Suzuki is planning on sending a few concept motorcycles to the Tokyo Motor Show. One of those, the Biplane, has gotten some attention over at Autoblog. We thought that the Crosscage would be better suited to our green-minded readers, as it comes equipped with a fuel cell and lithium ion batteries. No gasoline engine appears to be present. Take a minute and read the press release past the break. Sea bass... uh, I mean Suzuki appears to be using the fuel cell technology from Intelligent Energy, makers of the ENV bike. It looks like the hydrogen may be stored directly in the center of the frame, right where the two intersecting tubes of the frame come together. That would leave plenty of room in the area normally reserved for the gas-tank of a normal motorcycle for the batteries. This is really just conjecture at this point, though, so we'll have to wait until we hear some English press releases to be sure exactly what is going on inside this cool-looking bike.

Besides the fact that the bike is powered by a fuel cell and batteries, the bike looks pretty sporty. Considering the reputation that Suzuki has earned with their GSXR series of bikes, that should not be a shocker to anybody. What is rather interesting, though, are the suspension systems on the bike. That front fork looks suitably high-tech, being single-sided along with the rear swingarm. We're not counting on ever seeing this bike in production form, but it's still an awesome design.

[Source: Suzuki]

Sometimes being a slave to fashion, such as myself (cough cough... ahem. "Yeah right", my wife mutters) has its disadvantages. I mean, knowing what clothing to purchase, what kinds of shoes to wear, how to get my hair styled (towel-dried) and what magazines to read takes a whole heap of time! Or, I suppose I could just read wallpaper.com, where they will just let me know and I won't need to do the research myself. Let's give them a trial run, shall we?

Click here to see their showcase of "101 beautiful, innovative but environmentally friendly designs - from the worlds of architecture, beauty, fashion, food, packaging, product design, transport and travel - from all over the world." What have they chosen for their transportation choices? None other than the BMW Hydrogen 7 and the ENV fuel cell motorcycle. Now, remember when rating these choices, they are going for good design, not what they think will turn out to be successful. So, no matter what you think of hydrogen as a fuel carrier, what do you think of the Hydrogen 7's design? Or, what about the ENV? I'll cast my vote for the ENV personally, as I think they did a very good job on the design of the bike, regardless of what it is powered by. Feel free to comment yourself if you think you can do better.

[Source: Wallpaper magazine via Treehugger]

Regular readers of our site are already familiar with the ENV, the first motorcycle that is fueled by hydrogen. This vehicle has been around in prototype stage for along time, and has been test ridden to death, so I won't go into any details. The general story is this: about 100 miles at 50 miles per hour on electricity generated by the hydrogen fuel cell.

The bit that caught my eye in the story was that a BBC reporter, Richard Westcott, writes that the team behind the ENV is hoping to be in production by the end of the year. Until I see the official word, though, I'll still be skeptical. Here is a link to the video accompanying this story.

Related:

• Video of the ENV fuel cell motorcycle in action
• Two motorcycles that joined the alternative power movement

[Source: Richard Wescott / BBC]