Best 50cc Bikes in the UK for 2026
Every geared 50cc motorbike on sale in Britain is limited to the same 28mph. What separates the four in this guide is everything else, and the gap is bigger than the prices suggest.
The MOT record shows it most clearly. DVSA data covers every MOT on these bikes from 2022 to 2025. The Yamasaki YM50-10, which costs the least of the four, passed first time 55.7% of the time, while a bike costing £450 more passed 68.4% of the time. The average for all 50cc machines, most of them scooters, is 74.8%.
Each rate covers every bike of that name tested in those four years, older ones included, so it describes the model line rather than the one in the showroom. The order here rests on what differs: the price, the seat height, what the engine asks of its owner, and that MOT record.
Scooters and twist-and-go mopeds are a different decision and sit outside this guide. Every bike below is a geared motorbike with a manual gearbox.
What's the fastest 50cc bike?
Legally, none is faster than any other. In law, any 50 ridden on an AM licence counts as a moped, geared or not, and GOV.UK defines a moped by its speed range of 25 to 45 km/h. 45 km/h is 28mph, and every bike in this guide is sold at that limit. Four other things shape the choice before any bike is compared.
The licence. Category AM starts at 16 and needs a CBT before riding on the road. On a provisional licence with a CBT you ride on L-plates and carry no pillion, and the full test has to be passed within two years or the CBT taken again.
Motorways. Highway Code rule 253 bars every motorcycle under 50cc from motorways, whatever licence the rider holds. All four bikes here are just under 50cc, so any journey has to be planned around that.
Seventeen. From 17, a CBT also covers a motorbike up to 125cc and 11kW, which is where our beginner guide starts. Anyone a few months from their 17th birthday has a real choice between a 50 now and a 125 soon.
Two-stroke or four-stroke. The Sherco and the Rieju run liquid-cooled two-strokes, which burn oil drawn from a separate tank that the owner keeps topped up. The Bluroc and the Yamasaki run air-cooled four-strokes, with no two-stroke oil to buy or forget about.
Good 50cc bikes, with a catch
Both bikes in this group have a real case for them. The Yamasaki YM50-10 costs the least here at £2,349 plus on-the-road charges and has the lowest seat at 800mm, and the Rieju weighs 85kg dry and has six gears. Both also sit well below the 50cc MOT average, the Rieju by 14.6 percentage points and the Yamasaki by 19.1. That record is the catch, and it is why both rank below the Sherco and the Bluroc.
4. Rieju MRT 50 SM: a supermoto with a strict service schedule
The MRT 50 SM is the dearest bike here at list price, £3,599 plus on-the-road charges, and one dealer sells it for £3,749 on the road with a year's tax, registration and plates included. For that it gets a liquid-cooled 49.7cc Minarelli two-stroke with six gears and a kick start, front and rear disc brakes, and a dry weight of 85kg.
The Rieju MRT 50 SM range passed its first MOT 60.2% of the time across 299 tests from 2022 to 2025, against 74.8% for every 50cc machine tested. That is the second-weakest record of the four.
The service schedule is the other thing to know before buying. The first service falls at three months or 500km, the second at 12 months or 3,500km, and after that every 12 months or 3,000km. Rieju's two-year warranty is void if those services are missed, so the first one, three months after buying, is not optional. The seat sits at 890mm.
Britain registered 39 new Rieju MRT 50 SM supermotos in 2025, more than the Sherco's 27, so it is the easier of the two supermotos to find secondhand later.
Who it suits: a tall rider who wants a supermoto and will keep every service date.
3. Yamasaki YM50-10: the cheapest way onto a 50, and the lowest seat
The YM50-10 costs £2,349 plus on-the-road charges, and one dealer lists it at £2,549 on the road with a year's tax and plates included. That is £1,250 less than the Rieju at list price. It is a faired sports bike with an air-cooled 49cc four-stroke, four gears, twin front discs, a 16-litre tank and a weight of 125kg, and its 800mm seat is 90mm lower than the Rieju's.
The YM50-10 passed its first MOT 55.7% of the time across 323 tests from 2022 to 2025, the lowest record of the four and 19.1 percentage points under the 50cc average.
What it has in its favour beyond the price is sales. Britain registered 173 new YM50-10s in 2025, more than the other three bikes in this guide put together, so it is the easiest of the four to find at a dealer and should be the easiest to sell on later.
Its seat is 90mm lower and its list price £1,250 lower than the Rieju's, which is why the Yamasaki ranks above it despite an MOT record 4.5 percentage points worse.
Who it suits: a shorter rider, or anyone on the tightest budget, who will have the bike checked before each MOT.
The best 50cc bikes to buy with confidence
The two bikes in this group carry the best MOT records of the geared 50s here, within 6.4 percentage points of the 50cc average. They are separated by £700 at list price and by the kind of engine each one uses.
2. Sherco SM-R 50: the best MOT record of any geared 50 here
The Sherco SM-R 50 passed its first MOT 70.0% of the time across 80 tests from 2022 to 2025, the best of the four and 4.8 percentage points below the 50cc average. It costs £3,499 plus on-the-road charges, £100 less than the Rieju at list price. One dealer adds £250 of on-the-road charges to the Sherco's price, bringing it to £3,749.
It uses the same family of liquid-cooled 49.7cc Minarelli two-stroke as the Rieju, with six gears and automatic oil mixing from a separate tank. Hydraulic discs sit at both ends, 300mm at the front and 180mm at the rear. The seat is 850mm, which is 40mm lower than the Rieju's and the more reachable of the two supermotos.
The limitation is support. Sherco has had no UK importer since December 2023, and dealers order direct from the factory in France, so it is worth asking the nearest dealer how long parts take before buying. Britain registered 27 new SM-R 50s in 2025, so the used market is small.
Who it suits: a rider set on a supermoto who wants the strongest MOT record on offer.
1. Bluroc Hero 50: the cheapest bike with a top-two MOT record
The Hero 50 costs £2,799 plus on-the-road charges, and one dealer lists those charges at £99. The list price is £700 less than the Sherco's, for an MOT record only 1.6 percentage points behind it. The Hero 50 passed its first MOT 68.4% of the time across 155 tests from 2022 to 2025, the second-best record here, and most of those tests were on the earlier version sold as the Bullit Hero 50.
That earlier bike had a carburettor. The current one, on sale in the UK since late 2023, has fuel injection, a 14-litre tank and an air-cooled four-stroke driving through five gears with a hand clutch. The UK distributor backs it with a two-year warranty, and there is no two-stroke oil to keep topped up.
On the earlier carburettor bike, which the current one replaced in late 2023, the engine needs working hard through the gears to keep pace with traffic, the upside-down fork and rear shock soak up potholes well, and the brakes stop it with confidence. Its chunky tyres make the front end feel vague.
The Hero asks two things of its rider. The seat sits at 860mm to 910mm and the bike weighs 110kg empty, so a shorter rider should sit on one before paying for it. And Britain registered only 17 new Hero 50s in 2025, against 173 YM50-10s, so it is worth checking there is a Bluroc dealer close enough to service it.
Who it suits: a rider tall enough for the seat who wants the lowest running fuss and a near-top MOT record for under £3,000.
Which 50cc bike suits which rider?
| Bike | Suits | Pick it for | Think twice because |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluroc Hero 50 | A tall rider who wants the least upkeep | £2,799 plus OTR, a two-year warranty and a 68.4% MOT record | The seat runs 860mm to 910mm |
| Sherco SM-R 50 | A rider set on a supermoto | The best MOT record here at 70.0% | £3,499 plus OTR, and no UK importer |
| Yamasaki YM50-10 | A shorter rider on the tightest budget | £2,349 plus OTR and an 800mm seat | The lowest MOT record here at 55.7% |
| Rieju MRT 50 SM | A tall rider who will keep every service date | 85kg dry, six gears and a two-year warranty | A first service at three months and a 60.2% MOT record |
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50cc bike specs compared
| Bike | Price | Top speed | Seat height | Fuel tank | Gears |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluroc Hero 50 | £2,799 plus OTR | 28mph | 860mm to 910mm | 14 litres | 5 |
| Sherco SM-R 50 | £3,499 plus OTR | 28mph | 850mm | 7 litres | 6 |
| Yamasaki YM50-10 | £2,349 plus OTR | 28mph | 800mm | 16 litres | 4 |
| Rieju MRT 50 SM | £3,599 plus OTR | 28mph | 890mm | 6.32 litres | 6 |
Verdict
On a near-top MOT record for under £3,000: the Bluroc Hero 50 wins. It beats the Sherco SM-R 50 because it costs £700 less at list price and needs no two-stroke oil, for an MOT record only 1.6 percentage points behind.
On a tight budget: the Yamasaki YM50-10 is the pick of the two bikes with a catch. Its seat is 90mm lower and its list price £1,250 lower than the Rieju MRT 50 SM's, though its MOT record is 4.5 percentage points worse.
Key takeaways
- Every bike here is limited to 28mph, so top speed decides nothing.
- No geared 50 in this guide matches the 74.8% first-time MOT pass rate of 50cc machines as a whole.
- The Bluroc Hero 50 pairs the second-best MOT record with a £2,799 price and a four-stroke engine.
- The Sherco SM-R 50 has the best MOT record at 70.0%, but costs £3,499 plus OTR and has no UK importer.
- The Yamasaki YM50-10 costs the least at £2,349 plus OTR and sells in the biggest numbers, but has the weakest MOT record at 55.7%.
- The Rieju MRT 50 SM needs its first service at three months to keep its warranty.
Common questions
Of the bikes in this guide, the four-strokes in the Bluroc Hero 50 and Yamasaki YM50-10 ask the least of an owner, because there is no separate two-stroke oil tank to keep topped up. The Hero 50 also carries the better MOT record of the two, passing first time 68.4% of the time against 55.7% for the Yamasaki.
Sherco has the best DVSA MOT record among the geared 50cc motorbikes in this guide. The Sherco SM-R 50 passed first time 70.0% of the time across 80 tests from 2022 to 2025, while every 50cc machine tested over the same years averaged 74.8%, so none of these geared bikes beats the class as a whole, which is mostly scooters.
What to do next
- Book the CBT before the bike. Riding a new 50 home from the dealer needs one already done.
- Ask for the on-the-road price in writing and what it includes. The charges quoted for these bikes run up to £250.
- Ask when the first service is due and what voids the warranty. On the Rieju it falls at three months.
- On a used bike, check its MOT history for free on GOV.UK using the registration number.
- Sit on the bike before buying. Seat heights here run from 800mm to 910mm.
Prices were checked at UK dealers and on manufacturer and distributor sites in October 2026, and are list prices before on-the-road charges unless an on-the-road figure is given. MOT pass rates are DVSA MOT test data for 2022 to 2025, counting full tests rather than retests after a failure and a pass at the first attempt, and cover every bike of that model line tested in those years. Registration figures are DVLA new registrations for 2025. The 28mph limit is the moped speed range set out on GOV.UK.