Motorcycle

Questions on this topic? Just ask!

Motorcycle

The motorcycle can be classified as a motorized vehicle with less than four wheels. Using this description, the invention of the motorcycle is usually attributed to Gottlieb Daimler and his assistant, Wilhelm Maybach. During the process of developing the internal combustion engine, these two German engineers installed a four-stroke, one-cylinder engine on a wooden bicycle equipped with wooden wheels. They built and drove this motorcycle in 1885.

The claim of Daimler and Maybach, however, is disputed by the British, who maintain that the English inventor Edward Butler invented the motorcycle a year earlier. This claim arises from the fact that Butler was issued a patent for a motorized tricycle in 1884; yet, apparently, his machine was not built until 1887. Neither the Daimler-Maybach nor Butler version was put into production for various reasons.

The first mass-produced motorcycle was introduced in 1894 by two Germans, Hildebrand and Wolfmuller, who built over 1,000 models. Many improvements followed: a motorcycle with a geared transmission appeared around 1900; a four-cylinder motorcycle had its debut in 1901 (a design created by the Englishman, Colonel Holden); the sidecar appeared about 1910; an electric-starter was introduced by the American firm, Indian, in 1913 (it was a complete failure and every motorcycle sold with this feature was recalled and the electric-starter had to be removed). In 1904, Indian's rival, Harley-Davidson, went into busines and both companies produced the V-twin engine design that remains an American favorite.

While the motorbike and the motorcycle are obviously quite similar, the smaller frame and lightweight nature of the motorbike distinguishes it from the motorcycle. Credit for building the first motorbike is given to French inventors, Eugene and Michel Werner. They first attached a small gasoline engine to the front wheel of a bicycle and met with great success; later they moved the engine to the lower part of the frame. The original appeared in 1897; the improved model, in 1900.

There have been other variations on motorized vehicles with less than four wheels. In 1887 in France, Léon Serpollet built a steam-powered tricycle which he drove from Paris to Lyon. The motorscooter--a small, lightweight vehicle with two small wheels--was made successful shortly after World War II by the Italian firm, Vespa, and was quickly copied by others. The motorscooter has a much longer history, however. It was originally called the autofauteuil (auto-easychair) and was invented by Frenchman Georges Gauthier, in 1902. Several European and American firms built scooters early in the twentieth century.

Although motorcycle design and performance improved in the decades between the wars, there occurred no real revolutionary changes. After World War II and into the 1950s however, the British bike industry, led by Triumph, produced increasingly sophisticated and better performing motorcycles, but as the 1960s arrived, Japan began to emerge as the new leader. Led by Honda, Japan came to dominate the industry, and by 1969, Honda produced a four-cylinder. overhead cam engine that not only had an electric starter and front disc brakes, but could reach 120 mph (193 kph). The 1970s belonged to the Japanese, and the Kawasaki firm produced a muscular machine that reliably gave racers 130 mph (209 kph). The 1980s coined the term UJM for Universal Japanese Motorcycle to describe their aircooled large and medium cycles. Developments during that decade included fairings (aerodynamically-styled coverings), single-shock rear suspension, and radial tires, in addition to aluminum frame construction. In the 1990s, liquid-cooled engines were adopted as were anti-lock brakes. The motorcycle of the near-future will be clean-burning and environmentally friendly, and may contain catalytic converters, fuel injection, variable valve timing and even programmable, smart-card engine management systems, as well as forkless front suspension.