What the hell are super pocket bikes?

The latest trend to grip the UK in the past few years has been the mass use of super pocket bikes or minibikes as they are more commonly known in the UK. These mini versions of scooters and motorbikes appear to offer non-license owning people the experience of riding a motorbike or scooter… or does they?

If you have never seen one of these mini bikes I will quickly give a “mini” description.

These bikes have tyres with a diameter of around 4-6 inches (10-15cm) and can have top speeds of around 35mph to 40mph. The bikes often look like scaled down versions of popular “super bikes.”

This is not the Super Pocket bike that I am talking about!

Super Pocket Bikes

On first impressions most believe (myself included) that you can ride these bikes without any safety gear or legal documentation. However I have researched that the truth is that in the UK these mini bikes are treated in the same manner as any 50cc moped.

According to UK law you must meet the following requirements:

  • Be over the age of 16 years
  • You must wear a helmet that meets UK law
  • The bike must be fully road taxed and insured
  • Must also have undergone a CBT (which is a basic one day training day)
  • If the bike is more than three years old – an MOT must be obtained
  • You are not allowed to ride these super pocket bikes on the pavement (side walk)

However the vast majority of these “mini-moto” riders seem to believe that these rules do not apply to them. To be honest I can understand their point of view. Many of these pocket bikes are so small they do look like toys and one does wonder if they can cause any harm. But in the last few years these bikes have caused a lot of “out cry” due to many of the “Chav” tribe causing a nuisance by riding them at high speed in public areas.

This lack of information regarding these super pocket bikes seems to also exist abroad as an Australian police article shows.

Personally I have not ridden one of these mini pocket bikes so I can’t compare it to the real thing.

If you have ridden one of the pocket bikes or been caused grief by these mini moto riders then please comment!

NEW! – Just noticed that Amazon are now selling super pocket bikes – check it out

12 Comments

  1. Electric Pocket Bikes October 11, 2009
  2. Pocket Bikes August 5, 2008
  3. Theo May 15, 2008
  4. weedbridge February 3, 2008
  5. weedbridge February 3, 2008
  6. Brendan December 16, 2007
  7. Danny Ashton November 2, 2007
  8. sammy November 1, 2007
  9. Delrond September 6, 2007
  10. Nathan September 6, 2007
  11. Delrond August 21, 2007
  12. Linda R. Moore August 20, 2007

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