I've lived in France for the past 6 years and always have kept my UK driving licence. I have decided to enrol for the training to take my motorcycle test in France and wondered if I now have to change my uk licence for a French one or whether I can keep my English car licence and just apply for a French motorbike licence (when I pass the test!)
Does anybody have any experience of this?
know what you're saying re the bike, I'm about the only one in teh club still riding aluminium with a carbon fork. Five people have changed their bike in teh last month and all spent around 5k on teh latest Pinarello, Time or Look!
You've got some great cycling country, I'm jealous! our nearest real mountains are just a bit too far to do in a round trip unless you like 200km plus rides :-O (I don't! like you I stick to under the 100 mark, 70km yesterday evening in 34°, and we'll be doing 95km on Saturday afternoon.
Sportivement et à +
Hi Andrew,
No I don't ride with a club because normally they ride weekends and I'm lucky enough to be able to ride in the week when my children are at school. I have a second hand Giant racing bike with carbon forks (not quite the top du top) but good enough for me. I live in Savoie, just near the Lac du Bourget and Aix les Bains so there is no end of great tours to do and cols to climb. The tour de France is going up the Grand Colombier this year which is about 20km from our house. I have done it (slowly) a couple of times and it is really hard. Most of the rides I do are around 60 to 70 km with sometimes a col of 800m in the middle. Most of the mountains around me are about 1500m Le Revard, la Dent du Chat etc
Happy cycling!!
from what I've had to go through, I can only say you cannot apply a test you passed in France to a UK licence. you either have to change your UK licence for a French one,and get the A on that, or start at the beginning with a french one.
If your question is whether you can hold an A licence without holding a French B, I really have no idea.
Do you ride with a club? what bike have you got? we've got a cycling group here on sfn! I'm in the aveyron with some great climbs but most in my area are just 400 to 500m max (250 start - 750 finish) with longer ones the otherside of the département but we went to the ariège and did the plateau de beille which was pretty cool, especially as we did another col before the main climb, but I'm a sprinter not a climber at 85+ kg...!
good luck with the test ;-)
I do have a racing bike and pedal about 200km a week!! The cakes at the new boulangerie are just too good!! Just wanted to do my motorbike licence for a challenge and to ride and park easily in the town. We live in a hilly (mountainous) area and not always convenient to get all hot and sweaty when for instance, I have to go to a music rehearsal.
Just started the code de la route (very good for improving my French too !!)
I did consider doing it in the UK, but am doing it with a friend in France now.
Thanks for your help
or go back to the uk and take the test as part fo a week's intensive course, it worked out cheaper doing it that way last time I looked. I have a french permis though and they'd probably be arsy about that in the UK :-O decided to stick to the racing (pedal) bike - it keeps the kilos down too :-D
The legal reason that I have to change my dutch car license for a French one is my place of residence. The license must be renewed at the town-hall of the Dutch city where you live. Since I live permanently in France and don't have an address in the Netherlands I need to change my license for the French one. But then again, I don't know if that rule also applies for the UK car license......
But no-way you need to change it because of your future A-licence
That's right, meant the photocard which is what most of us think of first. Watch out anyway, because last week parliament (Cameron) decided that the EU flag is off the card and union flag is on which will antagonise the gendarmes...
Thanks Ben and Brian. I thought in England it's the photo card which needs renewing every ten years then the licence is valid until your 70th birthday.
I am told by the motorcycle school I have to change everything to French. What I'd really like is to keep my English car licence and have another, French licence for the motorbike.
Ben's just about there. Look at your licence and the expiry date when you can renew in the UK, there is no obligation to turn it in if you have the French one as well, so basically up to you rather than any specific regulation.
Hi Jodi.
I don't know if UK-licenses are valid for a certain period and need to be renewed (like f.e. in the Netherlands where you need to renew your license every 10-15 years without taking the test mind you).
But if you want to get the motorcycle test (the A-license for 125 cc and up) take it and apply for the French A-license, no need to change your UK license. When eventually your UK-license is up for renewal it's the right time to combine the A and the B(/E) in one French license.
I got my A-license in France and my B/E in the Netherlands, both cards in my wallet and will be exchanged when the Dutch B/E license is up for it's renewal in a few years which means that it will be obligatory changed over to a French B/E license (which is as of then valid for the rest of my earthly days :-))