Motor bike licence

Hi,

I have a full UK car and full motor bike licence (unlimited cc), and I may be living permenently in Japan soon.

What I am trying to find out is my uk motor bike licence licence valid in Japan, or do I need to exchange it for a international driving licence in the same way as a car?

Also as I may be living in Japan permanelty I want to know how I convert my UK licences (both motor bike and car)to Japanese licences.

What is the insurance cost for motor bikes in Japan, is it really expensive for a large bike 750-1000cc....

Sorry for the open ended question, its just that I am looking forward to doing some knee scraping on the moutain roads of Japan when I move there.

Cheers.

Hi, We'll shortly be moving to japan as well, my understanding is that you need to get an international driving license which you get while in the UK and is valid in Japan for 12 months, during this time (and if you are staying longer than 12 months)you should convert to a japanese license. I think info is on Japanese embassy website. Don't know about motorbike side but my husband is also a biker and so I would be interested to find out.

Found this link http://www.uknow.or.jp/be_e/consular/life/life02.htm
According to no 6 motorbike license should be valid if you have taken your test etc. But I'll be keeping that quiet I think!

mac71,

I found out something about car licences, but nothing about bike licences yet. My Japanese wife is going to find out about bike licences for me, but it will be a holiday in Japan right now, so it could take about a week to find out.....

If you want to know what she found out check this thread later.

Car info....If you're going to drive, you'll need to get an international permit before you come to Japan, or else get a Japanese license when you're in Japan. The international permit will only be as good as your visa or a max of one year. Be sure to carry your home license and passport with you when driving on an international permit. Afterwards you'll need to return to your home country to get a new international permit or get a Japanese license. Officially you are supposed to get a Japanese license after a year of using an international permit. For obtaining the Japanese license, if you've had your own country's license for at least 90 days before coming to Japan, you can use it in lieu of having to go to a Japanese driver's school (saving you up to 300,000 yen), but you'll need an authorized translation of your license which will take a couple of days (contact your embassy/consulate in Japan or the Japan Auto Federation [JAF]; cost: 3000 yen + 270 yen for postage) as well as taking a written test (10 multiple choice questions, you need to score at least 70%; English and 7 other languages now available), driving test (citizens from the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy or Spain with licenses are exempt from the driving test), color recognition and eye test. Depending on the examiner, the driving test can be extremely picky and even experienced drivers can fail over and over again. For those staying in Japan long term, it would behoove you to get the Japanese license and take a couple hours for some driving lessons to prepare you for the test, especially if you are unfamiliar with driving and traffic signs in Japan. The whole process takes several hours and you'll need to sign up for it first thing in the morning (call for times), paying up to 5000 yen. (In large cities you may have to wait a few weeks for the driving test). Take your passport, photo (3cm x 2.4cm), and foreigner id card with you. To pass the tests you'll need to know what Japanese street signs mean and the examiner's directions in Japanese (right, left, stop, etc). No high speed driving or fancy shifting is necessary, but to be licensed for both auto and manual transmissions, you need to pass the test with a manual transmission. Assuming you pass everything, (if you don't you can come back again) you'll then be photographed for the license.

Thanks for that....

I am not sure if the Japanese bike regulations have a rule stating you must be able to pick up the bike from the floor. If you can not pick it up eg it is too heavy, you are not allowed to ride the bike !

Strange, but I should find out about it later.

mac71,

I have found out about bike licences !

If you want to use your bike after 1 year of driving using the international licence you must exchange it for a Japanese bike licence.

This must be done at a police station on the prefecture you are residing in.

You need to take:-
1. Your current driving licence.
2. Passport.
3. Alien registration card.
4. Photos.
5. A japanese traslation of your driving licence, from JAF or Japanese embassy.

The cost of the new licence is 5050.

The best way is to call the driving licence information centre telephone line in Japan.

The number is 03-5463-6000 or fax 042-334-6000.

I am sure this imformation will help your husband enjoy some great roads in Japan....

Tell him...."Look out for the local bikers on little 250's and 400's... they know the roads are very fast "...

He'll have fun !!

mac71,

check out this website, it has all you need to know about bikes in Japan.

www.thejapanfaq.com/bikerfaq-toc.html

Thats great thanks alot, are you intending to buy a new bike out in Japan? I would presume they are cheaper there than in the UK.
Have fun on the roads.

Mac71,

I hope the web site was useful.... maybe don`t tell your husband, or he will be wanting a bike for sure !!

Yeah I will be buying a bike, though I am not sure what bike yet, maybe a VFR 400 for a bit of fun, but probably a GSXR.... I am a Gixer man !!...always have been...

Anyway....I hope our little chat was fun and helpful...

Take care and have fun.

Hope the move goes OK, and keep having fun. (~u~)

Okay, so just to clarify, if you already have an international bike license, you can get a Japanese bike license without taking any tests? A test is only necessary for getting a Japanese car license, right?

be aware that for a 400+cc licence, after the 12 months that you can ride on an UK international licence, you will need to take the test. I hear it's quite tough.. I'm going to take it sometime next year, wish me luck!!
Also, please see Alan's informative article in thread http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+7114

Biker Boy - website was great, lots of useful info. 400 sounds like a good idea any bigger and I understand you have to have re import an exported bike. I think he'd enjoy a run on a smaller bike, latest bikes a GSX1400- his baby which has to be left behind :0( But hey, any excuse for a new bike doesn't need much, if any, encouragment. Hope it all goes well for you, have fun

mac71,

I am glad the website was useful.

Yeah a 400 seems a good idea and there fun on the twisty moutain roads here. Also they are easy big enough for city life.

Anyway I hope your husband can find a new bike that he can call his baby again ! ha ha.

You were right about re-importing an exported big bike, also many bikes are lower power in Japan, so make sue he gets the full power version when buying, but I am sure the wesite I told you about is a good help in buying a bike.

Anyway, tell him to have fun and good luck in Japan.

Take care. (^u^)

small correction to your above postings: Only bikes of more than 800cc are re-imports. I have recently bought my Honda VFR800 (without the re-import problem).

Your UK license is worthless in Japan -- you must have either the Japanese license or the international permit. For the latter, you don't exchange your UK license for it; you carry your UK license and the international permit together.
Also please be aware that for any motorcycle above 250cc you have to have the shaken biannually, which is a major pain and generous gift to the bike shops and motorcycle companies.
Some other good sites for info are at:
http://www.jaf.or.jp/e/switch.htm
http://www.koyama.co.jp/english.htm
http://www.sira.or.jp/english/foreigner/lifein/transport/trans_4.html
http://www.city.kamogawa.chiba.jp/english/license_e.htm

I am not sure if you have to take the road test -- since you're from the UK, you don't need to for a car license.
You will have a load of fun riding around Japan -- the place is a motocyclist's dream.

I did not know about having the shaken twice a year for bikes above 250cc, that is useful to know.

Also thanks for the links, very useful.

I do look forward to getting a bike, but thinking of the cost of the bi-anual shaken, it may be a NSR250 I buy as my first bike in Japan....

Still great fun is guarenteed....

Actually let me make a correction -- the inspection in not biannual -- it is once every other year. Twice in one year really would be criminal.

Hi ! bikerboy.

I am a Japanese biker living in Japan.
I have some corrections to above postings and other information.

* Shaken is required every two years. (NOT twice in a year)
From my experience that I had Shaken by myself, the inspection is not difficult and costs only 1400 yen. Including insurance (for 2 years), tax, and so on, I paid about 27000 yen totally.
But, if you ask a bike shop for shaken, it may costs much higher.

* Points of motorbike classification in JAPAN.

Less than 50cc : Car license coverage.
Less than 125cc : Small bike license coverage. Can not ride on express way. Cheap insurance and tax.
Less than 250cc : No Shaken required.
Less than 400cc : Medium bike license coverage
Bigger than 400cc : Big bike license coverage.

Note: Real capacity of the bike is slight smaller than figure on its name. For example, NSR250's real capacity is like 246cc (i don't know really). So, it is classified ''Less than 250cc''

* As for re-import bikes, in Japan, we call it ''gyaku-yunyu''(reverse import) full powered to export for UK,US and so on. On the other hand, there are bikes de-tuned or designed for domestic market.
For example, VFR800 are available in both export and domestic types (specs). But most of super sports above 600 are only export spec and 400s and smaller bikes are japanese specs.

* NSR 250 is no longer produced (may be ended in early 1990's). So, there are few used NSRs on sale, obviously one in good condition supposed to be very rare...means expensive!
400 bikes should be better choice. There are many new and used 400 on sale.

I hope you enjoy motorcycling in Japan.

mcTaichi,

Thank you very much, your mail was very useful to me. I guess I needed to talk to someone who has a bike in Japan, so Your mail was what I was waiting for.

So if I bought a GSXR 750 K4 (2004)for example it would be the full power export model, the same as we have in the UK?

What about leathers, boots helmets etc? My leathers are still ok, but I may want some new ones. I was in Yokohama recenlty and there were many bike shops selling helmets, gloves boots, but I did not see many leathers. Is it difficult to buy a good pair of leathers easily?

Ja mata ne....

Biker Boy

It is my pleasure that my posting is useful for you.

As for GSX-R750 (same as 600&1000), only export (full power) model is available in Japan.
For your information, below is Suzuki's full line-up in Japanese specs.

http://www1.suzuki.co.jp/motor/full_line/index.html
(Ignore japanese letter, click bike name for details.)

In another words, models NOT listed above are all export models.

As for leathers, I am not good at it to be honest, I see some leather jackets, pants and racing suits in bike goods shops in Tokyo area.
But these are not many compared to synthetic clothes and nice looking leather jackets are too expensive for me! although some racing suites made in China are very reasonable.

Ja mata!