The motorcycle, also called the machine pedal car, was invented by German Gottlieb Daimler in 1885.
In 1884, Englishman Edward Butler added a power unit to a bicycle to make a three-wheeled car, powered by kerosene. While coal-fueled steam cars were commonly driven on the streets, attempts were already being made to utilize other fuels because of the smog and lack of speed. Gottlieb Daimler, a young technician working at Otto's factory, resigned from his position at the factory to develop a small and efficient internal combustion engine and conducted scientific research at a separately organized specialized development facility.
On August 29, 1885, Gottlieb Daimler, the "father of the automobile" in Germany, mounted a modified gasoline engine on a wooden two-wheeled vehicle to create the world's first motorcycle and was granted a patent for this invention on August 29 of the same year. The motorcycle was powered by a 264 cc upright single-cylinder, four-stroke engine that produced 1/2 horsepower at 700 revolutions per minute and was equipped with a two-speed transmission and a speed of 12 mph.
Limited to more than 100 years ago, when gasoline engines were still in a low-level infantile condition and vehicle manufacturing was still at the stage of horse-drawn carriage technology, the original motorcycle differed greatly from modern motorcycles in appearance, structure, and performance. The frame of the primitive motorcycle is wooden. From the wood grain, it was processed by carpenters. The wheels were also made of wood. The outer layer of the wheel is covered with a layer of iron. In the middle and bottom of the frame is a square wooden frame on which the engine is placed, and there are auxiliary support wheels on each side of the frame to prevent it from tipping over when it is stationary. Therefore. The car is four wheels on the ground. Single-cylinder fan-cooled engine, the output power through the belt and gear two-stage reduction transmission, drives the rear wheels forward. The seat was made in the shape of a saddle and covered with a layer of leather.
Since there were no springs or other cushioning devices, the car was called a "boneshaker" and could be imagined to be more unbearable than execution on the stone-striped streets of the 19th century. Despite the simplicity of the original motorcycle, motorcycles have evolved and improved since then, leading to hundreds of millions of modern motorcycles over 100 years later.
In recognition of this irreplaceable place in history, the Eudenberg branch of the German Society of Engineers erected a monument to Gottlieb Daimler at the Hewettplatz in Kant, after his death. It was in this square that he drove his first motorcycle. The world's first motorcycle is currently on display at the Museum of Science and Technology in Munich.
In 1903, Harley Davidson, a famous American motorcycle manufacturer, was founded and began manufacturing motorcycles. During World War I, the demand for motorcycles by European militaries increased due to their great role in the front-line communications war, and motorcycle production surged again. Intelligence officers on the battlefield gradually switched from riding horses to motorcycles. The American Harley Motorcycle Company produced 50 percent of its motorcycles for the war effort. The British Triumph Company sold more than 30,000 Model H motorcycles to the Triple Entente during the war, powered by a 499 cc (30.5 cu in) single-cylinder, air-cooled, four-stroke engine with a belt-driven rear wheel. It was also the first Triumph motorcycle not to use bicycle pedals, and the Model H is often considered to be the first modern motorcycle.