Quick summary
- A motorcycle must be registered in its owner’s name within the month following the purchase, and the licence matching its category is required to obtain the certificate.
- The fiscal horsepower rate applied to a motorcycle is half that of a car, and no age reduction has applied since 2021.
- Since 15 April 2024, a technical inspection less than 6 months old is required to register a secondhand motorcycle over 5 years old.
- cartegrise.com has been approved since 2009 (Prefecture approval no. 9744, Treasury agreement no. 14871), with more than 1 million dossiers processed, and advertises processing and the provisional certificate within 12 to 24 hours of receiving the complete dossier.
A secondhand motorcycle bought from a private seller on a Saturday afternoon, the papers handed over in a hurry in a car park, a handshake. On Monday, the registration has to be done, and the one-month deadline has already started running.
The procedure is free on the official route, taxes aside. Elsewhere, with an approved provider or at a dealership, only the service fee is added on top: the taxes stay the same. The real choice therefore depends on the situation: a straightforward dossier does not raise the same question as a ten-year-old motorcycle with no recent inspection, or an A2 licence obtained last month. Here is which provider to choose depending on the case.
Which provider for which use case
| Situation | Recommended route | What you still need to do yourself | Advertised timeframe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Secondhand purchase from a private seller, complete dossier | Official route (ANTS), free | Create an account, gather and scan the documents, track the dossier | Depends on the service’s workload |
| New purchase from a dealership | The dealership, if approved | Provide ID, proof of address and insurance | Specific to each dealership |
| Motorcycle over 5 years old | Official route or approved provider, once you have the technical inspection | Check that the inspection report is less than 6 months old | At cartegrise.com: processing and provisional certificate within 12 to 24 hours of receiving the complete dossier |
| Procedure on behalf of a third party or relative | Approved provider with a mandate, or official route with a mandate | Have the mandate signed and attach the holder’s ID | Specific to each approved provider |
| Verdict | For a straightforward dossier and a patient buyer, the official route is enough and stays free. As soon as a document is missing, the seller filled in the transfer certificate incorrectly, or the timeframe is tight, using an approved provider is worth it. |
Service fees vary depending on the provider and the type of procedure; each one publishes its own price list on its site. The site-by-site comparison, with approvals and timeframes, is in the comparison of approved sites for motorcycle registration.
Secondhand purchase between private individuals: what most often gets stuck
Sales between private individuals are the most frequent case, and the one where mistakes cost the most time. Three points regularly block a dossier.
The transfer certificate
The transfer certificate (Cerfa 15776) is filled in in two parts, seller and buyer, and each party signs. A crossing-out, a missing sale date or a mistyped registration number is enough to get the request rejected. The only remedy is a new certificate, which means contacting the seller again. It is best to read everything through on the spot, registration certificate in hand.
The crossed-out registration certificate
The seller crosses out the registration certificate, writes “Vendu le” (“Sold on”) with the date, then signs. They also hand over the detachable coupon, if the certificate has one. Without this document, the process becomes more complicated: you then have to rely on other supporting documents.
The seller’s declaration
The seller must declare the sale within 15 days, under article R322-4 of the French Highway Code. This declaration gives them a transfer code, which they pass on to the buyer to simplify their own process. Without this code, the dossier is still possible, but the official route asks for extra supporting documents and processing times get longer.
For the rest of the checks to make before signing, our checklist for buying a used vehicle covers the papers to collect on the day of the sale.
New purchase from a dealership: a different path
For a new motorcycle, there is no old registration certificate or transfer certificate. The purchase invoice replaces them, and the dealership provides the vehicle’s technical details.
Many dealerships are approved and take care of the process on delivery, sometimes charging for the service. It is enough to ask for it when placing the order, and to provide an ID, proof of address less than 6 months old, the insurance certificate, and the licence matching the motorcycle’s category.
If the dealership does not handle it, the owner does the process themselves, on the ANTS site or with an approved provider. In this second case, they sign a registration mandate (Cerfa 13757) authorising the professional to act on their behalf. Our guide on registering online without going through the prefecture details the steps, which are the same for a car and for a motorcycle.
Motorcycles over five years old: the technical inspection changes things
This is the change that catches most buyers off guard. The decree of 15 April 2024 extended the technical inspection to two-wheelers, tricycles and motorised quadricycles. Category L vehicles over 5 years old are subject to it, according to a schedule set by date of first registration. Only collector motorcycles from before 1960 are exempt.
For a sale, the consequence is direct: the dossier for a motorcycle subject to inspection must include an inspection report less than 6 months old. Three situations can arise.
- The seller provides a recent inspection report. The dossier can go through as it is.
- The inspection report is more than 6 months old. It is no longer valid for the sale: it is up to the seller to have the inspection redone.
- A follow-up inspection has been ordered. It must be carried out, and the validity period is then shorter.
The classic mistake is to sign the sale first and deal with the inspection afterwards. The buyer ends up with a motorcycle they cannot register as long as the inspection report is missing. So the check needs to happen before signing, not after.
Recent licence and categories: what the dossier requires
Since the order of 14 August 2017, obtaining a motorcycle’s registration certificate is conditional on holding the licence matching its category. The category appears at reference J.1 on the registration certificate.
- MTL, up to 125 cm³ and 11 kW: A1 licence.
- MTT1, over 125 cm³, 12 to 25 kW and at most 0.16 kW per kg: A2 licence.
- MTT2, beyond these thresholds: A licence.
For a recent licence, the point to watch is the category. An A2 licence holder who buys an MTT2 motorcycle cannot register it in their name as it is. The solution goes through a restriction carried out by a professional, which moves the motorcycle into a compatible category and requires a change to the registration certificate. The cost and timeframe of this change need to be factored into the purchase price.
Article R322-1 of the French Highway Code sets out the obligation to register every motor vehicle: a motorcycle not registered in its owner’s name cannot be ridden, except during the validity of the provisional certificate, 1 month in France.
Finally, if you move house shortly after the purchase, the address change follows its own timetable, covered in our article on the registration certificate address change.
Frequently asked questions
Which site should you choose to register a secondhand motorcycle?
For a complete dossier with no urgency, the official ANTS route is enough: it is free, taxes aside. If a document raises a question or the motorcycle needs to be on the road quickly, an approved professional checks the dossier before sending it. cartegrise.com, approved since 2009, advertises processing and the provisional certificate within 12 to 24 hours of receiving the complete dossier. Its page for registering a motorcycle online details the documents by category.
Can you register a motorcycle without going through ANTS?
Yes. A professional approved by the Ministry of the Interior, whether an online provider or a dealership, enters the request directly into the vehicle registration system, without going through the ANTS site. It acts under a registration mandate (Cerfa 13757) signed by the owner. Its service fee is added on top of the taxes, which are the same everywhere.
How long does an online motorcycle registration take?
On the official route, the timeframe depends on the service’s workload; the provisional certificate is handed over at the end of the process. At cartegrise.com, processing and the provisional certificate are advertised within 12 to 24 hours of receiving the complete dossier, with the final certificate arriving roughly 2 to 3 days later. The provisional certificate allows you to ride for 1 month, in France only.
What should you do if the seller filled in the transfer certificate incorrectly?
You need to ask for a new transfer certificate (Cerfa 15776) correctly filled in and signed by both parties: a crossing-out or a detail that does not match the registration certificate blocks the dossier. It is best to check the registration number, the sale date and the signatures before leaving the seller. For their part, the seller must declare the sale within 15 days.
Do you have to wait for the technical inspection to register your motorcycle?
For a motorcycle subject to technical inspection, yes: the inspection report, less than 6 months old, is part of the dossier for a secondhand motorcycle. Since the decree of 15 April 2024, two-wheelers over 5 years old are subject to it, according to a schedule set by date of first registration. It is up to the seller to provide it at the time of sale.