Although I hate to say this, fossil-fueled motorcycles are still bad for the environment and manufacturers are already introducing electrically-powered equivalents to the market. The days of the suck-squeeze-bang-blow are numbered... Or not?
Two brilliant minds based in the Netherlands have built a motorcycle that uses mostly wood for its frame and algae oil for power.
Designer Ritsert Mans was the guy who sketched and built the hardware while his friend, scientist Peter Mooji, developed a way to grow algae in-house and extract their oil to be used as a biofuel.
The minimalist motorcycle they built uses a wooden frame and body panels, a single-sided swingarm and fork for simplicity, and a single-cylinder air-cooled engine burning the green oil.
In the clip below you’ll be able to see the two testing the motorcycles for the first time on a beach. The contraption appears to be working just fine. However, being a concept, don’t expect wheelies or anything extreme happening.
I think big motorcycle makers should consider the idea of using alternative fuels instead of simply switching to electricity, which is somewhat limited. Simply having a motorcycle that is silent as a bicycle doesn’t sound that safe. Plus future riders will miss the joy only a revving combustion engine provides.
As in the automobile world, hybrid motorcycles would be another solution, and a French company is already building a bike that uses a rotary engine paired with an electric motor in the gearbox.
Its combined torque is projected to reach 205 Nm (151) which sounds like a lot when you think the whole bike weighs just a bit more than a regular middleweight naked.
Whatever will work in the future, we wish the two inventors good luck in further developing their bio-fueled motorcycle and hope to reach production one day. I’m not exactly a fan of that single-sided fork, but the rest of the bike is fantastic.
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