NO this is NOT my 2016 Suzuki SV650

[SeniorBiker]

No! this is not my 2016 SV650 but as I only hold a full motorcycle licence and have since 1977 and I have always owned and rode motorcycles, but as you get older the cold and wet becomes less appealing so yes now I am a “Fine weather Biker” as long as its dry and no ice (we don’t get snow in the South of England) I like riding my bike. But to keep dry and warm in the winter months and in recent summers I drive a 500cc Microcar M-8 which you can legally drive on a Full UK Motorcycle Licence. The small quadracycle is bigger than a Smartcar can carry 2+2 people but is 2 feet shorter than a BMW Mini and is restricted to 72mph under the licence classification. It is has a Twin 505cc engine with an automatic CVT gearbox a bit like a big scooter. You do lose all street cred with fellow bikers but I am always being asked What is it?, is it a Mini? But the road Tax is £145 and they cost as much as a basic new Mini! So you would not buy one if you have a car licence as well as a bike licence. I thought it would bring a smile to some readers…… at least the Suzuki SV650 keeps my biking credibility intact.

[Craig380]

I didn't know you could legally drive a 4-wheeler on just a bike license, interesting! It does look a bit like a Mini, too. Who makes the engine and transmission, are they bought-in?

And no need to make excuses about being a 'fair weather biker', I'm one of those and proud of it I paid my biking dues in my teens and twenties when the bike was all I had. These days, riding in the freezing cold and persisting rain is no fun at all ...

[SeniorBiker]

The licence classification is a B1 and as from 2013 all full motorcycle licence holders can drive a "Heavy Quadracycle" before 2013 you had to have passed your bike test before 2001. Also in 2013 a 16 year old can drive a restricted 30mph diesel version of the car but what the insurance would be is anybodies guess. The car is made in France by "Microcar" and is supplied to Microcar dealers in the UK. In Europe they are only diesel and restricted to 45-50mph but require No Licence but the petrol version is only made for the UK. The engines are Italian "Lombardi" and are fuel injected they do about 50mpg not good on steep hills but will do 65-70mph on the flat. My model the M-8 and has now been replace with a new model M.go 3 because BMW took exception it looking like a Mini and put pressure on Microcar to change the model, so mine is a rare beast!!

[DJ123]

The concern i would have about that is, what safety tests does it have to pass to be 'legal'?

[Jayneflakes]

I like that, for a non driver like me, that would be perfect.

[Blapper]

In France they are sold under the classification 'Sans Permit' (without licence). The older ones were like mini dumper truck engines and vibrated so much that the fibre glass panels visibly resonated enough to see them shaking when driving behind them! Not cheap, but in France if you have been done for drink-driving, they are just the job.

[SeniorBiker]

That's corrected the French built ones are diesel and actually still use a dumper truck engine back in 2001 when they first imported the Microcar it was in a diesel I went in one for a test drive my ears are still ringing from the noise and it could only do 45mph they never sold!! and Microcar re-designed the cars for the UK. Remember they were keen to get into the light car market because the Reliant 3 wheelers had stopped production. The cars for the UK are now built specially with the 505cc petrol engines and 4 seats and the UK versions are not legal in Europe because they require a licence classification only available in the UK. The bonnet does vibrate when first started because of being a twin and rubber mounted on a sub-frame, if your see one without the bodywork it looks like front engine dune buggy with a sub-frame at the front and back and a aluminium alloy monocoque box for the passenger compartment. People always notice the disc brakes front and rear as the are the same as modern drilled motorcycle discs and are ABS. As with all small cars score a low mark in crash safety tests as they have less crumple zone but will always be 100 per cent more that a bikes crumple zone!!!!

[Craigg]

so what is the advantage?

i could kind of understand it if it was electric, or 0£ tax, but its stupidly expensive for what it is, and costs more to tax than a 2ltr diesel saloon.

the driving test in the UK is stupidly easy to pass, why not just get a full licence, then buy an actual car? it would be cheaper, cost less to run, be better put together?

[SeniorBiker]

I agree, I only started driving Microcars after my late father wanted to give up driving his Microcar so I took a course of driving lessons in a automatic car at the end of course the instructor told me I would pass a car test for a automatic, but I have always rode bikes for now 45yrs and never been interested in cars but it allowed me to take my father out and about. As I have already stated you would not buy one if you have are full car license on cost and performance alone, but the two manufactures Microcar and Axiam still have a number of motorcycle only customers to bring out new models every two years. Also a lot of customers who are prepared to pay to still stay mobile after a motorcycle accident or old age and never took a car test, they are also under the Mobility Purchase Scheme.