Let me know when the 600 comes out.

Having said that, it looks like fule cell cars and bikes are going to be viable very soon. I recon within ten years we will see them as mass market (i.e. you will be able to get the petol, desiel or hydrogen version) and taking over within 20, as long as we can sort out the leccy issues. The sooner we build some nuke plants the better.

Hippie-pleasing tech, a design people would actually buy, and a range that is more than useable for the vehicle type involved. So long as it's not monumentally expensive.

That'll make a nice mess when some artic driving muppet crushes it under their rear wheels when they pull in too early.

Stored at 10,000psi, wouldn't fancy that under my parts. Furthermore how resilient is this to fire? I'm just wondering what would happen if one of these was caught up in a garage fire, in a residential area. How long could the tank survive in a fire before it went pop?

Let's say it again, people. More energy goes into creating hydrogen fuel cells than what the cells themselves can produce. The process uses a lot of energy which means burning fossil fuel. This is no more "green" than a petrol engine.

The public needs to look at the overall carbon footprint of a vehicle and it's about time the press, particularly the motoring press and tabloids, looked beyond what comes out of the exhaust pipe - or doesn't as the case may be.

The regenerative braking in the scooter is a good implementation of the technology used, up until now, on hybrid cars. But until a more efficient process is invented to create hydrogen fuel cells or to generate electricity for the national grid, there is no greener alternative to petrol engines, apart from cycling. Government figures clearly show that petrol engines produce HALF the amount of CO2 per KWh of energy than is produced by the national grid per KWh.

How will they generate authentic sounds of an engine under torture as demonstrated by mods & rockers since time immemorial ?

20MPH average cruising speed is performance comparable to a 125CC scooter?

The only way that comparison will work is if you pop the safety on that 10K PSI H tank and light it.

And I'm guessing the price is going to be pretty stratospheric too.

The Burgman is a 650cc heavy scooter, which in this case has been downgraded to 125cc performance?

Much as I applaud these emergent concepts, and I love motorcycling, this offers a massive sacrifice of performance, money and the issue of trying to find the legendary H2 fillup station.

PS: can one top these things off at a welding supply shop or Airgas(TM) Depot?

OK, (obvious) It'll go like a bomb. Suzuki Hindenberg, anyone?

But, helluvalott of pumping to get 10,000 PSI* into that thing. I definitely would'nt want my 'nads anywhere near that tank.

Don't sell the fuc*ker in Finland - I've seen many folks here overflow their petrol tank, 'cos they were talking on the phone.

Finns are definitely NOT multi-tasking.

(Fuel cutout works most the time, but like AF447 and its Pitot tubes, are a bit less reliable in -30C)

Imagine that tank bursting at a petrol station. OK, actually, it'd be fun. From a distance. Big one.

*Alun - Are you sure that figure is correct?

I would not like to contemplate a serious accident with a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle - hydrogen under the pressures stated would easily escape in a crash and the "pop" would be worrying...

To the naysayers:

20mph is about right - given most scooters are commuters.

220 mile range is actually better than most scooters.

Hopefully the battery is pluggable too, and not just from re-gen.

Having said the Burgman (or Burg-er-man) is far too lardy. Lets see a proper-sized scooter version, at semi-comparative prices, and I'll actually be interested.

The tree huggers will get my K1300S when they prise my cold, dead hands off the grips though.

Evil_medic, the Burgman is available as a 125, 200 and 400 as well as the 650 that you mention. The 125 Burgman weighs 159Kg against the 650's 277Kg so it isn't that bad. Having said that, I much prefer my Diversion 900.

Perfect for town riding - where you never go beyond 20 MPH anyway, actually in Dublin where I live, the speed limit has been reduced to 30 KPH.

Now I assume no license or insurance will be required as cyclists will be overtaking you. I clocked one cyclist cruising (with seemingly little effort) at 50KPH.

I would definitely buy one of these, even though I already have two sportsbikes, I can see the point.

Before you start READ:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_pressure_electrolysis

now rant away...

As someone who has seen a hydrogen cyclinder at only 30 bar fall over, lose its regulator, shoot through a brick wall and out into a car park, there's no way I'm sitting on top of one at 10,000 PSI.

And as someone said, producing hydrogen takes a huge amount of electricity, and that comes from...er... fossil fuels.

If only the governments of the 1950s hadn't been so greedy and clueless, we'd all be using nice clean electricity from nuclear power plants by now, and then this wouldn't be a problem. But until that happens, electric vehicles are no more the saviour of the planet than Jeremy Clarkson is.

(Anonymous, 'cos it we me who knocked the cyclinder over...)

Flatulence hasn't killed me yet, I'm not afraid of sitting on inflammable gas. Something that can stand ultra-pressure is also probably uncrushable. On the downside, all of these concept vehicles are about as real-real as the Moller flying car, unless that slipped onto the market when I wasn't looking now that Tomorrow's World isn't on any more. There is a real vehicle but only one, it cost a ton of cash to make it, and there are all sorts of expensive safety licences it doesn't have. I mean, typically. In Moller's case there's also the fact that a car can't fly.

Ye. Thats the way to go. "oh lets work on green electricity. When thats done we'll worry about making fule cells, and in the mean time ignore it." Please drop that rant.

Also, Evil_Medic, there is a 125, a 400 and a 650 (and a 250 in some areas).

Yes. The idea isn't that using hydrogen is intrinsically green, but that because it allows the electricity (which is used to gather and compress the gas) that the bike uses to be stored and transported without as much loss as putting it through the mains. The fact that the electricity can be generated centrally allows a larger, more efficient power generator to be used.

Petrol may well be more efficient (I have no idea) but that doesn't mean it's green.

@Evil_Medic

"The Burgman is a 650cc heavy scooter, which in this case has been downgraded to 125cc performance?"

Not quite. The BurgerMan is available as a range from 125 to 650. Your statement is a bit like saying all Fraud Focusseseses are 2.5 litres because some of them are.

@Josco

The BurgerBun range are all four strokes and depressingly quiet at that, two stroke scooters have been on the way out for some time. The exhaust note is not unlike a prolonged, but subdued fart in the bath.

If you had to do 220 miles at 20mph you'd soon throw the crappy bike under a truck and start hitch-hiking.

Perhaps 20mph is fine for gridlocked commutes, but then you'd not need 220miles worth. If it is designed for that sort of use then 100miles would be more than enough and they could store a far smaller/lower pressure bomb between your legs.

Sorry guys, much as I think this vehicle is a stupid idea, I have to take issue with your ridiculing the talk of a 20mph average speed. A 125cc scooter is a vehicle intended mostly for urban use. When was the last time you took an urban journey at an average of over 20mph. My commute is mostly extra-urban but I still don't get an average of above 30mph.

On the subject of stupidity however why take what is probably the most environmentally friendly form of IC powered transport and try to make it green? The average 125cc scooter achieves fuel consumption figures that would have most diesel car drivers green with envy. Lets deal with the heavy polluters first.