ALT-1 The Evolution of the Motorcycle
The evolution of the motorcycle started when Michelangelo diagrammed the first bicycle in the 14th century...Never got on the ground. (Turns out that the Michelangelo diagram was a hoax.) The first two wheeled “vehicle” was a “hobbyhorse”. Comte de Sivrac, in 1791, built a “conveyance” constructed of wood, with no pedals, brakes or even a steering wheel. It had a seat and feet were the mode of power – A kind of gliding walk kept it going. From that humble beginning, the evolution of the motorcycle came seventy-five years later.In 1818, an odd contraption, built in Germany, Vocipedraisiavaporianna, a Draisine hobbyhorse powered by two steam turbine engines in both the front and back wheels. It debuted in the Luxembourg Gardens, in Paris. This prototype never went into production.The Michaux-Perreaux Steam Velocipede originated in Germany. It had a large front wheel with pedals. The seat was raised and a Perraux steam engine placed under the seat. Michaux used pulleys and drive belts to give added power to the rear wheel. At the same time, the Roper Steam Velocipede was developed in the United States. This is the beginning of placing controls on the handle bars and using the twist grip. Both were steam powered.According to motorcycle aficionados, The Daimler, built in 1885, was the first true motorcycle. It used an internal-combustion engine and Gottlieb Daimler designed it to be powered from the ground up. It did have wooden wheels. He took the levers from the handle and put them on the frame.In 1894, Frenchmen Hilderbrand and Wolfmuller designed a motorcycle that was the first produced. It had a 1428 cc water cooled motor, which produced 2.5 bhp (boiler horse power) and reached a top speed of 25 mph. Named Petrolette, it was produced up until 1897.The Orient-Aster was the first motorcycle made in America. In 1898, the Metz Company, located in Waltham, Massachusetts, began production of this motorcycle. It used an Aster engine. The Aster engine was a copy of the DeDion-Burton engine. All motorcycle enthusiasts consider the DeDion-Burton engine the forerunner of all motorcycle engines.It was the first to be called a modern motorcycle. The Indian motorcycle came three years later, in 1901, and Harley-Davidson came a year after Indian, in 1902.Motorcycles improved through the intervening years. Engines became more powerful as time passed. Side cars for passengers were added.
Motorcycles became the iconic symbol of freedom. Think of Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild, “Get motor running, head out on the highway, / looking for adventure in whatever comes our way.”
