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O2 Pursuit Air-Powered Motorcycle Does 87 mph

Aussie Dean Benstead is the designer of the O2 Pursuit air-powered motorcycle. His DIY project seems to fare quite well until now, as the compressed-air engines are likely to finally catch on a bit.
O2 Pursuit, the air-powered bike 11 photos
Photo: Dean Benstead
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While the aidea of using pressurized air to power vehicles is no new thing as it dates back in the 19th century, it has been direly overlooked all this time. However, it's absolutely wonderful to see how people start exploring this direction, and there is true potential ahead, cars and bikes alike.

Built on an old Yamaha WR250R frame, using the same wheels and fork, the O2 Pursuit looks very much like any other off-road bike, but lacks the engine and the overall weight is dramatically less. The compressed air is stored in a scuba diving tank replacing the old fuel tank and engine and a tuned engine using the same chain final transmission.

While the O2 Pursuit outs zero emissions itself and needs no batteries, the energy to compress air in the first place might still prevent the addition of the 100% green sticker. Solar energy used to power an electric compressor at home could do the job, tough.

All in all, since the working principle behind air-powered vehicles is really simple and affordable, we 'd be delighted to see this technology advancing. And yes, the O2 Pursuit can do 60 miles (96.5 km) on a a canister, and can reach a staggering 87 mph (139 km/h) speed.
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