Motorcyclists celebrate opening of London bus lanes

There are plenty of happy campers in London now that the city's bus lanes have been opened up to motorcyclists looking to ride safely while saving a little time and using a bit less fuel. To celebrate Transport for London's recent decision, a group consisting of local Honda motorcycle dealers, members of the Motorcycle Industry Association, the Institute of Advanced Motorists, the British Motorcyle Federation and the Metropolitan Police BikeSafe squad decided to take a first commemorative ride through the city, ending at the historic Ace Café in Wembley.

Pro-motorcycling groups have created a Code of Conduct that all cyclists are urged to follow while using the bus lanes. As it is, just 5 percent of London's roads are made up of red bus lanes, but the impact on the city's traffic should be much larger. It's hoped that if things go well over the 18-month trial period that the Mayor of London has instituted, other London boroughs may make similar allowances for bikers.

MotoCzysz working on new green motorcycle?

Michael Czysz has been working on a new American sportbike for the last few years, one that he hopes will someday compete with the best machines in the world. Oddly, despite being a huge market for motorcycles and for motorsports, America doesn't really have a competitive presence at the world's top levels of two-wheeled racing. There have been efforts in the past, but nothing sustained. MotoCzysz hopes to change all that with the radical C1 prototype, but there's still a long way to go and funding is tight.

Is there another way Czysz could attack the problem that might attract more investment? Sure, he could try and go green. In fact, the team is already working on a green motorcycle concept, though it doesn't seem to be taking center stage at this point. We're unclear as to what's powering the prototype, but Czysz says it's not electric - yet. Diesel? Could be, as Czysz mentions oil-burners by name along with direct injection. We're pretty sure all of this is in the early planning stages, but it's something we'll keep our eyes on in the future.

[Source: Superbike Planet]

Ferrari Motorcycle Concept is a Red Dream!

What happens when the prancing pony meets Akira? You get this beautiful Ferrari motorcycle, created by Amir Glinik and we can’t believe it’s only a concept. This hottie packs a Ferrari V4 Integrated Drive Unit and its driver will use a touchscreen computer to manage its systems.

You may notice the presence of those cool looking hand controls… Well, they’re inspired by the “throttle quadrant of a F16 jet fighter”.

The above-mentioned PC helps control the suspensions of the vehicle, the driving mode and the tech stuff doesn’t end here, as this Ferrari bike’s got an anti theft device incorporated plus radio and GPS. On the motorcycle’s display you’ll be able to monitor all liquids and temperatures, so you’ll keep it safe, while keeping it sci-fi and cool.

More shots of the Ferrari concept motorcycle below!

[via Yanko Design]

Once you can charge up your ride anywhere, what happens?

There's an interesting line in a recent TIME magazine piece about a guy who's enjoying his new Vectrix scooter. Here it is:

Once you start looking, you find plugs everywhere," says [James] Morrison, who charges his two-wheeler at parking garages, outside Starbucks stores and even in gas-station parking lots.

Even though utilities are doing a lot of work on the smart grid, it'll take years, and this presents quite a window for people with plug in vehicles. If you've got the money for an EV today, you can afford the juice to move it, but that line made me think of a few questions for our readers:

Will property owners need to start locking up their plugs to stop EV leeches? Do you think businesses might start advertising "free electricity while you shop" offers to EV drivers? Would you plug your EV into any outlet you could find, just to drive for free or would you talk to the shop owner about paying a few bucks to plug in for an hour or three?