You Could Potentially Stay Off-Grid and Off-Road Forever with This Self-Sustaining Adventure Moto

Gas or electric, there’s one frustrating factor that plagues every motorcycle: the need for periodic refueling. That gets especially frustrating if you’re hoping to take your bike with you off the grid.

Sure, you could stash a generator, extra batteries or backup fuel, depending on the bike you have, but you’re ultimately only going to have room for so much. Inevitably, you’ll have to hit a refueling station.

That is, unless you’re astride the Mask Architects Solaris. This innovative new motorcycle could make trips to the gas (or charging) station a thing of the past.

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Super charger

Okay, I know you’re wondering how in the world this bike can avoid refueling. Spoiler alert: it can’t. But it does have a handy trick up its sleeve, so to speak, to refuel wherever you already are.

Hidden beneath the tail, this bike has a pair of pop-out solar panels that allow it to charge its onboard battery on the spot. And they’re so low-profile that, when tucked away, you can hardly tell that they’re there at all, meaning they don’t impede the bike’s performance or appearance.

Mask Architects

If you’re paying attention, yes, that means this is an all-electric motorcycle, which has its own benefits and drawbacks. That said, this solar-charging system has the capacity to be a serious game-changer, not just for this bike, but for the whole electric motorcycle industry.

The real question, however, is whether it comes to light, as the Solaris is presently just a concept. Still, Mask Architects has done quite a bit to bring this bike to life, and there’s hope that they could find help from a motorcycle brand to bring it to a production run.

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Free your bike, and the rest will follow

Setting aside its status as a less-than-real production bike, there’s still plenty more to love about this moto. Its aesthetic, for example, is spectacular, especially if you like futuristic design.

The lines are somewhere between the organic and inorganic — what the architectural firm calls “biomimicry.” It’s angular without being clunky, flows without being too bulbous or generic. It also has an all-terrain-friendly ride height, suspension and a general off-road vibe, which pairs perfectly with its promise of charging anywhere.

Mask Architects

Unfortunately, it doesn’t have any pinned-down specs. That said, Mask is promising high torque, instantaneous acceleration, regenerative braking tech and a lightweight aluminum–carbon composite chassis designed around strength and agility.

A few other elements can also be gleaned just by observing the design, like a full suite of onboard lights — headlight, tail light and indicators on the side-view mirrors — all presumably powered by the same solar-charged battery that runs the motor. It also has a front-end mud guard, zero drag handlebars, an integrated aluminum kickstand and more.

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Pricing and availability

For now, the Mask Architects Solaris is only a concept bike, but there’s always hope that a future exists where this bike goes into production. Given the amount of work the firm has already done to envision it, that future could very well be sooner than you think.

Mask Architects

Mask Architects Solaris

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