History of Motorcycles and Trikes

Motorcycle History and Trike History

Motorcycles began in the late 1800's. Motorcycles were a natural extension of the bicycle.

Wheeled Vehicles are known to be in the Chinese Bronze Age (c. 2000-741 b.c.) but we are talking about a framework with motorized propulsion on wheels.

But there are many who believe the trike came before motorcycle. This may be a conundrum similar to what came first, the chicken or the egg. The first engineers would begin imagineering a frame of some sort with wheels. Do you think they would imagine a balanced frame (3 or 4 points touching the ground), or a frame one had to balance as in a 2 wheel or 1 wheel configuration?

Intriguingly, it seems several creative minds of the age were experimenting with today's concept of a motorcycle at around the same time. It is curious because communication and documentation was not common, discussing ideas with someone further away than the nearest town was a time consuming effort not pursued by those engineers. The idea of a motorized 2 wheeler seems to have occurred to several engineers and inventors around Europe more or less simultaneously

German inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Bad Cannstatt are credited with the first motorized bicycle = motorcycle, in 1885. Their motorcycle was a petroleum-powered vehicle, Daimler and Maybach called their invention the Reitwagen (riding carriage).

However, I don't believe that a motor must be petroleum powered. If you agree with me, the first 2 wheeled motorcycle may have been American. Built by Sylvester Howard Roper of Roxbury, Massachusetts. There really is a Roper machine dating from 1869, no patent and nothing proves it was a working model. It was powered by a charcoal-fired two-cylinder engine, whose connecting rods directly drive a crank on the rear wheel. The Roper machine pre-dates the invention of the Daimler and Maybach machine by many years.

I have combined MotorCycle and Trike history because the two are so closely associated by history as well as by today's definitions of a motorcycle.

Trike being a 3 wheeled vehicle are descended from the tricycle with is an offshoot of the bicycle. It is assumed that a trike was created at nearly the same time as the motorized bicycle. Tripod wheels removed a main problem of balance associated with 2 inline wheels of a bicycle. Indeed many of the very first cars were 3 wheeled vehicles. The trike is easier to ride and one would think a trike was built before a 2 wheeled vehicle demanding a learning curve to drive.

Today there are more motorcycle brands than most folks can think of.

Lets try:

Honda - Yamaha - Harley Davidson - Suzuki - Kawasaki - Norton - Buell - Moto Guzzi - BMW - Husqvarna - Ducati - Cagiva - Triumph - KTM - Victory - Aprilia - MZ - I am sure there are more, but those come to mind. Many brands have also come and gone, and a few reserrected!

Motorcycles also come in a variety of types. Like a Cruiser style for joe cool looks. Touring bikes for laid back long distance with baggage. Sport bikes big and small for Speed. Half Cruiser & half sport bikes called Sport Touring. Dual purpose bikes for on road/off road combo riding. Lots of specialized catagory styles and race bikes for all the different style motorcycle racing.

MotorCycles and Trikes

Motorcycle History and Trike History