Tony Coiro had never so much as ridden a motorcycle when he decided to re-engineer one.

Coiro, a sophomore at Purdue University, bought a 1978 Suzuki motorcycle on Craigslist.org and spent about six months installing solar panels on it that he bought on Ebay.com.

The photovoltaic panels and all the other necessary parts and tools ran him about $2,500, he said.

He’s received a preliminary patent for the finished product.

He was inspired to start the project when he learned about how inefficient gas-burning internal combustion engines are.

“I just thought, ‘there has to be a better way,’” the 19-year-old said in a phone interview.

He knew how to do the welding and technical work. He could even model what he wanted to do on the computer beforehand. But he’d never tackled a project quite like this one before.

He didn’t do it as part of a class or assignment, and he didn’t enlist help from friends or professors, Coiro said.

“It was just kind of a solo project,” he said. “I’m a physics major, so, you know, I’m going to be super analytical.”

Since building the all-electric motorcycle, Coiro as teamed up with three classmates to form the Purdue Electric Vehicles Club.

“We were up late last night reading the University club guidelines on accepting funding,” he said.

Now that the team has received national and international recognition, Coiro is hoping some grant funding for bigger projects might come their way.

That’s one thing he admits he’s at a loss on—where to look for and how to apply for grants.

The solar-charged lead acid batteries powering his Suzuki can carry him at a top speed of 45 miles per hour for a distance of 25 miles. But he has already done the preliminary design work for a solar-powered motorcycle that would top out at 100 miles per hour.

It’s a bit speedy for a guy who’s only just learned to ride a motorcycle, but then his middle name is Danger. Or at least that’s what the international and national media believes.

“It might be,” he said. “Or it might be Frank, and I might have gotten a bit carried away.”

Pictured: Coiro with his solar motorcycle. Photo taken by Andrew Hancock for Purdue News Service.