The scooter GPS built for 50cc mopeds
Waze and Google Maps send 50cc machines onto banned expressways and work out the wrong arrival times. TacTac plots routes suited to mopeds capped at 45 km/h: only roads you may use, with a realistic travel time.
4.8/5 on the App Store · 6 free trips every month
45 km/h
top speed of a 50cc
0 motorway
expressways excluded
From age 16
with the AM licence
135 to 750 €
fine in France + impound on a banned road
Why your current GPS does not work on a 50cc
Mainstream GPS apps were designed for cars driving at 90 km/h or more. On a scooter or moped capped at 45 km/h, that causes three concrete problems.
Banned expressways
A 50cc is allowed on neither motorways nor expressways. Yet Waze sends you there as soon as it saves a few minutes, and you end up breaking the law.
Wrong arrival time
The “20 min” shown become 40 min in reality: the estimate is worked out at 90 km/h while you ride at 45. Arriving on time is impossible.
Putting you at risk
Ending up at 45 km/h on a dual carriageway where others drive at 110 is the worst scenario for a two-wheeler. TacTac rules out these roads on principle.
The app, screen by screen
Routes
Several routes, all of them legal on a 50cc
Every option leaves out dual carriageways and the stretches mopeds are banned from. You choose on travel time, not on the odds of meeting a no-entry sign.
After the ride
Proof, in numbers, that you stayed within the limit
Every trip ends with a recap: distance, time, average speed and top speed. One glance is enough to check the 45 km/h ceiling was held.
Offline
The map stays when the signal goes
Download the area before you set off. Guidance carries on through coverage holes, which is exactly where a moped tends to ride.
TacTac navigation, tuned to your 50cc
✓
Routes with no expressway
Motorways, expressways and roads above 70 km/h are excluded by default. You only get roads open to mopeds.
✓
Realistic ETA at 45 km/h
Travel time is worked out on a real average speed of 40 km/h. You finally know what time you really arrive.
Where are you allowed to ride a 50cc scooter?
A 50cc moped falls under the AM licence and stays capped at 45 km/h. It can use town, secondary and ordinary main roads, but three types of road are closed to it.
- Motorways: banned, no exception.
- Expressways and dual carriageways: banned (car sign on a blue background).
- Roads limited above 70 km/h with no separate lane: best avoided, dangerous for a 45 km/h machine.
The reason is simple: a motorway requires you to hold at least 80 km/h. A 50cc capped at 45 km/h is excluded by default. In France, riding on a banned road means a fine of 135 € (up to 750 €) and the vehicle being impounded (Sécurité routière). On the other hand, ordinary main and secondary roads remain allowed.
Watch out for the trap of 110 km/h dual carriageways: they are not always motorways, but most often impose the same bans. And in France, access can vary from one stretch to the next under a local order, shown by a sign. Keeping it all in your head is impossible, and that is exactly what TacTac’s automatic filtering handles for you.
These rules are the same as for a license-free car: that is why TacTac applies the same routing engine capped at 45 km/h, whether you ride a moped or a microcar.
A 50cc scooter without a suitable GPS is dangerous
The danger of a 50cc does not come from the engine, capped at 45 km/h. It comes from two things: no bodywork, and the risk of ending up on a dual carriageway where traffic flies past at 90-110 km/h. It is almost always a standard GPS that sends you there, looking for the “fastest” route without knowing the roads banned to mopeds.
According to the ONISR, powered two-wheelers (including 50cc machines) account for 23% of road deaths for less than 2% of traffic. In 2022, 124 moped riders lost their lives in France. The speed differential on a dual carriageway is the number-one aggravating factor.
TacTac cuts this risk at the source: by excluding expressways and motorways by default, your trip (or your teenager’s) stays on roads open to the 50cc. Voice guidance also avoids taking your eyes off the road to look at the screen.
Compatible with your scooter
TacTac does not depend on the brand: any 50cc moped capped at 45 km/h benefits from the same suitable routing. Peugeot, Piaggio, MBK, Yamaha, Kymco, SYM and the rest.
When it is your teenager riding
The AM licence comes early, and it is often a parent who installs the GPS. Family mode shows the trip under way and tells you when they arrive, without turning the phone into a permanent tracker.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a GPS designed for 50cc scooters?
Yes. TacTac works out routes suited to two-wheelers capped at 45 km/h. It automatically excludes the motorways, expressways and dual carriageways banned to mopeds, where Waze and Google Maps send you without warning.
Which GPS app should you choose for a scooter?
What matters is the routing profile, not the interface. A mainstream navigation app optimises for a car doing 90 km/h and will route you onto roads closed to 50 cm³ two-wheelers. TacTac applies a 45 km/h profile: motorways and dual carriageways left out, journey time worked out at the real speed of the vehicle, voice guidance you can follow with a helmet on. Six trips a month are free.
Is there a navigation aid made for two-wheelers?
Provided it knows the road restrictions specific to powered two-wheelers, yes. That is exactly where mainstream GPS apps fall down: they treat a moped like a car and never see that a road is closed to it. TacTac keeps turn-by-turn voice guidance and the current speed limit on screen, but over a road network stripped of the routes where a vehicle capped at 45 km/h has no business being.
Where can you ride a 50cc scooter?
A 50cc scooter can use town, secondary and ordinary main roads, as well as the city (outside reserved lanes). Banned to it are: motorways, expressways and most 110 km/h dual carriageways, plus some ring roads and bypasses. The basic rule: if the road requires you to hold at least 80 km/h, the 50cc has no place there.
Can a 50cc scooter or moped ride on a dual carriageway or a motorway?
No. Mopeds (engine up to 50 cm³, speed limited to 45 km/h) are banned on motorways, expressways and most 110 km/h dual carriageways. A nuance: in France, a few dual carriageways may be open or closed to mopeds under a local order, shown by a sign. When in doubt, TacTac filters out these roads to keep only safe and allowed ones.
How fast does a 50cc go?
A 50cc scooter or moped is capped at 45 km/h by law. That is the speed TacTac uses to work out a realistic travel time, unlike standard GPS apps that count on 90 to 130 km/h.
What licence do you need to ride a 50cc scooter?
A category AM licence is required, from age 16 in the UK, with no year-of-birth exemption. It covers a 50cc moped as well as a license-free microcar, within the 45 km/h limit. Minimum ages differ across Europe: 14 in France and Italy, 15 in Spain and Germany, 16 in the Netherlands and Portugal.
Can I use Google Maps for a 50cc scooter?
Google Maps has no 50cc scooter mode in Europe. It plans your journey as if you were driving at 90 km/h and may send you onto dual carriageways banned for mopeds. TacTac is the only app that filters out prohibited roads and works out a realistic ETA at 45 km/h. Full comparison on our Google Maps and 50cc scooters page.
Why is Waze unsuitable for a 50cc scooter?
Waze and Google Maps ignore the 45 km/h limit and the list of roads banned to mopeds. They work out a route and an arrival time based on a car going at 90 km/h, which leads to trips that are wrong and sometimes illegal for a 50cc.
To go further: the license-free car GPS, safety in a license-free car and scooter, the AM licence explained and our routes with no motorway, or why Google Maps and 50cc scooters.
Ready to ride with no nasty surprise?
Download TacTac on the App Store: 6 free trips a month, no commitment.
Download on the App Store →