History of Motorcycles: Tracing the First Tracks
Motorcycles have gained instant popularity since they were invented in the late 1870’s. They were only known then as bicycles with pedals. A French blacksmith named Pierre Michaux led the first bicycle company that would create a motorcycle which is powered by steam. It was called the "steam velocipede" which became popular in 1867. It was accidentally invented by Ernest Michaux which is the son of Pierre Michaux. This prototype was then claimed by Pierre Lallement who happened to be an employee of Michaux. He was the first one to file a patent for that particular steam motorcycle in 1866. Another important figure, Slyvester H. Roper who comes from Roxbury Massachusetts had contributed a steam velocipede in 1868 which contains two cylinders and a boiler which is powered by coal. On the other hand, an engineer from France named Louis-Gillaume Perreaux invented a parallel design which is also powered by steam. This type of steam motorcycle has two belts and an alcohol burner.
Lucius Copeland who is a native of Phoenix, Arizona has created a steam boiler which is smaller compared to its predecessor and has an ability to turn a giant rear wheel at 12 km per hour. Copeland is also the one who founded Northrop Manufacturing Company which has the primary goal of producing the first three-wheeler motorcycles.
On the other hand, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach have designed the first motorcycle which is powered by petroleum in 1885 which runs on light gasoline. It was called as Reitwagen which means, riding a car. From then on, many types of motorcycles were invented continuously in different parts of the world. While internal combustion system was being introduced in the early 1890l’s Hildebrand and Wolfmuller were the first ones to bring the motorcycles to the public. However, they have only produced few examples. The consumers found out about these wonderful creations, and motorcycles have been massively produced from then on. In 1895, an American inventor named E.J. Pennington has been credited with the word, "motor cycle". The first motor cycles have the maximum speed of 40 to 58 miles per hour depending on the framework and design.
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