The A2 Licence Explained: What You Can Actually Ride in 2026

The A2 licence is the best deal in motorcycling and the worst explained. The rules fit in two sentences, yet half the questions I get start with a forum myth about them. Here is the whole thing in plain language, and then the part that actually matters: which bikes make the most of the box you are allowed to shop in.

The two numbers that define A2

An A2 bike may produce at most 35 kW, which is 47 hp and change, and at most 0.2 kW per kilogram of weight. That second rule exists to stop someone homologating a 100 kg missile with exactly 47 hp, and it is why A2 bikes cluster in the 150 to 200 kg range. Manufacturers do the certification for you: if a bike is sold as A2 compliant, both boxes are ticked. Every bike on our best A2 bikes list qualifies out of the crate.

The restriction trap

You can also ride a bigger bike restricted down to 35 kW, but only if its original output is no more than 70 kW, which is about 95 hp. This is the rule that catches people. That used middleweight your mate is selling might be 5 hp over the line, and no restrictor kit makes an ineligible bike legal. Check the homologation documents, not the forum thread, and remember an insurance assessor will check them for you at the worst possible moment.

Restrict a big bike or buy A2 native?

Buy native, almost every time. A restricted twin carries the full-size bike's weight with less than its power, which ruins the power-to-weight ratio that makes bikes fun, and you pay full-size insurance for the privilege. A purpose-built A2 bike like the KTM 390 Duke or Aprilia RS 457 is designed around the limit instead of lobotomised down to it. The exception is if someone gives you a restrictable bike for free, in which case congratulations, ride it until the licence upgrade.

Is 47 hp actually enough?

Yes, and I can prove it with arithmetic. A 390 SMC R at 45 hp and 161 kg carries 0.28 hp per kg, which is a better ratio than plenty of celebrated bikes from the nineties that nobody called slow. A2 bikes hold motorway speed, out-accelerate most cars, and run out of legal road long before they run out of engine. What 47 hp will not do is flatter lazy gear selection, which is why A2 graduates are usually better riders than people who started on 150 hp.

The best A2 bikes by type

• All-rounder: KTM 390 Duke, 45 hp, 6,299 EUR, the class electronics benchmark.
• Budget: Triumph Speed 400, 5,745 EUR with 16,000 km service intervals.
• Sports: Aprilia RS 457, the only one using the full 35 kW allowance.
• Supermoto: KTM 390 SMC R, the most fun per corner on the licence.
• Adventure: KTM 390 Adventure R for capability, Himalayan 450 for range and price.
• Full rankings with scores: best A2 bikes, recomputed from the data, never from goodwill.

What happens after A2

Two years on A2 and a practical test, and every restriction disappears at once, which is its own hazard. The step from 47 hp to unlimited is where buying discipline goes to die, so I wrote a separate guide to your first big bike after A2 that tries to save you from the 190 hp mistake. Short version: the 70 to 95 hp middleweight class exists precisely for you, and it is currently excellent.

One last thing: licence rules are set per country and change occasionally. The physics above is EU-wide, but confirm the paperwork details with your local licensing authority, not with me, and definitely not with the bloke at the dealership who wants the sale.