Safe Speed Forums

One probably for the BIB or our motorbike experts.

Monkey bikes - mini motorbikes - what are legal requirements for use on public property - roads/pavements etc - eg tax/insurance etc and requirements for rider both in terms of age/protection etc/etc.
And do they need plates?

My friend has one of these. Pretty sure they're legal to use on private property, and as such don't require registration plates or insurance. You'd have to be utterly insane to consider taking one on a road, though...

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-mike[F]
Caught in the rush of the crowd, lost in a wall of sound..

If you are on private property, you can do whatever you like.

If you ride it anywhere the public has access, you will get the book thrown at you unless it is registered, SVA'd, MOT'd, Taxed, Insured, & you have a license to ride a vehicle of that class.

Unless it is an "Xsport" (or of a similar calibre), you will never get it through an SVA as the "cheap" ones are made of crap that simply breaks as soon as it gets any sort of real stress thrown at it.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

We've had the monkey bike grand prix in the street, even with trial rides for kids and the BIB aparently don't sem to care. saw one girl about 12/13 open up the throttle and got grabbed in time before she impaled herself in the side of a van.
Plenty of platitudes but no presence, so just wondered if they were legal.
Would like to know roughly the offences so i can ask why.

Some monkey bikes are road legal. The have number plates and classed as mopeds.

http://www.monkeybike.co.uk/

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Speed camera policy Kills

One bike - tyres smaller than moped
second bike half that size.
No plates, and monkey no helmet.
Wsa rather hoping to get possibilities of chapter and verse from a BIB

Just because one (or two) BiB didn't "seem" to care, you can rest assured that they were just doing both the child & the parents a favour by turning a blind eye.


Have you been taking non prescription drugs?
You have just given one very good example (above) of why you shouldn't let kids ride a motorcycle without the proper protection and keep them off the public highway at the same time, and you are still contemplating doing it?
If you are prepared to let the kids have a mini track day on public roads, then you might as well give them the keys to your car & be done with it.
Tell me something, who is going to pay the bill when one of the kids drives in to the side of someone's car, or worse still, drives in to a pedestrian and puts them in hospital?


No they are not


If it's a public highway, then the child is looking at....
Driving without a license
Driving while disqualified by age
No insurance
No MOT
No Tax

Driving on "common" land will more than likely get you all of the above, plus one or two more offences to boot (that's a great start to their driving career isn't it?).
As the childs parent, you can also get done for aiding & abetting all of the above (which will earn you points on your license).
Monkey bike, mini moto, whatever.....they are motor vehicles by definition and that is all there is to it.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

A word in your shell-like.

"Stick the of got you've end the hold wrong of."

The OP's question is quite clear & leaves no room for mis-understanding, he wants to know the legalities of letting children ride motorised vehicles in places where the public have lawful access.

Now I've always regarded Botach as someone who is fairly sensible, but when somebody asks "what the legal requirements are for allowing children to ride motorised vehicles on a public highway or pavement", then you really do have to wonder what is going on in their head.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

Er, yes, but how does that suggest that he's planning to do it? I could be mistaken but I got the impression that Botach was a bit put out by the monkey bike street Grand Prix and the fact that the police didn't lift a finger, so I expect he wants to know whether the police couldn't do anything or simply failed to enforce a perfectly applicable law. At least I would if it had been me.


Maybe could have been better worded, but still looks to me like someone trying to find out which law was broken rather than how to do the same thing legally.

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

I don't always agree with botach but, like you: I haven't found his stance on road safety to be at the reckless end of the scale.

The clue is here:

Checks browser - it is on English.
On Safespeed forum, not mothers union - yep


Now for those who did not go to the origonal question and have jumped in halfway , here is the origonal question( Perhaps it might be a good idea to read it, before jumping

"One probably for the BIB or our motorbike experts.

Monkey bikes - mini motorbikes - what are legal requirements for use on public property - roads/pavements etc - eg tax/insurance etc and requirements for rider both in terms of age/protection etc/etc.
And do they need plates?"

Reason - we've had this in past with mopeds/stolen bikes etc and no police presence.As i said possible we said the fatal words "no plates"

One of our county councillors is on the police committee - would be nice if he had a list of possible offences to ask why no attendance or possibility of urgent action, yet again.

Gixxer wrote:
The OP's question is quite clear & leaves no room for mis-understanding, he wants to know the legalities of letting children ride motorised vehicles in places where the public have lawful access.
No - i am in NO doubt of the stupidity of this or of any of the actions i witnessed -i quoted these as an example of what was hapening.

i had trouble at one site with off road bikes, like to do wheelies etc up and

Nice one -CO - at least your beat officer was on the ball - our problem - who is our beat officer, have we now got one - we used to have two and a beat Sgt, they al got moved, and would our beat officr recognise the faces?

These things are to put it mildly a blasted nuisance and are more often than not used illegally. They are motor vehicles and when used in a public place, that is any place to which the public have access with or without payment they require the following.

Vehicle Registration, Road Tax, Insurance, MOT if applicable, the rider must hold a licence, display L Plates if they have not passed a test, completed CBT, and wear a helmet.

I am involved in the management of public parks and open spaces and my park rangers have to try and keep these things out of parks as purchasers are often told “you can’t ride on the road but you can take them to the park” WRONG they can’t.

A further offence is immediately committed under s34 (1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 once a vehicle is taken off of the public highway. Unfortunately my staff cannot demand to see an insurance certificate or issue producers unlike police officers. Such a vehicle can be impounded after a warning by a police officer in uniform if the vehicle is being used in an anti social way that is to say causing alarm or distress to a person not of the same household as themselves under the Police Reform Act.

Very difficult to deal with for BiB as these things can simply zoom off in the opposite direction and one BiB will not be able to follow them across open land unless on a trials bike!

Did get one lad prosecuted for riding off road thanks to the assistance of a keen PC who recognised him from a photo taken of him on the "bike" in the middle of a formal park scaring the life out of a group of mumms and little kids. £400 fine. RESULT

Ian - first welcome.
Second - thank you - just what i wanted - had sort of guessed some of it, but you've added to it.

A bit of help here:-

http://www.police-recruitment.com/one2/ ... php?t=8581

Same laws for monkey bikes!

Rest assured that even a BiB on a trials bike can quite easily be made to look like a rank amateur by a child as young as 6 years of age if the rider of the illegal bike has a modicum of experience.

I know what you are saying though, off road bikes in public places simply isn't on (no matter how much fun it appears to be).

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

Agree with you on that Gixxer.
But - a couple of monkey bikes - by the looks and sound of them they were flat out - and far too small for the riders - would have thought a traffic bike would have been able to nab them in a few minutes -

Its all very simple really, If a driver wishes any vehicle to be used on a road it must pass stringent type approval tests before it is able to qualify for a registration document.
Every minimoto is a toy, and will never pass any type approval, but as with go-peds etc (DPP v Saddington) it is a motor vehicle so its use on public roads etc is a no-no under any circumstances.
Same applies to monkey bikes, unless it can acquire type approval, and get a reg document etc.

These vehicles cannot be used off road unless they gain permission from the landowner, nor can they be used on commonland etc as has already been stated (Sec34 RTA).

We have had some dangerous episodes with minimotos, and are seizing them under S165A - no insurance when on a public road.

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Fixed ideas are like cramp, for instance in the foot, yet the best remedy is to step on them.

Ian