Even derestricted motorways still carry an advisory limit of 130km/h (80mph) – if you ride faster, you accept the consequences if it all goes wrong, and you also expose yourself to prosecution for even minor driving faults. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. The majority of people drive to France blissfully unaware of most of the rules of the road there, that differ from the UK.

Switzerland's far too law-abiding to be fun on a bike for very long, although it does have some magnificent scenery of course. Mainly it's just easier to go through it than around it when you're on your way to Italy, Austria or places further East (speaking of which, have a look at our guide to riding in Croatia here. Different EU countries have different rules around slow-moving or stationary traffic. Some allow filtering. Other countries, like France, don’t. Line 5 displays your driving licence number, which is made up of a mixture of your family name, date of birth and some random code. But it’s not that simple…You might need to use separate EU, EEA (European Economic Area) and Swiss lanes when queuing. Your passport should also now be stamped. Share this article

Even if you're not actually going to France, you’ll probably be passing through and you need to be legal while you're there. All of the other lines remain unchanged, but it’s good to know what the information on your licence actually means and why it’s important to keep an eye on it… Passport:And make sure it's valid. That doesn't mean just 'not expired yet'... The EU/Schengen requirement is that your passport much have been issued less than ten years before your outward travel date, AND that it has three months' validity on your planned return date. Every comprehensive UK motorbike insurance policy should have some basic measure of EU cover. But some policies might be more generous than others. The DVLA has a useful flow chartto navigate your way through the different motorbike licence requirements. It covers both A1 and A2 motorbikes as well as all age-group limitations.At time of writing (December 2022) the ETIAS application portal wasn't live, but you can sign up to be informed of developments here. The good news is that because the Government has reached an agreement with the 27 EU member states, we can ride in those countries without the need for an international driving licence. This also applies to Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, but only as long as you’ve got a photocard licence. The first 5 letters are from your family name, unless there’s not that many letters in your name in which case any shortfall will be filled by a 9. Most road safety organisations recommend a break of at least 15 minutes every 2 hours. Mind your load Depending where you go, noisy pipes can get you into hot water, and some roads are sometimes closed to motorcycles completely at certain times as a result of noise problems.