There are four classes of motorized two-wheeled vehicles in Japan, with different licensing requirements, rules, and such. The classes are demarked by engine size. The Motor Vehicle Law (SHARYOUHOU, probably governs licencing and registration issues) demarks them into three classes, while the Road Traffic Law (DOUROKOUTSUU, probably governs the vehicle operation) into four. Engine size: Up to 50cc Motor Vehicle Law: �����팴���@�t�����]�� (�����팴���t��) DAI ISSHU GENDOUKITUKI JIDOUSHA (DAI ISSHU GENTSUKI) Class 1 Engine-Attached Bicycle Road Traffic Law: �����@�t�����]�� (���t��) GENDOUKITSUKI JIDOUSHA (GENTSUKI) Engine-Attached Bicycle Common names: Scooter, gentsuki Speed Limit: 30 km/h (but routinely ignored) Travel restrictions: Must stay to the left 1m of street (but often ignored). Not allowed on the expressways. See below about right turns.

License plate: Small, white License: Easy paper-only test. Japanese car license includes this permission as well (but international endorsement of a foreign license does not). Mandatory Insurance: 7850, 9800, 11600 yen for 1, 2, and 3 years Engine size: Over 50cc up to 125cc DAI NISSHU GENDOUKITSUKI JIDOUSHA (DAI NISHU GENTSUKI) Class 2 Engine-Attached Bicycle Road Traffic Law: ���^�������֎� (KOGATA JIDOU NIRINSHA) Small-Size Auto-Mobile Two-Wheeled Vehicle. Common names: Small class, KOGATA (���`) Speed Limit: 50 km/h or less, as posted Passengers: May have a passenger Travel restrictions: Not allowed on expressways. License plate: Yellow, or pink with white triangle mark on mudguard Engine size: Over 125cc up to 400cc Motor Vehicle Law: �������֎� (JIDOU NIRINSHA) Road Traffic Law: ���^�������֎� (CHUUGATA JIDOU NIRINSHA) Mid-Size Auto-Mobile Two-Wheeled Vehicle.

Common names: Mid-class, CHUUGATA (���^) Speed restrictions: 80 km/h on expressways, 50 km/h or less, as postedused motorcycle trikes for sale in alabama Travel restrictions: May go onto expressways (w/o passenger)praga motorcycle for saleOver 250cc has a green borderbuell for sale kansas city Mandatory Insurance: 13650, 21000, 28000 yen for 1, 2, and 3 years. Engine size: 400cc and Over Road Traffic Law: ���^�������֎� (OOGATA JIDOU NIRINSHA) Large-Size Auto-Mobile Two-Wheeled Vehicle. Common names: Large class, OOGATA (���^) Speed restrictions: 80 km/h on expressways, 60 km/h or less, as posted Travel restrictions: May go onto expressways (without passenger)

License plate: White with a green border. Mandatory Insurance: 17100 yen for one year, 27800 yen for two. ENGINE SIZE: Technically, these are "up to, but not including" (so a scooter would be up to, BUT NOT INCLUDING, 50cc). scooters" are really 49cc, "250cc bikes" are really 249cc, etc, so for the rest of this FAQ I'll sloff over this technical point and just say that 50cc is a gentsuki class, etc. "SCOOTER": Most scooters are 50cc, so "scooter" and "gentsuki" are oftenHowever, they're not exactly the same. which are scooters can have engines as large as 750cc, while some motorcycles have only 50cc engines. "GENTSUKI": The Japanese word "gentsuki" is short for what originally literally meant "bicycle with engine attached" (i.e. "moped"), and now technically means any motorized two-wheeled vehicle. generally used to mean that class of vehicle with engines smaller than 50cc (and again, most "50cc" vehicles are really 49cc, so they're gentsuki as well).

EXPRESSWAYS: less than 125cc may not go onto expressways. Others may go, but there is an implied 80 km/h limit. Passengers are not allowed unless in a side-car. RIGHT TURNS: Scooters doing right turns at large intersections (sometimes marked with a special sign) must do the two-step "Melbourne" right turn. This is called a NIDANKAIUSETSU (���i�K�E��). Rather than attempt to turn across a on-coming traffic, you rather pull mostly across the intersection and to the *left* (with right turn signal on!), waiting at what amounts to the very head of the waiting cross traffic. There will likely be a special box marked for you to wait in. When the cross-traffic light turns green, goThat said, with few patrol cars around, many scooter riders just ignore the law unless the HELMETS: Helmets (of some form) are required for all classes and all passengers, with differing requirements POPULAR SIZES: Because of these classes, there aren't a wide variety of

bike engine sizes on the market, as might be found in America. popular sizes (in order, by my guess): 50cc, 250cc, 400cc, 125cc, 750cc Bike licensing, ownership transfers, license plate procurement, insurance, and such can all be rather complex affairs, requiring unbelievable amountsThankfully, the bike shop will often take care of much of it for you. License plate colors sometimes differ by location. However, small bikes (or big scooters) from 50-125cc (cf. BIKE CLASSES earlier) generally have a special color. Also, 125cc bikes have a white triangular mark painted somewhere on the rear body or mud guard. Motorcycles over 250cc (which require shaken) also have a green border on their license plates. All vehicles must carry some minimal amount of liability insurance. This is called JIBAISEKIHOKEN (�����ӕی�). You can purchase it from a bike shop, or other insurance provider (I buy mine at my company). You get a small sticker that goes on your license plate to prove you've got it.

You have no choice about this - you must buy it. There are discounts for multiple-year purchases. Penalties for riding or driving a vehicle without it are a penalty fine of up to 500,000 yen and a year in prison, not to mention immediate license suspension. Costs (as of April, Heisei 5 [1993]): 12 mos. 24 mos. 36 mos. 250cc+17,100 yen 27,800 yen N/A 125cc or less7850 yen9800 yen11,600 yen The insurance applies to the bike, and transfers with the bike if it sold. If the bike is decomissioned (totaled or stolen) before the insurance runs out, you can go through all kinds of paperwork to get some of your money back. Only an idiot would drive without extra insurance beyond the mandatoryIf you need some prompting, I have heard that the minimum legal compensational fine for causing a traffic death is on the order of 32,000,000 yen (about US$380,000). Rates (with Nippon Fire and Marine, at least, although I suspect it's an industry standard) are based upon a number of factors (this info somewhat

Age: less than 21; size of bike: scooter, 50cc-250cc, 250cc or over how long you've insured with them. I bought extra insurance from Nippon Fire and Marine. Personal liability (if I hurt others): unlimited coverage Bodily injury for passenger: 10,000,000 yen/accident Bodily injury for me: 2,000,000 yen/accident (I have national health coverage, so coverage for me isn't so Collision coverage would have been ridiculously expensive (on the order of 6,000 yen/month for minimal coverage). For vehicles larger than 250cc, a biyearly (every other year) inspection must be done. This is called SHAKEN (�Ԍ�). components of shaken is the mandatory insurance (JIBAISEKI HOKEN) andThese, plus a few miscellaneous fees can come to as low as about 35,000yen. However, in order to get the bike to pass the rather picky inspection, a lot of work might be required. Or at least required in the eyes of the bike shop (more work means more yen for them).

It seems average costs are about 70,000 yen, but you can probably do it for much less by doing it yourself. See the section on SHAKEN Like the mandatory liability insurance, the shaken transfers with a vehicle (and is often a selling point: "comes with shaken good until Since a 250cc bike is the largest bike that doesn't require this, 250cc is the most popular size. OTHER TAXES (YEARLY CITY TAX) Every April, the city where you're a resident taxes you for your bikeBummer if you buy the bike in March. Engine Size (cc) Tax/Year (yen) 126cc - 250cc: one-time 6,300 yen fee when the bike is new 251cc and up: 5000 yen for 2 years, 2500 yen/year after 10 years. NOTE: This page contains Japanese script--if your computer's OS or browser is not set up to read it, many words will simply look like garbage. Try changing the way your browser reads the info - for example, using Firefox, click on "View", then "Character Encoding", then choose something like Japanese Shift_JIS.