What a bikes

From the middle of the 19th century, people were thinking about motorising bicycles. The first attempts are from 1864, when the French Michaux and Perreaux mounted a steam engine on their bikes. S.H. Roper did almost the same in the United States, but used a petrol internal combustion engine instead of steam.

In fact it is coincidence that the first actual motor vehicle was one with two wheels. The German Gottlieb Daimler in 1885 built a one cylinder motorcycle with a mechanical exhaust valve and an automatic input valve. First he tried the machine in a boat and a carriage, and later he mounted it in a massive wooden chassis on two wheels. In that way Daimlers "Reitwagen mit Petroleum Motor" was born.

When his 2 cylinder engine was working properly, Daimler started to work with four wheels. He did this with Carl Benz, and this was the beginning of one of the most famous car manufacturers, Daimler-Benz. Later this became Mercedes-Benz.

Specifications: Single cylinder 4-stroke with forced air cooling, 264 cc, 0,5 HP at 700 rpm, mechanical exhaust valve and automatic input valve, vaporization carburetteurs, glowtube ignition, handstart, wooden chassis with extra wheels, bar steering, wooden wheels with metal tyres, mass 90 kg, maximum speed 6 to 12 km/h.

Daimler's wooden motorcycle burned in 1903, but there are replicas in museums in Munchen, Neckarsulm and Augsburg.