top 10 motorcycles and scooters of 2024

top 10 motorcycles and scooters of 2024 from gas to hydrogen

Our top 10 motorcycles and scooters of 2024 range from gas to electric and hydrogen. Custom and DIY models are also big this year. They include the Kawasaki motorcycle that holds the Guinness World Record as the land vehicle with the most cylinders (48, in total), and the custom electric monowheel by Make It Extreme, made using discarded tires. Hydrogen is an interest for MIT as the team assembles an electric motorcycle that runs on a fuel cell. It has swappable parts for easy maintenance, plus anyone can try to build it because it is open-source.

Retro designs also influence some of the models, including the Nitro button on the gearless electric motorcycle DAB 1α – inspired by the 2000 game Need for Speed – as well as the real-life Shotaro Kaneda motorbike by Bel&Bel from the 1988 anime, Akira. For the other models, the design elements stand out from the get-go, such as Bandit9’s EVE Odyssey motorcycle with a body shaped like a sniper’s bullet. Our list below of the top motorcycles and scooters of 2024 goes over the design features of these on- and off-road rides.

images courtesy of Bel&Bel

Barcelona-based creative studio Bel&Bel remakes Shotaro Kaneda’s bike in the anime film Akira as a real-life motorcycle. It has a split-open body and cruises with the signature shade of red seen in the anime’s vehicle. The motorcycle comes with 200 horsepower and electronically controlled anti-lock brakes, two features that weren’t available in the 1980s, the time the anime was set in. Bel&Bel also works on commission, so owners can customize the motorcycle.

Should the owner want, the creative studio may equip the ride with a hybrid engine. It can also feature the recordings of a MiG-21 fighter jet and a 1927 Harley-Davidson motorcycle to accompany its cyberpunk aesthetics, and there’s even a noticeable green static electricity that flutters around the front tire as the rider cruises. The spokeless wheels, surrounded with neon blue lights, resemble giant buttons and remain faithful to the original design.

image courtesy of Bandit9

Bandit9 shapes its EVE Odyssey motorcycle like a sniper’s bullet from a hand-brushed piece of aluminum. It’s streamlined to replicate a 9 mm projectile, and even the tank is fused to the aluminum frame, engineered and manufactured from scratch. A single-sided swingarm flows into the body, and Bandit9 completes it with a hand-brushed steel emblem milled from a single billet.

To stabilize the EVE Odyssey motorcycle, Bandit9 adds a monoshock for when it takes a sharp turn. The front fork looks sculptural, and it hides the telescopic suspension inside it, the one that helps make the ride smoother by absorbing bumps on the road. So far, this model that’s included on our top motorcycles and scooters of 2024 can run on a four-speed manual transmission and can reach speeds up to 110 km/h (68 mph).

image by Adam Glanzman, courtesy of MIT

MIT assembles their own hydrogen electric motorcycle that runs on a fuel cell and has swappable parts. This is also an open-source model, so craftsmen can build their own. The hydrogen electric motorcycle successfully took its ride test demo in October 2023, but the technology team said that it would not be entering competitions. They designed the model to only be presented in conferences to help manufacturers optimize their own hydrogen electric rides.

MIT’s team built and tested their hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric motorcycle within their main space at MIT’s Building N5. It took them a year to come up with the prototype, and parts of the components they used were donated to them for this project. The team used a frame from a 1999 motorcycle, with many custom-made parts added to support the electric motor, the hydrogen tank, the fuel cell, and the drive train. 

image courtesy of Andrea Mocellin and DEXET Technologies

Andrea Mocellin and the DEXET Technologies team up to conceptualize Zigy, which is a single-seater electric urban vehicle. It’s as sleek as a microcar, and it resembles a motorcycle, just with four wheels. The chassis is made from thermoplastic composites to make the vehicle lightweight, and a selection of carbon and natural fibers are also chosen for the exterior and interior bodywork panels. It took the team three months to produce the concept design.

For the final design, Zigy gets a piece of glass that curves around the roof and front, which also masks over the sides of the single seat. This doubles as the sunroof for the electric urban vehicle, as well as to offer the rider views of the outside. There’s a seemingly silver edge that belts around the exterior of Zigy, and this also houses the rear and tail lights of the vehicle. The battery pack is located under the vehicle.