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May 10, 2008
Fuel Cell Motorcycles: Eco-Friendly, Rider Hostile?
By John Coyle
Editor
While I love the concept of a hyper-efficient, totally green motorcycle, I have to admit that Intelligent Energy’s ENV Bike does sketch me out. Why exactly? Well, since the power comes from a fuel cell, it’s whisper quiet, which just seems dangerous on a bike. And seriously, most drivers have a hard enough time looking out for two-wheelers as it is, so riding a silent one seems like asking for trouble. If my paranoia hasn’t rubbed off on you, head over to Wired and check out the gallery of eco-friendly bikes.
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ahmad
Jun 11, 2008 at 12:35 pm
hi,
how i can get this product? please let me know.
thanks
John Brent
May 12, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I wouldn’t really worry about noise but from the looks of that motorcycle, it is very light. Which could be not a good thing in highways. You know fast cars can overtake you and the wind they carry along may just shake you up or push you away from the road and cause an accident. Motorcycles are already burning less gasoline than cars, well, most of them, so I guess I would stick with the ordinary ones.
GTwildfire
May 12, 2008 at 5:34 am
My cycles weren’t loud, well except for my first one, on occasion. It had a removeable baffle, leaving the pipe wide-open when removed. Then it could be heard for miles!
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I never preferred to make my bikes loud though. I also never associated loudness with safety.
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Now when it’s quiet at night, the last thing I want to hear is a ridiculously loud bike cruising through the neighborhood.
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I won’t, but if I did get another bike it would be a quiet inline 4 cylinder with a bright headlight.
Captain Bacon
May 10, 2008 at 6:53 pm
The thought of very quiet motorcycles does worry me a little. If I had a cycle I would want it to be really loud, just for safety of course!
Scott
May 10, 2008 at 5:39 pm
It’s nice to see manufacturers thinking outside the box to adapt the fuel cell technology for the two (and three and four) wheelers. However, they’re going to have to get either a much greater range or at least the performance figures of a basic 500cc 4-stroke motorcycle before they will see significant interest from anyone but the most hardcore environmentalist.
GTwildfire
May 10, 2008 at 3:49 pm
When I had cycles back in the day, Rule #1 was “assume you’re invisible, always.”
If I could only pass on one piece of advice to a rider, that would be at the top of the list.