Electric motorcycle concepts always seem to have a vein of the fanciful in them. Maybe it is because the thought of an electric powertrain feels like the future, and so designers swing for the fences on what the future could hold for society.

That seems to be the case here with the Aether electric motorcycle concept by Taiwanese designer Lin Yu Cheng, who has designed a motorcycle that cleans the air around it, while it rides down the road.

The design is actually the second from Cheng that uses this idea, which employs large air inlets on the side of the bike, which pass air through a set of ceramic filters that grab particulate matter down to 2.5 microns in size. 

The idea isn’t a new one, as it riffs on the Smog Free Bicycle concept by Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde, which was developed with ofo, the leading Chinese bike sharing program, and was launched at World Economic Forum in Dalian, China.

It might be hard to imagine how a motorcycle like the one inked here by Lin Yu Cheng could make a difference on air pollution in markets like the Europe or the United States, but in regions where the pollution is far worse, and motorcycles comprise a much higher percentage of the vehicles on the road, the idea starts to make a bit of sense.

Visually, the bike is interesting – though very futuristic in its approach. The large front wings remind us of the girder style forks seen on the Confederate Wraith cruiser, while the large air intakes have a certain Buell 1125 quality to them.

Cheng’s design is some out-of-the-box thinking, for sure, which is always refreshing to see. Could we see a future where motorcycles are part of the solution to cleaner air, rather than part of the problem? That remains to be seen.

Source: Yanko Design via Paultan.org