction kits that he makes himself (it basically consits of two washers!), you fit them, then take the bike to a Dyno tester to get a report saying that it is running at 33bhp. Which apparently is enough for most (if not all) insurers

It's either that or pay £160 ish for the genuine set with a certificate.

I haven't tried them, but he says they work fine and they come with easy fitting instructions. Drop me a PM if you're interested.

It's not the Insurance companies, the police will do that and then prosecute and inform the insurance company. Yes any mods to scooters are basically illegal if it takes the cc above 49 for a moped or 125cc for a scooter, and modification to an engine unless authorised by the insurance company will invalidate insurance and above 125 cc will invalidate a provisional licence.

With the Gilera if it was his first CBT and he arrived with his own bike, even if pushed all the way from his home will be guilty of driving without a licence and insurance. Even if was his second then a de restricted bike is not legal on a provisional licence and the instructor should have refused to teach him and yes he should have been sent home at the very least

2nd one, 1st one had expired. He was, therefore, pushing it round before we were taken out with radios. So they got that bit right. Not sure how he got there though, come to think of it ...

I'm never sure with insurance, I know lots of things can invalidate it, but often it is everything except TP cover which is invalidated. Mine, for instance, has some complex statement which boils down to "minimum TP legal requirement only" if there is evidence of drink driving on my part.

There's usually a statement " Providing the rider is or has been and is not disquallified from being the holder of a licence to drive the vehicle" which is the big overall. If you don't have a licence then the insurance does not cover you at all, and if you push a motorbike on a road you must wear a helmet and be covered by a licence and insurance. So any de restriction will invalidate a provisional licence and therefor the insurance as you need a full class A licence to ride any de restricted machine except for a moped when the rider is over 17 years of age and is riding on a Provisional Class A motorcycle licence



Oh my head hurts now.

Oh right, I think I get it now ... it's not about modifying the vehicle, it's about driving something you don't hold a category for on your license. Like me trying to drive a lorry or a taxi and claiming my insurance gives me third party on "any vehicle".

Sorry for being dense!