The learner-approved motorcycle scheme (LAMS) is an Australia-wide program that restricts which motorcycles learner licence holders can ride. And you guessed correctly, that means you can’t just ride whatever you want, but we’ll talk about that later.

The Learner Approved Motorcycle Scheme, (LAMS) was a system initially created by the New South Wales Government back in 2002 to help improve the safety of new motorcycle riders. This was then adopted by the rest of the states and territories in due course, and has had some minor updates over the years. 

Unlike other countries such as the United States, you will be restricted in what you can ride during your learners (Ls), P1 (red Ps), and P2 (green Ps) phases of your motorcycle licence due to LAMS restrictions. Once you have your full licence, these restrictions are lifted and you are free to ride whatever you want.

This was implemented to help stop new riders from jumping on massively powerful and heavy bikes, and launching themselves into cars, trees, poles, and other life-threatening objects. While many will argue you can do that on any motorcycle, regardless of the power, limiting the choice of bikes for learners would hopefully reduce that from happening.

LAMS restrictions are universal between all Australian states. If you stick to these rules when looking for a learner motorcycle you should be fine:

• The motorcycle must be in a standard form as produced by the manufacturer
• Not modified in a way that increases its power-mass ratio;
• Have a power-to-weight ratio of 150 kilowatts per tonne or less; and an engine capacity of 660cc or less.

To summarise the above, if your bike is stock, has a power-to-weight ratio of less than 150 kW per tonne, and is under 660cc you are golden.

Motorcycles with engine capacities of 0-260cc inclusive, in their standard manufacturer form (completely stock), are automatically approved under LAMS. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule, which are pretty much high-power two-stroke race bikes that exceed the 150 kilowatts per tonne power-to-weight ratio.

Pretty much all four-stroke motorcycles under 260cc will be legal to ride under LAMS.

All motorcycles manufactured before 1960 with an engine capacity up to and including 660cc, are also approved for use by novice riders.

Image by Rudi Schedl

So now that you know the restrictions, you might be thinking, “Sweet, I can go and buy a Yamaha R6, Honda CBR600RR, etc.” or some other sports bike because it’s under 660cc like the rules say.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. A LAMS bike needs to meet both the engine displacement requirement (max. 660cc), and the power-to-weight ratio (under 150 kilowatts per tonne). So using the above example of a 2010 Yamaha R6, yes, it’s under 660cc with its 599cc engine, however, it far exceeds the kilowatt per tonne ratio.

Now for some quick maths.

The R6 weighs roughly 190kg, and let’s say you weigh around 90kg with gear on. The R6 full of fluid with you on it weighs a combined 280kg, which is 0.28 metric tonnes. A 2010 Yamaha R6 also produces a maximum 94.5 kW of power.

So, to work out kilowatt per tonne, we divide power in kilowatts by total weight in metric tonnes – which is 94.5 divided by 0.28. This gives us 337.5 kilowatts per tonne, far exceeding the LAMS restrictions.

Now let’s reverse it, what about a bike that meets the power-to-weight ratio, but exceeds the 660cc limit? You might be someone who thinks that their first bike should be a big CC American cruiser, maybe a Harley or an Indian.

The 2024 Harley-Davidson Street Glide is the perfect example of this. Weighing in at a massive 398kg, the Street Glide is a heavy bike. Add on a 90kg rider and you’re at 488kg (0.488 metric tonnes). The Street Glide makes 68.6 kW, about 30% less than our Yamaha R6 in the last example.

Following the same formula, the 2024 Harley-Davidson Street Glide makes 140.6 kilowatts per tonne, 9.4 kW below the limit. However, even though a bike is under the kilowatt per tonne limit, the displacement is over 660cc and is automatically disqualified.

Now that you know the rules, here is a full list of all the LAMS bikes you can ride when on your learner and probationary licences in Australia.

Note: This list is up to date as of January 2025. Consult your state government transport authority if you’re not sure your bike meets LAMS requirements.

I have also omitted some of the more obscure brands from the list.

As you’ve now seen, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to learner-approved motorcycles. Do you want a cruiser to chill on the highways with? Do you want an adventure bike to go off the beaten path on? Do you want to carve up the twisties on a sports bike?

No matter what you want to do, there is a LAMS bike for you. But, the question of “Which LAMS bike should I buy”, is a completely different topic in itself.

I’ll be writing a blog soon about the top LAMS bikes to look out for, which I’ll link here when complete.

In the eyes of the law, yes. Any modifications done to a LAMS motorcycle to change its power-to-weight ratio, as mentioned in the second rule, “Not modified in a way that increases its power mass ratio.”, does make it not LAMS-approved.

This means modifications such as exhausts, ECU and other fueling tunes (e.g. Power Commanders), de-restrictions, airbox mods, etc. can technically void your LAMS motorcycle.

What could happen if you’re caught riding a non-LAMS bike?

• Fined by the police, plus a stack of demerit points
• An insurer may void your insurance if you get in a crash

However, with all that being said, I have never personally heard of or seen anyone pulled over by the police, or have their insurance voided unless that rider was doing something else to void that insurance (like being caught with alcohol in their system after a crash).

For most learners, as long as you ride like a decent human being, and don’t have an ear-shattering exhaust that will attract cops like bees to honey, you will likely be fine.

It’s your life, so you’re allowed to do what you want. However, if you do choose to go down this route, be prepared for the possible consequences:

• Assuming it’s insured, if you get into an accident, regardless of fault, your insurer will almost certainly deny your claim due to not having the appropriate licence to ride that bike. 
• If you get pulled over and it’s discovered that you’re riding a non-LAMS-approved bike on your learners or Ps you won’t be in for a good time. You’ll likely be looking at a stack of fines, possible licence disqualification, your bike being impounded, and potentially a court date to look forward to. The authorities will not be gentle with the penalties they give you since there is a clear motivation behind this choice.

My recommendation is to just do your time on a lower-power LAMS-approved bike, then once you have more experience under your belt, go buy the rocketship of your dreams.

The easiest way is to make sure it meets the golden rule of, “Have a power-to-weight ratio of 150 kilowatts per tonne or less; and an engine capacity of 660cc or less.” Your state’s transport authority will also have an up-to-date list of LAMS-approved motorcycles, so have a look at their websites for that too.

Motorcycle buying and selling platforms such as Bikesales also have filters for LAMS-approved bikes, which will make your search easier. However, as a general rule of thumb, here is a quick cheat sheet on whether a bike might be LAMS-approved or not.

Depending on model, very rare	Engine Capacity	Likelihood of LAMS Approval
Single	<660cc	Likely
Twin (Parallel and V)	<600cc	Likely
Twin (Parallel and V)	601 – 660cc	Depending on model
Triple	<600cc	Likely, but not many around
Triple	601 – 660cc	Depending on model
Inline Four	<400cc	Likely
Inline Four	401 – 660cc	Dependant on model
V Four	<660cc	Depending on model

To make things tricky, you’ll find that some bike models, such as the MT-07 come in LAMS (MT-07 LAMS), and non-LAMS versions (MT-07 HO).

Likewise, there are very similar LAMS and non-LAMS bikes on offer by manufacturers, such as the Triumph Street Triple 660, which is LAMS-approved, and the Street Triple 675 which is not.

That being said, it’s more common for manufacturers to only offer a bike in either a LAMS, or non-LAMS version. Most manufacturers are also very obvious in pointing out which are learner-friendly on their websites – look for the learner plate symbol as a starting point.

No, as this violates the condition of a LAMS bike being, “Not modified in a way that increases its power mass ratio.”

However, if you move to a full licence and derestrict your bike it’s a different story. Once de-restricted, you’ll have to re-register the bike as the non-LAMS version, which will likely require a mountain of paperwork, lots of money, and maybe even an engineering certificate.

Unless this bike is extremely dear to your heart, then selling the LAMS version and buying the full power bike will be much easier and cheaper to do than going through the de-restriction process.

Plus, it’s a fair bit harder to sell a de-restricted bike since most new riders don’t want to break the law before they’ve hopped on the saddle.

No, not in Australia. Your learner bike needs to be on the LAMS-approved list, and if it’s not then you’re out of luck.

Of course, you can ride whatever you want if you have a full or open motorcycle licence.

Most tracks require you to have at minimum a probationary licence (red P1s). From my research, I believe that you are able to ride whatever you want on the track since you are technically on a different licence than to the road – e.g. a One Event Recreational MA licence here in VIC for one-off track days.

However, before booking your track day it’s best to check with the provider or track whether there are any restrictions to the bike you bring based on your licence to be safe.

If you see this happening one of two things are happening here:

1. The seller doesn’t know or is trying to deceive buyers (e.g. someone selling a MT-07HO as a MT-07 LAMS)
2. Or, they have in their possession one of the extremely rare ‘wrongly classified bikes’

So on the second point, yes, there are genuinely a handful of LAMS-approved 600cc sports bikes floating around, at least here in Victoria. Rumour has it that in around 2008 – 2010 a VicRoads employee ‘accidentally’ registered these bikes as LAMS-approved when they are definitely were not.

I am not sure what has happened in other states, but I have seen these bikes very rarely pop up on Facebook Marketplace now and again. Even better, I have also seen the VicRoad rego papers for one of these (a 2008 ZX6R) which does show it as ‘LAMS-approved’.

Back to the initial question, I would not recommend buying any bike that isn’t on the LAMS-approved list, even if a state transport agency has misclassified them.

Now that you know what the LAMS restrictions are you should be more confident in finding the right learner motorcycle for you. As long as you abide by the three rules of LAMS, then you’ll be on your way to riding in no time.