This electric motorcycle may also be safer

I'm not sure what I like best about the new C1 electric motorcycle concept vehicle from Lit Motors: the fact that it is designed to travel up to 200 miles on a single charge or the fact that it uses a gyroscope to help keep it from tipping over. An exclusive video from ZDNet sister site SmartPlanet explores how the C-1 can keep better balanced, even on roads that have plenty of twists and turns.

I'm not so sure this motorcycle will do it for the custom chopper crowd, but with a planned pricetag of about $16,000 it might definitely have appeal for those interested in the efficiency of a scooter but concerned about what the elements might do to their fashion statement.

I should mention that the one-wheeled microcycle from RYNO Motors also uses a gyroscope to keep upright.

The RYNO vehicles, which the inventor hops to have on the road in a production version sometime in 2012, are focused on a different sort of audience and they have a much shorter range of around 20 miles per charge on a removable lithium-ion battery. When I spoke with the company's founder Chris Hoffmann about the RYNO models in July, he said he hoped the pricetag for the production edition of the microcycle will be around $4,000. (The site has since been updated to reflect an anticipated price of $4,200.)