[TOOL] Reg input. Button reads Check spec. Returns the DVLA record. Free, no account.
Enter a registration and you will get the DVLA's own record of what the machine is: make, model, engine size, year of first registration, colour, weight, fuel and body type.
Free, no account. Below is what those fields are good for, which is more than most people expect.
What the record gives you
Make and model. As recorded, which is not always as advertised. A seller describing a bike one way against a record saying another is worth a question before you travel.
Engine size in cc. The number that drives your licence category, your MOT class and your tax band.
Year of first registration. Which is not always the model year, particularly on a machine that sat in a showroom over a winter.
Weight. Needed for the A2 power-to-weight sum, and worth knowing before you try to hold a bike up at a junction.
Colour, fuel and body type. Body type is how a moped, a scooter and a motorcycle are told apart on the record, which matters more than it sounds when insurance is quoted.
What it tells you about your licence
This is the useful part, and it is the reason this page exists rather than being a list of fields.
Up to 125cc and 11 kW. A1 territory. Rideable on a CBT with L plates at 17, or on a full A1 licence.
Up to 35 kW, and no more than 0.2 kW per kg. A2 territory. There is no cc limit on an A2 licence, whatever you have been told, and the machine also must not have made more than 70 kW before any restriction was fitted.
Anything above that. Full A, from 24 by direct access or 21 by progression.
The spec record gives you engine size and weight. What it will not reliably give you is power output, and power is what the A2 limits are written in. So for anything near the A2 line, take the manufacturer's figure for that exact model and year and run it through our A2 power-to-weight calculator, which checks all three limits at once including the restriction rule that catches people out.
If you are working out where you stand generally, which licence you need walks through the routes.
What it tells you about running costs
Tax. Bike tax runs on engine size and nothing else, so the cc figure in the record puts the machine straight into a band. Our tax band page has the current rates.
MOT class. The split is at 200cc. Below that is Class 1, above is Class 2. The fee is the same either way, which surprises people.
Insurance. Insurers price on the model rather than the record, but a machine whose recorded body type or engine size disagrees with the advert will quote strangely, and that is worth catching before you buy rather than after.
When the record and the bike disagree
It happens, and it is not always sinister.
Small differences in recorded model naming are common, because DVLA records were often keyed from paperwork rather than pulled from a manufacturer database. A missing suffix is usually nothing.
A wrong engine size is a different matter. That affects licence category, tax and MOT class, and a machine recorded at a capacity it does not have is either a clerical error worth correcting or a sign that the record and the machine are not the same thing.
A body type of moped on a machine that plainly is not one, or vice versa, is worth resolving before you insure it.
Where the difference is material, the identity question comes first. Check the frame and engine numbers against the V5C before you worry about the paperwork trail, and if those do not match, stop there.
What the spec will not tell you
Not power output, reliably. Not service history. Not whether the machine carries finance, a theft marker or a write-off, none of which appear in the DVLA specification.
The free motorbike check adds MOT history, mileage at every test and tax status against the same registration. The full check adds the records that carry financial risk.
FAQs
How do I check a motorbike's spec by registration?
Enter the registration in the box on this page. You will get the DVLA record: make, model, engine size, year, colour, weight, fuel and body type. Free, no account.
Does the spec check show power output?
Not reliably. The DVLA record is not a full technical specification, and power is the figure the A2 limits are written in. For anything near the A2 line, use the manufacturer's figure for that exact model and year.
Can I tell what licence I need from the registration?
Partly. Engine size tells you a great deal and weight covers the A2 power-to-weight sum, but power output is the missing piece and the record does not reliably carry it.
The advert says a different model to the record. Is that a problem?
Small naming differences are common, because records were often keyed from paperwork. A different engine size is a different matter, because it changes licence category, tax and MOT class. Check the frame and engine numbers before anything else.
Is the year in the record the model year?
Not necessarily. It is the date of first registration, so a bike built late in one year and sold early the next will show the later date. On a machine where model year matters, confirm it against the frame number and the manufacturer's records.