Legal Quad Biking On The Roads
Four-wheeled all terrain vehicles with low pressure tyres, quad-bikes have seats and handlebars which resemble those found on motorcycles. Quad-bikes were originally created for the field, not the road. Developed for use in agriculture, these bikes are well suited to riding over open country, fields and rough tracks. Engine sizes on these bikes can be as small as 49cc and larger than 700cc. The high end quad-bikes can reach speeds of over 80 mph.
Because they are designed for use off-road, many quad-bikes are not road legal. Before any vehicle can be driven on a public road in the UK it must comply with specific legal requirements. Before they can be used on a road quad-bikes need to be fitted with items such as headlights, a horn and speedometer that reads in MPH. Riders need to have the correct insurance and the quad needs to have a tax disc and number plate.
Quad-bike riders must also carry insurance and the bike has to have a number plate and tax disc. Many quad-bike manufacturers produce lines of both off-road quad-bikes and quad-bikes which have been designed to be road legal. An off-road quad-bike can be converted to a road legal one, though the expense of adding the necessary equipment and full regulatory compliance can be taxing.
