Motorcycles Story
The Story behind the Motorcycles
Replica of the Daimler-Maybach Petroleum Reitwagen.
Fashion comes in all manner of ways. It can come in the form of clothes, jewelry, and even machines. If you look at phones, you realize that you cannot stay with one kind for long as you will soon be left behind with the rapidly growing technology. The main point is that you should keep up with the times. The most fascinating machine to me is the motorcycle.
Motorcycles have class. They are fashionable especially if you are a person who enjoys attention. The sound they produce guarantees heads to turn. They roar. I am sure that most people like to know where this speed demon came from. People want to know its history. The motorcycle history begins in the second half of the nineteenth century. Motorcycles came from the safety bicycle. This bicycle had front and rear wheels of the same size and a pedal crank mechanism to drive the rear wheel.
Even though the motorcycle’s history has a few early landmarks in its creation, it is very hard to trace the first idea. This idea occurred to various inventors in Europe at around the same time. At least we can proclaim that it was invented in Europe.
In the 1860s, a blacksmith in Paris by the name Pierre Michaux, founded the first company to construct bicycles with pedals called a velocipede. This led to the first steam powered motorcycles which came about when Pierre’s son, Ernest, fitted a small engine to one of the velocipedes. This design went to the USA courtesy of Pierre Lallement who was an employee of Michaux.
From here, Sylvester Roper, an American, developed a twin cylinder steam velocipede with a boiler that was coal fired between the wheels. We can say that his contribution ended there because he died suddenly when demonstrating one of his machines in Massachusetts on June 1, 1896.
Lucius Copeland, again an American designed a smaller steam boiler which could drive the large rear wheel at 12 miles per hour, in 1881. Six years later, he formed the Northrop Manufacturing company to produce the first motorcycles that we can say was successful. These motorcycles were actually three-wheelers.
A 1954 Triumph T110 650 cc motorcycle
Invention never stops and more inventors came up with more innovative ideas. People wanted to move from steam power to petroleum power. This reasoning brought about the Reitwagen. It was invented by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in 1885. These two gentlemen were Germans. This motorcycle was running on light gasoline. With the onset of this invention, people thought that they could go commercial.
Towards the end of the 1880s, more machines emerged in France, Germany and England and eventually spread to America. This is the period that led to an explosion of different designs of the motorcycle. The first motorcycle to be sold was the Hildebrand and Wolfmuller, which was in 1894. Only a few motorcycles of this model were built. The number of motorcycle-oriented producers increased as the engines became more powerful and people wanted designs that did not resemble the origins.
In the 20th century, Triumph, an English bicycle maker decided to extend its hand towards building motorcycles so as to sell them. This was a success as more than 500 hundred of them were sold. Harley Davidson marveled at this success and decided to start producing motorcycles. In the 1900s, motorcycle sporting came into existence and this prompted a different design such that the motorcycle had a more sporty look.
This was the time that speed propelled buyers towards buying the motorcycle. The shape made the motorcycle fashionable, as it no longer looked like a bicycle. It looked like a beast that was ready to chase after any prey. The cubic capacity increased and as time went on, new motorcycles that were faster than cars began conception.
We all know that the name Harley Davidson is very prominent in this industry. This is because of its marketing and its innovation. It has various models and does not just concentrate on one. Every time you board a motorcycle, remember its history. It has been shaped with time just like you and me. It used to be steam powered and now it is petroleum powered. Truly, the motorcycle has stood the test of time.