DIY Solar Flyer motorcycle tearing around Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix area resident and motorcycle enthusiast Richard Gryzch got tired of gassing up his bike all the time, and he decided to do something about it. Rather than getting a fancy electric motorcycle, he modded one for himself -- making an electric bike that is seemingly covered in solar panels. The motorcycle uses no gas, goes up to about 90 miles per hour and has a range of around 50 miles. There are very few details about the inner workings of the bike, so we're loathe to say it's 100 percent solar, but Richard does plan on extending his bike's range of 300 miles. Hit the read link to watch an extremely tiny video of Richard and his bike.

[a ham sandwich @ May 6th 2009 7:44PM]

given the minimal surface area, i would bet money it's not 100% solar.

still, kudos to him for taking the initiative.

[Totalfixation @ May 6th 2009 7:54PM]

I believe if ever surface piece were a solar panel it would definitely charge a lot faster and possibly be good for everyday use. In some ways that solar panel surface can be seen as carbon fiber lookalike.

[Luke @ May 6th 2009 7:58PM]

The bike is absolutely not 100% solar powered, it has batteries, the reporter says "he believe it is the first solar CHARGED electric motor cycle in the world" also the reporter says it "has a 50 mile range" it if was 100% solar it would have unlimited range, sun dependent. Another note with the solar panels on that bike it probably would take like a week to charge, so not very practical but oh well, still a cool project.

[rock99rock @ May 6th 2009 10:11PM]

@Luke

If the batteries are charged by the sun, and not by a plug in source, is the bike not solar-powered still? I understand that the panels dont directly plug into the electric motor, but using a reusable storage medium such as a battery does not stop it from being solar-powered. The battery cant create it's own energy. -Just trying to understand your reasoning

[Luke @ May 7th 2009 12:32AM]

@rock99rock
The solar panels on bike would only generate a few watts so the charge time will be in the length of days, a plug in battery charger is probably used. If this bike is charged purely by the solar cells on the bike then kudos to the bike owner but that is unlikely unless he only uses it once a week or something. Don't get me wrong I think it is a cool project, I love the idea of electric bikes but my beef with the report is it makes it seem like the solar cells give you this magic solution. You would be better off mounting a solar panel to your roof to charge the bike.

[loosely_coupled @ May 7th 2009 2:07AM]

Yeah, solar panels are completely pointless on a moving vehicle for a number of reasons...

Look at all the discussions about the new Prius not having solar panels on the roof and why..

[Who? @ May 6th 2009 7:47PM]

Max speed= 90MPH
Max distance= 50Mi

So... about a half hour run time then? mhmm...

[Casper42 @ May 6th 2009 8:41PM]

Not even. Due to drag and other issues if you ramped it up to 90 and held it there, it would likely get alot less than 50mi

[randy @ May 6th 2009 10:38PM]

Did I miss something? WHY even debate this?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH GAS?

[NoAndThen @ May 7th 2009 12:22AM]

@randy: WTF?

I'm going to assume you're joking.

[warpa4 @ May 7th 2009 5:35AM]

i remember in science class, oh what was it sixth grade, we were told fossil fuels are a limited resource.

one day it will be all gone.

[Ras Thavas @ May 7th 2009 9:01AM]

Gee, I was told in science class in 1974 that we only had 10 years worth of oil left.

[DDayDawg @ May 8th 2009 9:47PM]

@Ras Thavas: That was probably true at the time given the available technology. Soon after that we perfected some deep drilling techniques and improved our geological capabilities which made the search for oil better and allowed us to get to oil we couldn't get to before. Could we improve even more and find more oil? Sure, but that's not really our problem now. It doesn't matter if you believe in global warming or not but you have to admit we have a pollution problem and at some point we will run out of oil. So we should solve those two issue.

[why not the LS2LS7? @ May 6th 2009 7:50PM]

There's no way it's either 100% solar nor does it have a range of 300 miles (except maybe a 5mph).

[The Angry Intern @ May 6th 2009 7:57PM]

it doesn't have a 300 mile range yet. The article states it's only 50 miles now, but he's planning on extending that to 300 miles in the future

[??? @ May 6th 2009 7:51PM]

I wish the reporter would get tired of looking like a douche.

[nismo334 @ May 6th 2009 10:08PM]

I second that, very douche looking.

[Jeremy S @ May 6th 2009 7:53PM]

Hey, I'm friends with the reporter and don't be a douche by calling him one.

[bill cant fart is ANGRY! @ May 6th 2009 8:04PM]

On the internet... no one cares when you're offended.

[Jeremy S @ May 6th 2009 8:07PM]

Not offended, just speaking my mind.

[sweet greggo @ May 6th 2009 8:43PM]

"Yo ladies!!! Hop on board the DB Express! RAWK" *throws out gang sign*

[Pretol @ May 6th 2009 10:11PM]

Hey just because you're a douche, and you have a douche friend who's very obviously a douche, doesn't mean that everyone who points out the complete douchebaggery in this situation is also a douche.

[pbase @ May 7th 2009 12:51AM]

What's all this negativism regarding douches?
I know they're supposed to self-cleaning and all, but every now and then
a vagina can really benefit from a good rinsing.

A nice douche can be a guy's best friend.

[Andrew88 @ May 7th 2009 1:03AM]

Because the guy is healthy, works out and has a spiked haircut he's a douche? Funny how false stereotypes are made by other stereotypical internet people. He has good job and is well spoken, I don't see douche in there. I could see if he was cocky but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have a job very long.

[tim @ May 7th 2009 8:07AM]

Yeah, maybe not really a douche.

He's a tool.

[Adam @ May 6th 2009 7:54PM]

I believe the stats but the big question is what is the charge time??? And even if this this is 100% solar it should still ahve a gas engine to supplement for when the batteries run out of juice

[pdjacques @ May 6th 2009 8:31PM]

yeah, he probably got that old waiting for the thing to charge. and yeah, the reporter does look like a douche

[Victor @ May 6th 2009 8:06PM]

I really don't understand why bike companies aren't pushing a sport bike that is electric. It seems like a no brainer, and there wouldn't seem to be many technical challenges.

[Pretol @ May 6th 2009 10:08PM]

I think you're forgetting ONE HUGE PROBLEM:

Battery OUTWEIGHS gasoline for the same amount of energy stored by a factor of bazzilions (ok, ok, it's not bazzilions)...

[Dan @ May 6th 2009 8:14PM]

Color me confused, but @24 seconds it shows the bike with an Indiana license plate.

[CapnShiner @ May 7th 2009 5:22AM]

It never occurred to you that maybe he hasn't spent his entire life in Arizona? I have lived in Arizona my whole life but I'm more of an exception than the rule. I think most people who grew up in AZ leave the state by the time they reach their mid 20s and lots of people, especially older people, move here because of the climate. The dry air and mild winters are good for people with allergies or respiratory problems. Or maybe vehicle registration is cheaper in Indiana; I don't know.

[parphat @ May 6th 2009 8:14PM]

"Richard does plan on extending his bike's range TO 300 miles"

[prabhatus @ May 6th 2009 8:16PM]

This guys is a bluff. Surely this is an electic/battery motorcycle and most likely he charges it from a solar panel.
You cannot call it solar motorcycle. Heck you can drive it in night, can' t you?

[Jeffrey Schrab @ May 6th 2009 8:53PM]

Ah, yeah you probably can ride it at night ... if you charged it during the day.

[CapnShiner @ May 7th 2009 5:23AM]

Watch the video. They call it "solar charged."

[a @ May 6th 2009 9:25PM]

I DON'T NEED NO STINKIN PROTOTYPE IF I CAN'T GET MY HANDS ON ONE

seriously though, there have been plenty of these kind of news around but they're no where to be found on the actual market

[Pretol @ May 6th 2009 9:40PM]

That's 100W worth of solar panels (AT THE VERY SUNDAY'S BEST)...

Which means that (at 100% efficiency), in 8 hours, you'd have 800Whr (= 1hp*hr), which translates to 10hp for 6minutes..

So let's summarize this BEST CASE SCENARIO (at 100% efficiency)

8 HOURS of charging = 10hp for 6 minutes

That translates to: Old man, you're full of bullshit. Unless your idea of transportation is having your bike sit outside for a couple of days, and then taking it for a short ride.

[brn @ May 7th 2009 9:21AM]

Of course he's full of bullshit. He didn't even build the bike.

He bought one of these (credit to "travis" on another blog):
http://www.electricmotorsport.com/EGPR/egprPage.htm
and slapped some really cheap solar panels on it. I'm not even convinced the solar panels do ANYTHING.

It's all a great big hoax and the reporter fell for it.

[George @ May 6th 2009 10:07PM]

If I strap a solar panel to an Escalade so that it charges up my cell phone instead of relying on the alternator (and therefore EVIL GASOLINE) will I get an Engadget article about me too?

Because that's about the amount of impact this dude's "electric" bike as. 300-mile range? Yeah, maybe if he hooks up a trailer full of batteries. Have fun waiting six months between trips to the corner store for them to charge, too.

[1chadsmail @ May 6th 2009 10:28PM]

people can't read!

[jim stack @ May 6th 2009 11:16PM]

It's best to put the solar panels at a fixed location at the correct angle to the sun. That would be facing directly south at our latitude for a 33 % angle.

It would take about 1,000 watts to completly charge the bike if it went 50 miles. They are other bikes that charge completly from solar but with fixed arrays so you don't have to drag them with you everyday.

If he used lithium batteries he could go 300 miles on a charge. It's actually best to charge off peak and make your solar on peak and sell it to the grid. That helps everyone. We sometimes have a electric cycle and a few electric cars for sale on the Phoenix Electric Auto Association wenb site www.phoenixeaa.com

[MaxPower @ May 7th 2009 11:22AM]

1000 Watts to charge it? That makes no sense. Watt is a measure of power a battery pack contains a certain amount of energy.

The bike is an electric motorsports GPR as someone already noted. 44Ah 48V battery pack = 2112 Watt-hours to completely charge. Also lithium ion batteries do have good energy density, but won't necessarily give the bike a massive range increase. The same company has already made a new model that uses lithium batteries with a total 3.3 kWh capacity and it has a range of 35-60 miles.

[msm @ May 6th 2009 10:32PM]

I thought it said "DIY Solar Flying motorcycle."

Needless to say, I was very disappointed.

[CapnShiner @ May 7th 2009 5:24AM]

LOL

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ May 6th 2009 10:34PM]

Did everyone but me watch in small video format instead of Right Clicking and going fullscreen? This is a good innovation, I hope he gets picked up by a company and makes millions.

[poopstain @ May 6th 2009 10:42PM]

I also clicked the link in hopes of a flying solar motorcycle, which would be impressive. An electric motorcycle that charges via solar panels is not impressive at all, plus the douche bag reporter just puts the cherry on top of this super lame video.

[Jon Graft @ May 6th 2009 11:18PM]

Question Engadget...why did you choose to show a picture of the reporter on the bike rather than the inventor? For the people who just browse over this article, they will think that the guy in the picture made the bike...seems kinda unfair for the guy.

[wesley @ May 6th 2009 11:35PM]

wow. I am almost speechless. some of you people are so closed minded it makes me sick.

on to the story at hand, great idea. sad it is self funded. reminds me of the guy who built the car in his basement. It wouldn't take "days" to charge, as one reader pointed out. it would take a hell of a long time though. they do make fast charging lithium battery's, but they have a short life. it would be more functional as a trike. way more surface area, and made out of carbon it has the potential to be almost as light as a reg Harley trike. "if you call that light..."

any way my two stoned cents.

[Pretol @ May 7th 2009 5:46AM]

Fast charging lithium batteries is your solution to the fact that it'll take days to charge the bike? Dude, you must be so high right now...

[mb @ May 7th 2009 1:11AM]

seems to have way too less solar cells to power that big a bike..hmmm.......purely solar?