I'm a motorcycle guy. I like them so much that the only bones I have ever broken in my life have come at the hands of one of them. I realize that they are very dangerous but still use them anyway. Well ok, that isn't entirely true: I haven't yet purchased one in Vietnam because the roads are so congested that I don't really think it would be a great deal of fun since you can likely never achieve a speed of anything higher than say 20 MPH.
There had been some forms of "motorcycles" that were introduced prior to this one, but the Reitwagen (riding car) was the first production vehicle that could be considered actually being functional
The year was 1885
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The inventors were Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach and I'm guessing that it was Daimler that did most of the legwork on this because he is considered the "father of the motorcycle."
Previous models had been made that ran on steam and of course there were belt driven bicycles that were developed years before this machine but since it used an internal combustion engine the likes of which are used in all manner of vehicles to this day, Daimler gets credit for getting there first.
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These days motorcycles are the most frequently vehicles in many parts of the world and this is particularly true in the part of the world that I have called home for the past 17 years. As a matter of fact, the country with the highest percentage of motorcycle ownership in the world (87% of households) is Thailand, where I lived for 16 years and the 2nd highest ownership in the world (86% of households) is Vietnam.
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If you spend any time in these places, it is easy to understand why someone would own one of these in lieu of a car. It is because cars are just as expensive here as they are anywhere else in the world and the population is relatively poor and also because the streets are so congested with traffic that you are almost certainly going to reach your destination faster on a motorbike than you are in a car since western notions of "traffic rules" aren't really observed over here.
Everyone makes maneuvers on the roads many times daily on a motorbike that would be considered illegal in the west such as driving between lanes, packing lanes, and even using sidewalks as shortcuts pretty regularly. Motorbikes are also considerably easier to park since apparently you can just put them anywhere you want including blocking the entire footpath in certain parts of town, which is annoying but that's just the way it is.
I think it is relatively easy to presume that if Daimler hadn't invented this machine that someone else would have done so in the near future after him but someone got there first and it was him. Unfortunately the original was destroyed in a fire in 1909 but several replicas exist in Museums in Stuttgart, Munich, and somewhere in Tochigi, Japan.
This incredibly deadly machine accounts for thousands of road deaths in countries all over the world but this isn't the vehicles fault in most instances, it is because of the users. The same could probably be said for almost all vehicular deaths though as well.
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An Australian man named Phil Mumenthaler replicated the original design using only the tools that would have been available in the late 1800's and he said it took him about 850 man-hours and around US$100,000 to finish it. I would imagine that Daimler probably had a few people helping him on his own original.
The internal engine was of course very inefficient by today's standards and was only capable of reaching speeds of 12 km per hour. The fastest motorcycle in the world today, which is a ridiculous machine called the Dodge Tomahawk has a top speed of 420 MILES per hour.
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That is pretty crazy. I have never been on a motorcycle. I have a feeling I would kill myself. The closest I ever came was a I road a moped a long time ago when I was a kid. It was a ton of fun. I've always had an affinity for road bikes, but I don't know as though I would ever purchase one. I'd have to get my license first too. Nice post!
there isn't much reason to have a motorcycle where you live although i bet especially in the UP there are some fantastic roads that touring would be amazing. I remember when I was in the states that not many of my friends had motorbikes because for 3/4 of the year they are kind of useless. They were more like an expensive toy.
That is about how it would be here. First warm weather in the Spring they are out like crazy. @bigtom13 could speak to how fun it is to ride on some of the roads in the UP.
I'll look him up. I love riding motorcycles but (and I already probably mentioned this in the original article) there are just too many damn people here in Vietnam for a proper motorcycle to be of any use.
Thanks bozz! I do love the UP. Not the greatest roads in the US but pretty damn good and the scenery is really great. It's one of my favorite places.
I also love the neighboring Black Hills. Long as you steer clear of the Sturgis rally the roads are great and the traffic is minimal.
Oh, I've been known to hang out at a HOG rally or two. That was a long time ago...
Truth is, I lived at least as far north as @bozz for 50 years and I rode a lot then, too. We'd get about 7 months or actual riding. Back in the day the limit was clothing :)
Now I live in Arizona and can and do ride 365 days a year. I also have electric gear for riding outside of the 'sun zone'.
A whole bunch of my riding when I lived in Washington was in the dirt. I had street bikes off and on, but I always had a dirt bike. Now I don't ride in the dirt at all and barely on gravel roads...
You are on a whole different level than I am as far as the addiction is concerned. I'm envious. I foolishly got involved with choppers which over the years have become my least favorite kind of bike. Now I am more into touring bikes and would absolutely love to get something along the line of a Versys.
I fortunately (IMHO) got all done with those sorts of motorcycles by '73. I didn't play much (I did own a Triumph TR6 for a couple of years) and really preferred UJMs and dirt bikes. Now I'm riding a sport tourer (Kawasaki Concours 1400) and a big Suzuki V Strom crossover. I love them both at different times and places.
I did buy a '76 AMF Harley in about 1980 but kept it less than 2 months. I went back to a KZ 1000 as soon as I could :)
Not too long ago 😊
Motorbikes are not heavily used where I live but that is just because they are totally useless / dangerous as hell in the winter. If i lived somewhere that it was never cold I would totally get involved though!
I've been riding bikes for about 15 years now because of where I live, but prior to that I don't think I ever rode one. I borrowed a bike from someone the last time I was in the States and nearly crashed it because of the icy conditions. I wouldn't own a bike in USA either.
Ahahahaha. I went 5 years without owning a running 4 wheel vehicle. I got a car when I got a dog so he could ride with me.
I've been riding in the US for better than 50 years.
Wow! Always good to meet another motorcycle freak. We are the people that know why a dog sticks his head out of the car window!
I ride a little :) A few years ago a group of friends went to Thailand, bought scooters, and toured SE Asia for a month. They mostly stayed out of the cities because of the traffic, but generally had a serious good time. I couldn't go because of pesky work.
That Dailmer had his hands in everything IC, didn't he?
Thanks for sharing this incredibly historic day with us!
One of my finest lifetime memories is when me and two pals took off on bikes to tour Thailand and we didn't even have any specific destination in mind. we just took a week off and headed out into the great unknown. We discovered to many places that a vast majority of foreign tourists never would have ever known about on this trip.
Just like when Forrest Gump went on his run, when we were tired, we slept, when we were hungry, we ate, when we had to.... "you know".... we went!
This is a level of freedom that so much of the world completely misses out on and your reference to a dog sticking his head out of the window is an absolutely perfect analogy.
I love touring with no specific time and place. I usually have someplace to be on a date, but they way I get there and how long it takes is up to me. I just love that sort of riding.