Riding with a trailer

Some motorcyclists like to attach a trailer to their bike. But is that legal in every country? And if it is legal, what are the specific rules for riding with a trailer? FEMA gives you the facts.

In the development of the Third Driving License Directive the fact that sometimes motorcycles pull trailers was not taken into account (unlike with cars). The reason for this is that the European Commission seemed not to be aware that there are motorcyclists who sometimes ride with a trailer attached to their motorcycle. This means that every country can make its own rules!

FEMA collected as much information as possible to show you what the rules are in specific countries. If you have additional information that we can verify, please send it to info@femamotorcycling.eu

Country	Allowed	Max. speed	Max. weight	Max. width	Other **	Sources
Austria*	Yes	100 km/h	50 kg (100 kg if the bike is a three wheeler)	May not exceed the motorcycle’s width	Reflectors shall be put on the trailer to indicate its width	ANWB, SMC
Belgium	Yes	120 km/h		1 m for solo motorcycle, or may not exceed the width of the motorcycle with sidecar	With a trailer behind motorcycle with sidecar the sidecarwheel should have a brake. The trailer should have two red reflectors. No passengers allowed in trailer	Federale Overheidsdienst Mobiliteit en Vervoer
Cyprus	Yes				The trailer has to be authorized by the Cyprus authorities
Czech Republic	Yes	80 km/h			The trailer has to be EU certified	UAMK
Denmark	Yes	80 km/h	150 kg	Length: 2.5 m, width: 1 m	No passengers in trailer, trailer needs to be registered	DMC, MCTC, Færdselsstyrelsen, Danish Road Safety Agency
Estonia	Not regulated	Not regulated	Not regulated	Not regulated		Examination Department Estonian Road Administration
Finland	Yes, with full license	A trailer without suspension 60 km/h, with suspension 100 km/h	Laden weight max. half of motorcycle	1.5 m or as wide as the towing vehicle if this is wider	No passengers in trailer, max. one axle	Finnish Transport Safety Agency (Trafi), Unit Driving Licences and Permits
France	Yes	Usual speed limits	Laden weight max. half of unladen motorcycle. The total weight of the coupling must not exceed the permissible total gross weight indicated in section F.3 of the registration certificate. The trailer must have an independent brake system if its total gross weight is higher than 80 kg.	Lenght 4 m, width 2 m	The motorcycle must be approved for towing a trailer.	Code de la Route
Germany	Yes	60 km/h	< 750 kg	1 m	No possibility to have trailers registered for higher speeds; max. speed on highways is 60 km/h	Federal Ministry of Transport and digital Infrastructure
Greece	No, but allowed for visitors	80 km/h			No provision in national legislation regarding the riding of a motorcycle with a trailer attached to it	Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport & Networks DG of Road Safety Directorate of Road Traffic & Safety
Hungary	Yes, behind L3, L4, L5 vehicles, with full license	As cars	80 kg		Stability may not be affected, trailer may have only one wheel, no trailer allowed behind a tricycle or motorcycle with sidecar	General Police Directorate Road Safety Service & Central Office for Administrative and Electronic Public Services
Iceland	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ireland	Yes	80 km/h	laden weight < 150 kg	1 m	Not regulated in driving license regulations, but in the Road Traffic Regulations 2003. Motorcycle over 125cc	Road Safety Authority, MAG IE
Italy*	No, but allowed for visitors	80 km/h	Laden weight max. half of motorcycle
Latvia	Yes	90 km/h	n.a.	n.a.	Only specially designed (manufactured) trailers for motorcycles	Road Traffic Safety Directorate
Lithuania	No	–	–	–	–	ANWB
Luxembourg*	Yes	90 km/h
Malta	No	–	–	–	–	Government
Netherlands	Yes	90 km/h	Laden weight: max. half of motorcycle empty weight.	2 m	No passengers in trailer, max. height: 1 meter, max. length: max. 2,5 meters from rear wheel motorcycle axle. With a trailer behind motorcycle with sidecar, the sidecar wheel must have a brake.
Norway	Yes	80 km/h	50 % of bike dry weight, excl. weight of the hitch (coupling on bike)	125 cm	If the hitch is of a ball type – width of ball min. 50 mm. The hitch system shall be approved for the load it is carrying. If the hitch is of a different type than ball – the hitch shall be registered together with the bike and the trailer in the bike papers. Bike has to be more than 125 cc.	NMCU, Thore Bergsaker
Poland	Yes	Motorway 80 km/h, other ways 70-80 km/h, in urban area 50 km/h			Compulsory dipped headlights in daytime, drunk passengers are not allowed to ride pillion, but are allowed in the sidecar	Div.
Portugal	Yes	Motorway 80-100 km/h, rural ways 70 km/h, urban ways 50 km/h			Compulsory dipped headlights in daytime, motorcycles are not always allowed to overtake (where cars are allowed)	Div.
Romania	Yes	A1: 90 km/h on highways, 80 km/h on express or national European (E) roads, 70 km/h on other roads, A2, A: 130 km/h on highways, 100 km/h on express or national European (E) roads, 90 km/h on other roads	750 kg		Only one axle, trailer must be registered, have a valid insurance policy and adequate technical condition; the maximum speed with a trailer is 10 km/h under the maximum speed for motorcycles without trailers	Ministry of Home Affairs, Driving licensing and vehicles registration directorate
Slovakia	No	–	–	–	–
Slovenia	Yes	Motorways: 100 km/hour, other roads: 90 km/hour, built-up areas: 50 km/hour			Same rules as for O1 trailers behind cars	Ministry of Infrastructure
Spain	Yes	108 km/h (120 km/h -10%)	Laden weight max. half of motorcycle		Trailer only allowed in daytime and with clear sight	Div.
Sweden	Yes	80 km/h	The trailer’s maximum weight may not exceed half of the motorcycles dry weight minus tools or a maximum of 150 kg’s.	1.25 m, 2 m if bike has 3-4 wheels	The trailer does not have to be registered but must have approved tires, an ID-number, indicators, reflectors, brake lights and lights at the back	SMC, Sektion regelinformation Transportstyrelsen
Switzerland*	Yes	80 km/h	–	–	No passengers in trailer, separate vignette for trailer on motorways	Federal Roads Office (FEDRO)
United Kingdom	Yes, with full license	96 km/h	150 kg or <2/3 of the kerb weight (bike+fuel+oil)	1 m	Motorcycle over 125cc. When hitched, the distance between the end of the trailer and the rear axle of the motorbike must be no more than 2.5 metres.	BMF, www.gov.uk

* Not confirmed by a FEMA member organization.
** Technical demands on sizes and weights differ: the width ranges from 0.8 to 2.5 meters, also the length differs. Motorcycle trailers are no part of the EU type approval, are not seen as O1 trailers, because O-category trailers are to be attached to vehicles with at least four wheels.

The information presented here was thoroughly researched by FEMA, but FEMA will not accept any (legal) responsibility if this information is false or incomplete.