Man Takes World’s First Solar Powered Motorcycle for a Spin

05/24/09  Print This Post Print This Post    3 Comments   Popular   Written by Julie Schwietert
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Pity the man who has a garage but no active tinkering project.

Photo: Kyle May

But don’t pity Richard Gryzch.

Gryzch has finally finished building his solar-powered motorcycle, the ultimate DIY project that took two years and some creative financing, including selling his other motorcycles and his house.

Gryzch, who lives in the sun-soaked city of Phoenix, Arizona, claims the bike can get up to 90 miles an hour and can ride 50 miles on a single charge. He’s not done tinkering, though. Gryzch intends to keep tweaking his design so the bike can get 300 miles out of a single charge.

Community Connection:

What’s the most ambitious solar powered project you’ve heard about? Let us know by leaving a comment! And to see some other solar-powered gadgets that started out as DIY projects, check out this article from our archives.


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About the Author

Matador ID: collazo

Julie Schwietert is the managing editor of Matador Network. She contributed a chapter to the recently published book, The Voluntary Traveler, and is currently working on five features for Fodor's Puerto Rico, 6th Edition.

3 Comments... join the discussion!

  • Colin Wright replied on May 24, 2009

    That’s excellent! More power to him (so to speak)!

    Something like this could have even more traction (ha!) on something lighter and less throttle-worthy like an electric scooter. I own one that goes about 40 mph for 40 miles on a 2 hour charge from a normal outlet (it has a lithium-ion battery inside) which would be perfect for something like this.

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  • Chris replied on January 13, 2010

    That is really cool, I’d love to see more people trying stuff like this. With enough people tossing ideas in, I’m sure eventually some working models could come out.

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