Early milestones Petroleum power The inspiration for the earliest dirt bike and arguably the first motorcycle was designed and built by the German inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Bad Cannstatt since 1905 a city district of Stuttgart in 1885 The first petroleum powered vehicle it was essentially a motorized bicycle although the inventors called their invention the Reitwagen riding carriage They had not set out to create a vehicle form but to build a simple carriage for the engine which was the focus of their endeavours Steam power However if one counts two wheels with steam propulsion as being a motorcycle then the first one may have been American One such machine was demonstrated at fairs and circuses in the eastern United States in 1867 built by Sylvester Howard Roper of Roxbury Massachusetts There exists an example of a Roper machine dating from 1869 but there is no patent existing and nothing proves it was a working model It was powered by a charcoal f ired two cylinder engine whose connecting rods directly drive a crank on the rear wheel The Roper machine pre dates the invention of the safety bicycle by many years so its chassis is based on the boneshaker bike In 1868 the French engineer Louis Guillaume Perreaux patented a similar steam powered vehicle which was probably invented independent of Roper s In this case although a patent exists that is dated 1868 nothing indicates the invention had been operable before 1871 Nevertheless these steam powered vehicles were invented prior to the first petroleum powered motorcycle An 1894 Hildebrand Wolfmller The English persisted with steam powered bikes into the Edwardian period citation needed Pearson and Cox was one firm that made units until the First World War citation needed First commercial products In the decade from the late 1880s dozens of designs and machines emerged particularly in France Germany and England and soon spread to America During this early period of motorc ycle history there were many manufacturers since bicycle makers were adapting their designs for the new internal combustion engine In 1894 the Hildebrand Wolfmller became the first motorcycle available to the public for purchase However only a few hundred examples of this motorcycle were ever built Soon as the engines became more powerful and designs outgrew the bicycle origins the number of motorcycle oriented producers increased The first known motorcycle in the United States was said to be brought to New York by a French circus performer in 1895 It weighed about 200 lb 91 kg and was capable of 40 mph 64 km h on a level surface However that same year an inventor from the United States E J Pennington demonstrated a motorcycle of his own design in Milwaukee Pennington claimed his machine was capable of a speed of 58 mph 93 km h and is credited with inventing the term motor cycle to describe his machine The 20th century Before World War II A 1913 FN Fabrique National Belgium 4cylinders and shaft drive In 1901 English quadricycle and bicycle maker Royal Enfield introduced its first motorcycle with a 239 cc engine mounted in the front and driving the rear wheel through a belt In 1898 English bicycle maker Triumph decided to extend its focus to include motorcycles and by 1902 the company had produced its first motorcycle bicycle fitted with a Belgian built engine In 1903 as Triumph s motorcycle sales topped 500 the American company Harley Davidson started producing motorcycles In 1904 the Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company which had been founded by two former bicycle racers designed the so called diamond framed Indian Single whose engine was built by the Aurora Firm in Illinois The Single was made available in the deep red color that would become Indian s trademark By then Indian s production was up to over 500 bikes annually and would rise to 32 000 its best ever in 1913 During this period experimentation and innovation were driven by the pop ular new sport of motorcycle racing with its powerful incentive to produce tough fast reliable machines These enhancements quickly found their way to the public machines A 1923 BMW R32 with a shaft drive boxer twin engine Chief August Vollmer of the Berkeley California Police Department is credited with organizing the first official Police Motorcycle Patrol in the United States in 1911 By 1914 motorcycles were no longer just bicycles with engines they had their own technologies although many still maintained bicycle elements like the seats and suspension A pre war Polish Sok 1000 An historic V twin American motorcycle a 1941 Crocker Until the First World War Indian was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world After that this honor went to Harley Davidson until 1928 when DKW took over as the largest manufacturer BMW motorcycles came on the scene in 1923 with a shaft drive and an opposed twin or boxer engine enclosed with the transmission in a single aluminum housing B y 1931 Indian and Harley Davidson were the only two American manufacturers producing commercial motorcycles This two company rivalry in the United States remained until 1953 when the Indian Motorcycle factory in Springfield Massachusetts closed and Royal Enfield took over the Indian name There were over 80 different makes of motorcycle available in Britain in the 1930s from the familiar marques like Norton Triumph and AJS to the completely obscure with names like New Gerrard NUT SOS Chell and Whitwood about twice as many motorcycle makes competing in the world market during the early 21st century In 1937 Joe Petrali set a new land speed record of 136 183 mph 219 165 km h on a modified Harley Davidson 61 cubic inch 1000 cc overhead valve driven motorcycle The same day Petrali also broke the speed record for 45 cubic inch 737 cc engine motorcycles In Europe production demands driven by the buildup to World War II included motorcycles for military use and BSA supplied 126 000 B SA M20 motorcycles to the British armed forces starting in 1937 and continuing until 1950 Royal Enfield also produced motorcycles for the military including a 125 cc lightweight motorcycle that could be dropped in a parachute fitted tube cage from an aircraft After World War II An original Vespa with sidecar After the Second World War some American veterans found a replacement for the camaraderie excitement danger and speed of life at war in motorcycles Grouped into loosely organized clubs motorcycle riders in the U S created a new social institutionhe motorcyclists or bikers hich was later skewed by the outlaw persona Marlon Brando portrayed in the 1954 film The Wild One In Europe on the other hand post war motorcycle producers were more concerned with designing practical economical transportation than the social aspects or biker image Italian designer Piaggio introduced the Vespa in 1946 which experienced immediate and widespread popularity Imports from the UK Italy and Ge rmany thus found a niche in U S markets that American bikes did not fill The BSA Group purchased Triumph Motorcycles in 1951 to become the largest producer of motorcycles in the world claiming one in four The German NSU was the largest manufacturer from 1955 until the 1970s when Honda became the largest manufacturer title now claimed by Indian bike firm Hero Honda which specialises in small motorcycles throughout India and similar markets A 1962 Triumph Bonneville represents the popularity of British motorcycles at that time British manufacturers Triumph BSA and Norton retained a dominant position in some markets until the rise of the Japanese manufacturers led by Honda in the late 1960s and early 1970s The role of the motorcycle shifted in the 1960s from the tool of a life to a toy of a lifestyle It became part of an image of status a cultural icon for individualism a prop in Hollywood B movies The motorcycle also became a recreational machine for sport and leisure a vehicl e for carefree youth not essential transportation for the mature family man or woman and the Japanese were able to produce modern designs more quickly more cheaply and of better quality than their competitors Their motorbikes were more stylish and more reliable so the British manufacturers fell behind as mass market producers The Honda Motor Co which was officially founded in Japan on September 24 1948 introduced their SOHC inline 4 cylinder 750 in 1969 which was inexpensive and immediately successful It was not a high performance bike but it established the across the frame 4 engine configuration as a design with huge potential for power and performance Despite being much more complex than any other mass market motorcycle it was the most reliable large motorcycle on the road citation needed Shortly after the introduction of the SOHC Kawasaki demonstrated the potential of the four cycle four cylinder engine with the introduction of the KZ900 The only motorcycle that outperfo rmed the KZ900 was another Kawasaki the H1 a much smaller and lighter 3 cylinder two cycle engine citation needed The H1 was prone to fouling and was considered dangerous by many riders citation needed The Suzuki Motor Co Ltd Kawasaki Heavy Industries and the Yamaha Motor Corporation each started producing motorcycles in the 1950s Meanwhile the sun was setting on British dominion over the big displacement motorbike market Japanese dominance The Honda CB750 revolutionized motorcycle marketing and was emblematic of Japanese dominance The excellence of Japanese motorcycles caused similar effects in all Western markets many Italian bike firms either went bust or only just managed to survive As a result BMW s worldwide sales sagged in the 1960s but came back strongly with the introduction of a completely redesigned slash 5 series for model year 1970 From the 1960s through the 1990s small two stroke motorcycles were popular worldwide partly as a result of the East German Walter Ka aden s engine work in the 1950s later acquired by Suzuki via stolen plans supplied by MZ rider Ernst Degner who defected to the West on 13th September 1961 after retiring from the 125cc Swedish Grand Prix at Kristianstad Harley Davidson HD in the U S at the time suffered from the same problems as the European firms but its unique product range American tariff laws and nationalism driven customer loyalty allowed it to survive One alleged flaw however was retaining the characteristic HD 45 engine vee angle which causes excess vibration as well as the loping HD sound A factory full fairing was introduced by BMW motorcycles in the R100RS of 1977 the first factory fairing produced in quantity In 1980 BMW stimulated the adventure touring category of motorcycling with its R80G S In 1988 BMW was the first motorcycle manufacturer to introduce anti lock brakes ABS on its sporting K100RS SE and K1 models The present A 2004 Kawasaki ZX 7RR Today the Japanese manufacturers Honda Kawasaki Suzuki and Yamaha dominate the large motorcycle industry although Harley Davidson still maintains a high degree of popularity particularly in the United States Recent years have seen a resurgence in the popularity around the world of many other motorcycle brands including BMW Triumph and Ducati and the emergence of Victory as a second successful mass builder of big twin American cruisers In November 2006 the Dutch company E V A Products BV Holland announced that the first commercially available diesel powered motorcycle its Track T 800CDI achieved production status The Track T 800CDI uses a 800 cc three cylinder Daimler Chrysler diesel engine However other manufacturers including Royal Enfield had been producing diesel powered bikes since at least 1965 Motorcycle traffic in Bangkok Currently the largest motorcycle market is the small machines market for the developing world hence the claim from Indian Hero Honda to be the world s new biggest bike firm India has also been th e home to the Enfield Cycle Company s Royal Enfield since 1995 Enfield India still makes updated versions of the 1955 Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle There is a large demand for small cheap motorcycles in the developing world and many of the firms meeting that demand now also compete in developed markets such as China s Hongdou which makes a version of Honda s venerable CG 125 Motorcycle taxis are the developing world s limousines Scooters mopeds and motorcycles offer a fast cheap and risky way around snarled traffic and scarce mass transit as they can easily squeeze through jams See also Motorcycle Motorcycle manufacturers Motorcycling Police motorcycle Safety bicycle Further reading Early history and use in the United Kingdom Pennell Joseph February 8 1901 Some Experiences Of Motor Bicycles Journal Of The Society Of Arts XLIX 2 516 http books google com books id pEtDAAAAYAAJ pg PA181 Retrieved 2009 08 15 Hiscox Gardner Dexter 1902 The Automobile A Practical Treatise On The Construction Of Modern Motor Cars Steam Petrol Electric And Petrol Electric Chapter XXI Motor Bicycles 1903 ed London Cassell And Company Limited pp 751763 http books google com books id vgdJAAAAMAAJ pg PA751 Retrieved 2009 08 15 Lavergne Gerard 1902 The Automobile Its Construction And Management Various Chapters London Cassell And Company Limited http books google com books id rDAaAAAAYAAJ Retrieved 2009 08 15 Wilson A J 1903 Motor Cycles And How To Manage Them 6th ed London Iliffe Sons Limited http books google com books id vLl AAAAMAAJ Retrieved 2009 08 15 Early history and use in the United States Lockert Louis 1899 Petroleum Motor Cars Chapter VIII Motor Bicycles New York D Van Nostrand Company pp 6475 http books google com books id cjcMAAAAYAAJ pg PA64 Retrieved 2009 08 15 The Automobile Bicycle The Literary Digest XIX 16 463464 October 14 1899 http books google com books id IUzQAAAAMAAJ pg PA463 Retrieved 2009 08 15 Hiscox Gardner Dexter 1900 Horseless Vehicles Autom obiles Motor Cycles Operated By Steam Petrol Electric And Petrol Electric Chapter XI Automobile Bicycles And Tricycles New York Munn COmpany pp 175215 http
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