The future is inevitable. Sometimes it feels like a freight train and we’re tied to the tracks. Fortunately, the future has yet to be written, and we have the power to shape it. We love to speculate about what the future might look and feel like, so we’ve rounded up eight motorcycles by artists and designers from around the world who are facing the metaphorical freight train head-on — and trying to shape the brightest future into existence.
Disclaimer: These are only hypotheses of what could come and the vehicles shown have no official affiliation with any brands represented.
HYDRA
by Anton Brousseau, Anton Guzhov, and Andre Taylforth
The Hydra concept was conceived as a collaborative design study between designer Anton Brousseau, designer Anton Guzhov, and Andre Taylforth for texturing and animation. The three creatives tried to imagine what a motorcycle built around a hydrogen power source might look like.
Though the idea of hydrogen-powered vehicles isn’t new and its real-world viability is questionable, H20 just might be one of the most abundant fuels we have available, so it makes sense to explore what two-wheeled hydrogen-powered transportation might look like.
antonbrou.artstation.com | Instagram
CRS-01
by Jeroen Claus of Voyager Co.
Jeroen Claus of the Belgium-based design firm Voyager Co. began the CRS-01 as a proof-of-concept motorcycle to explore electric powertrains and modular construction. Angular flat planes and geometric shapes give the CRS-01 an almost cubist sensibility that would be right at home in the bed of the Cybertruck.
Claus and Voyager Co. plan on producing a limited edition series of the CRS-01 and we look forward to seeing this make the jump from pixels to atoms.
voyager.be | Instagram
CH4
by Sabino Leerentveld of Sabino Design
Sometimes a design isn’t meant to be a deep engineering study, but rather, a study of form, shape, and color. It’s meant to be playful; a simple exploration of movement within the conceptual constraints of an object. And what better object than the motorcycle to engage that creativity?
Netherlands-based Designer Sabino Leerentveld wanted to create a futuristic BMW that used an electric powertrain that he could imagine rolling around the streets of a not-so-distant future. We like the heritage racing livery on a near-future concept.
sabinodesign.com | Instagram
Ultracapacitor
by Anton Brousseau
The Ultracapacitor is a drag racer from the future-focused brain of Anton Brousseau. Guns and motorcycles have a long history of being strange bedfellows (see: BSA, Benelli, Husqvarna, Royal Enfield… ). When a bullet is fired from a gun, the shell is separated from the projectile and loses mass, allowing it to travel at incredible speeds.
Brousseau takes this concept and applies it to the EV. As the battery cells are discharged, they are dropped, thus removing dead weight as the bike accelerates down the race track. If nothing else, it’s inspired thinking.
antonbrou.artstation.com | Instagram
PROJECT SR-1
by Anton Brousseau
They must have the Mandela Effect on the other timelines, right? If so, this concept from Anton Brousseau must exist on a better timeline than our own, because it is pretty radical.
Brousseau set out to imagine what a Zero electric motorcycle might look like if it had the same rich history and development as the combustion engine. Built around what is essentially a re-engineered Zero SR/F, the SR-1 opts for a more organic and minimal design language. We can imagine seeing this bike right at home on the streets of 2023.
antonbrou.artstation.com | Instagram
CP1 Polestar concept
by Lukas Wenzhöfer
Germany-based designer Lukas Wenzhöfer wanted to imagine a near-future world where the EV automotive brand Polestar—once a subsidiary of Volvo—would build two-wheeled transportation. The “CP” in CP1 stands for Clever Performance, and the design is focused on safety, sustainability, and approachable performance.
The aesthetic is athletic, minimal, and balanced. The juxtaposition of clean surfaces and small details gives the bike a visual harmony that would be right at home with its four-wheeled kin.
lukas_wenzhoefer.artstation.com | Instagram
NURA
by Anton Brousseau
Anton Brousseau is a prolific fella, and the Nura concept is his most radical idea so far. More like something from the Ghost in the Shell series than our own reality, the Nura is a motorcycle that actually plugs into the rider’s brain—a human-to-machine interface. This connection makes the motorcycle a literal extension of the rider’s body; sharing data seamlessly with the mind’s subconscious allows the rider to maneuver the motorcycle in ways we can’t imagine.
Couple that with synthetic muscle fibers for reactive suspension, and Brousseau has developed a Mech Warrior for the streets. We can’t quite tell if the Nura concept is optimistic or post-apocalyptic, but it’s definitely inspired.
antonbrou.artstation.com | Instagram
R9T ID:2
by Jeroen Claus of Voyager Co
Similar to how many of the customs being created today are built on platforms that were manufactured half a century ago, the ID:2 is more like a “future custom” built from a bike you can buy off the showroom floor today.
Less is more is the design philosophy that Claus employed in this exercise. He wanted the materials used to carry the aesthetic, and though the overall shapes echo classic lines, he achieves a futuristic form using a minimalistic approach to the overall design—like a “vintage class” endurance racer from 2040.
voyager.be | Instagram
