Rumour: Apple interested in Lit Motors

One of the latest rumours from Silicon Valley says Apple might be getting into the motorcycle game, sort of.

The hot gossip is that Apple is poking around the purchase of Lit Motors, the enclosed two-wheeler that’s been under development in San Francisco for a few years. We’ve talked about this machine on CMG before. When it first appeared, it was intended to be on the market by 2013, and that hasn’t happened, obviously, maybe because the motorcycle-buying public is leery on electric bikes in general, especially fully-enclosed motorcycles using gyroscopes to stay upright (what happens if your battery goes flat?).

The New York Times actually claims Apple has already hired away three engineers from Lit, which is no surprise in itself — Apple is always involved in some skunk works project. But it also say sources (who must remain anonymous) say the whole company may be bought by the tech giant.

Realistically speaking, it’s hard to see Apple producing these vehicles for sale, but given the divergence of competitor Google into the transportation sector, anything is possible. For Lit founder Daniel Kim, the sale might be very welcome, as the company has seemed to go nowhere since he was banged while crashing a Ducati at Laguna Seca (after which he launched a lawsuit against the track …)