The inaugural championship season consisted of six Grand Prix races contested across five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, and Sidecars 600cc. The season opened on 17 June with the Isle of Man TT and concluded with the Nations Grand Prix on 4 September. Points were awarded to the top five finishers in each race, with an additional point granted to the rider recording the fastest lap. The scoring system varied by class: in the 500cc and 350cc championships, only each rider's best three results counted toward the final standings, while in the 125cc, 250cc, and Sidecar categories, all rounds counted.
The five-class structure reflected the engine displacement categories that had emerged from pre-war European motorcycle racing. The 500cc class served as the premier division, equivalent to the modern MotoGP class. The 350cc and 250cc classes catered to the lighter machines that were commercially prevalent across European markets. The 125cc class, the smallest displacement category, represented the entry tier of the world championship. Sidecars, contested with 600cc outfits, were included as a fifth championship from the outset.
Each constructor was awarded the same number of points as their best-placed rider in each race within the constructors' standings. This format ran alongside the individual riders' championships in all five categories.
The six-round calendar drew on established European motorsport venues and traditions. The Isle of Man TT, already the most prestigious motorcycle race in existence, opened the season and lent the fledgling world championship immediate credibility and prestige. The season concluded at the Nations Grand Prix in Italy. The Czechoslovakian Grand Prix at the Masaryk Circuit in Brno was among the rounds included, attracting a crowd reported to exceed 400,000 spectators — one of the largest audiences at any motorsport event held that year in Europe.
The 1949 season established motorcycle road racing as a formally structured world championship sport under FIM governance, mirroring the formation of the Formula One World Championship the following year under FIA jurisdiction. The multi-class approach recognised the diversity of competitive motorcycle disciplines in post-war Europe and ensured the championship addressed multiple segments of the motorcycle industry simultaneously. The scoring format, with its selective counting of results in the premier classes, encouraged consistent performance throughout the season rather than rewarding single dominant victories.
The championship provided an institutional home for the major national Grand Prix events that had been running in fragmented form before the Second World War, bringing them together under a unified points structure for the first time. The six events of 1949 formed the template from which the calendar steadily expanded over subsequent decades as the championship grew into a global series.