B196 driver’s license – just drive a motorcycle without testing

You can drive a motorcycle without testing and at moderate costs. The driver’s license expansion B196 has made it possible since 2020. Every motorcycle? No, not that. Only small machines with up to 125 cubic centimeters displacement and an engine power of no more than 15 hp or 11 kW are allowed. With a three -wheel motorcycle, it can even be 20 hp or 15 kW.

This is not heavy machines, but it is still adult motorcycles with which you can also go to the highway. The top speed of such models is 100 to 130 km/h. So no comparison to the motorcycles with 50 cubic centimeters displacement, which can only drive 45 km/h and with which you can already become a traffic obstacle in the city.

So B196 is not a full -fledged motorcycle driving license, but at least a small solution. The letter B reveals it: It is an expansion of the car driver’s license. The main advantage over the motorcycle driving license is the low cost and the fact that neither an additional theoretical nor an practical exam is required. Four hours theory and five hours of practice are enough to maintain the expansion. This is also feasible on two days. The costs are around 700 to 1000 euros. However, you have to be at least 25 years old and have had the car driver’s license for five years.

A clear disadvantage is that the expansion is only recognized in Germany and not abroad. Furthermore, there is no shortened procedure for motorcycle driving license A. Here you start over, at least in theory. However, driving practice on a 125 should make the practical part of training and examination easier. But if you only want to drive a little motorcycle or scooter, you can quickly and easily come to your destination.

With motorcycle class A1 you can drive the same. But even if the car driver’s license is available, effort and costs for A1 are significantly higher. More hours cost more money; You have to expect up to 2000 euros, in addition the theoretical and practical exams come with the possibility.

If you want to have the large motorcycle license A without a performance limit at some point, you have little advantages over B196 with the previous ownership of A1. Driving experience is available for both. If you start with A1, there are slight more driving lessons than with B196 – if you add up the total costs, there is no advantage. Rather, the opposite can occur. A1 is particularly interesting for younger people, since you have to be only 16 years old for A1. For B196 it is 25 years and five years of possession of the car driver’s license.

Ultimately, B196 tied to the old class 3 car driver’s license, which included driving these motorcycles until 1998. Without any additional costs.