History
The Britannica Encyclopaedia describes a motorcycle as a bicycle or tricycle propelled by an internal-combustion engine (or, less often, by an electric engine).
The motors on minibikes, scooters, and mopeds, or motorized velocipedes, are usually air-cooled and range from 25 to 250 cubic cm (1.5 to 15 cubic inches) in displacement; the multiple-cylinder motorcycles have displacements of more than 1,300 cubic cm.
The automobile was the reply to the 19th-century dream of self-propelling the horse-drawn carriage. Similarly, the invention of the motorcycle created the self-propelled bicycle. The first commercial design was a three-wheeler built by Edward Butler in Great Britain in 1884. This employed a horizontal single-cylinder gasoline engine mounted between two steerable front wheels and connected by a drive chain to the rear wheel.
The 1900s saw the conversion of many bicycles, or pedal cycles by adding small, centrally mounted spark ignition engines. There was then felt the need for reliable constructions. This led to road trial tests and competition between manufacturers. Tourist Trophy (TT) races were held on the Isle of Man in 1907 as reliability or endurance races. Such were the proving ground for many new ideas from early two-stroke-cycle designs to supercharged, multivalve engines mounted on aerodynamic, carbon-fibre reinforced bodywork.
The motors on minibikes, scooters, and mopeds, or motorized velocipedes, are usually air-cooled and range from 25 to 250 cubic cm (1.5 to 15 cubic inches) in displacement; the multiple-cylinder motorcycles have displacements of more than 1,300 cubic cm.
The automobile was the reply to the 19th-century dream of self-propelling the horse-drawn carriage. Similarly, the invention of the motorcycle created the self-propelled bicycle. The first commercial design was a three-wheeler built by Edward Butler in Great Britain in 1884. This employed a horizontal single-cylinder gasoline engine mounted between two steerable front wheels and connected by a drive chain to the rear wheel.
The 1900s saw the conversion of many bicycles, or pedal cycles by adding small, centrally mounted spark ignition engines. There was then felt the need for reliable constructions. This led to road trial tests and competition between manufacturers. Tourist Trophy (TT) races were held on the Isle of Man in 1907 as reliability or endurance races. Such were the proving ground for many new ideas from early two-stroke-cycle designs to supercharged, multivalve engines mounted on aerodynamic, carbon-fibre reinforced bodywork.
Invention of Two Wheelers
The invention of the first two-wheeler is a much-debated issue. "Who invented the first motorcycle?" may seem like a simple question, but the answer is quite complicated.
Two-wheelers owe their descent to the "safety" bicycle, i.e., bicycles with front and rear wheels of the same size, with a pedal crank mechanism to drive the rear wheel. Those bicycles, in turn descended from high-wheel bicycles. The high-wheelers descended from an early type of pushbike, without pedals, propelled by the rider's feet pushing against the ground. These appeared around 1800, used iron-banded wagon wheels, and were called "bone-crushers," both for their jarring ride, and their tendency to toss their riders.
Gottlieb Daimler (who later teamed up with Karl Benz to form the Daimler-Benz Corporation) is credited with building the first motorcycle in 1885, one wheel in the front and one in the back, although it had a smaller spring-loaded outrigger wheel on each side. It was constructed mostly of wood, the wheels were of the iron-banded wooden-spoked wagon-type, it definitely had a "bone-crusher" chassis!
This two-wheeler was powered by a single-cylinder Otto-cycle engine, and may have had a spray-type carburetor. (Wilhelm Maybach, Daimler's assistant, was working on the invention of the spray carburetor at the time). If two wheels with steam propulsion can be called a motorcycle, then the first one may have been American.
One such machine was demonstrated at fairs and circuses in the eastern US in 1867. This was built by one Sylvester Howard Roper of Roxbury, Massachusetts. There is an existing example of a Roper machine, dated 1869. A charcoal-fired two-cylinder engine, whose connecting rods directly drive a crank on the rear wheel, powers it. This machine predates the invention of the safety bicycle by many years, so its chassis is also based on the "bone-crusher" bike.
Two-wheelers owe their descent to the "safety" bicycle, i.e., bicycles with front and rear wheels of the same size, with a pedal crank mechanism to drive the rear wheel. Those bicycles, in turn descended from high-wheel bicycles. The high-wheelers descended from an early type of pushbike, without pedals, propelled by the rider's feet pushing against the ground. These appeared around 1800, used iron-banded wagon wheels, and were called "bone-crushers," both for their jarring ride, and their tendency to toss their riders.
Gottlieb Daimler (who later teamed up with Karl Benz to form the Daimler-Benz Corporation) is credited with building the first motorcycle in 1885, one wheel in the front and one in the back, although it had a smaller spring-loaded outrigger wheel on each side. It was constructed mostly of wood, the wheels were of the iron-banded wooden-spoked wagon-type, it definitely had a "bone-crusher" chassis!
This two-wheeler was powered by a single-cylinder Otto-cycle engine, and may have had a spray-type carburetor. (Wilhelm Maybach, Daimler's assistant, was working on the invention of the spray carburetor at the time). If two wheels with steam propulsion can be called a motorcycle, then the first one may have been American.
One such machine was demonstrated at fairs and circuses in the eastern US in 1867. This was built by one Sylvester Howard Roper of Roxbury, Massachusetts. There is an existing example of a Roper machine, dated 1869. A charcoal-fired two-cylinder engine, whose connecting rods directly drive a crank on the rear wheel, powers it. This machine predates the invention of the safety bicycle by many years, so its chassis is also based on the "bone-crusher" bike.
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