Do you need a motorcycle license to ride a 50cc motorcycle in California?

I live in California and have a Honda CT70 Mini Trail which is a street legal, 70cc bike.

I had the same question.

I pulled this definition straight from the CA DMV website:

• A Motor Driven Cycle has 149CC or less engine size. CVC Sec. 405
• A Motor Driven Cycle has to be registered and driver must have a Motor cycle license (M1).

A Motorcycle is anything over 150cc and requires an M1, too.

A Moped or Motorized bicycle has pedals and only requires an M2.

So, in answer to your question, if your bike is 50cc, is street legal and has no pedals you will need an M1 license.

If it is 50cc and has pedals, then I think you're good to go with an M2.

Here is the link to the CA DMV page with this infor:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/motorcycles/motorcycles.htm