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Using a quad bike on the road

Before you can ride a quad bike on the road it must firstly be type approved in line with one of the following:

• European Whole Vehicle Type Approval system (ECWVTA)
• UK National Type Approval (Small Series)
• UK Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval Scheme (MSVA)

Type approval is a testing process to check that all vehicles in the UK meet both European and domestic safety and environmental standards. When your vehicle is type approved it can be registered and taxed with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

You can find out more about how to type approve your vehicle and the above schemes on the Businesslink website.

• Businesslink website Opens new window

There are some manufacturers, like Bombardier of Canada, who have got type approval for four-wheel motorcycles, ie quad bikes. As long as the quad bike has ECWVTA and a Certificate of Conformity then it can be registered and legally used on the roads.

The quad bike as a working vehicle

The quad bike is also used a lot for agriculture, horticulture and forestry work. There may be a small amount of road use in much the same way as a farmer uses an agricultural tractor. While on the road, the quad bike would have to meet the on-road requirements for an agricultural vehicle.

Using a quad bike as a normal road-going vehicle wouldn’t normally be allowed. Unlike a four-wheel road vehicle like a car, it wouldn’t be able to meet certain construction needs, such as the tyres, braking system and seat belt requirements.

Definitions of a quad bike

There are two categories of quad bike, each with its own definition. These are called category L6e and L7e.

Category L6e

This category is a light four-wheeled quadricycle with:

• an unladen weight of 350 kilograms
• a maximum speed of 45 kilometres per hour

It must also have one of the following:

• a maximum spark ignition internal combustion engine capacity of 50 centimetres cubed
• a maximum power of any other internal combustion engine of 4 kilowatts
• a maximum electric motor continuous rated power of 4 kilowatts

Category L7e

This category is a four-wheeled quadricycle with:

• an unladen weight of 400 kilograms (or 550 kilograms for a goods carrying vehicle)
• a maximum net power, whatever the type of engine or motor, of 15 kilowatts

Four wheeled vehicles that fall outside of these two definitions would need to be type approved, registered and taxed in another category like a car.

Further Information

You can find out more about quad bikes by contacting the Department for Transport.

International Vehicles and Standards
Department for Transport
Zone 1/33
Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London
SW1P 4DR

Email: ivs.enquiries@dft.gsi.gov.uk

Telephone: 0207 944 2091

More useful links

• The vehicles you can drive or ride and minimum ages

• How to register your vehicle

• How to tax your vehicle