The motorcycle is one of the greatest toys an adult can enjoy. No other vehicle hugs the road closer, or gives you a more exhilarating experience while getting from point A to point B, than a powerful, roaring bike. Whether you choose to ride a chopper or a sport bike, a Harley or a Boss Hoss, bikers coast to coast share a similar culture born of an undying passion for their two wheeled machines. Many of us love to ride these iron hogs, but few ever stop to reflect upon the motorcycle’s humble beginnings. Today we take a look at history’s very first motorcycle and the two men responsible for what would later become one the most popular ways to own the open road.

Exploration of motorcycle evolution takes us back to the late 1800s, almost one decade before the first gasoline engine motorcycle was built. An important predecessor was the steam-powered contraption built on the frame of an early bicycle model known very unaffectionately as the “Boneshaker.” The name was given to the bike for its notoriously stiff and rough ride (it would literally shake you to your bones). The cycle was invented in 1867 by a Massachusetts man named Sylvester Howard Roper. Roper began to travel around to local fairs and circuses along the east cost of America to show off his invention. Although it never really caught on with the public, the bike was a crucial preclude to the first motorcycle. It was also the first vehicle to feature the twisting grip throttle control that all motorcycles feature today.

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In 1885 the world met the Daimler Rietwagen, which is now widely considered to be the first true motorcycle ever constructed. The Rietwagen was essentially a motorized bicycle designed by German inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. Daimler, who was working as the technical manager at an orphanage in Bruderhaus, Germany where Maybach lived, believed strongly that the steam engine was out of date and needed to be replaced by a gasoline version. Maybach befriended Daimler, and soon their bond grew very strong as they worked hard on several projects. One of their better known projects turned out to be the Rietwagen.

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In 1872, Daimler became the technical director of a gas motor company known as Deutz Gasmotorenfabrik, a company owned by engineer Nicolaus Otto. Once there, Daimler assembled a team of workers to begin building very early models of gas engines. Maybach headed the team, and soon they were able to produce an engine that made a whopping 130 revolutions a second. This was quite advanced engineering in 1800’s, yet Daimer was not satisfied. Nicolaus Otto was happy to simply build more of these low performance engines for Deutz Gasmotorenfabrik, but Daimler and Maybach couldn’t stop thinking about squeezing more power and more speed out of their creation.

the bike was a crucial preclude to the
first motorcycle.

With this dream in mind, Daimler and Maybach separated from Otto to go off on their own in pursuit of a high-performance engine. Several years later, Daimler and Maybach developed an engine that was able to crank out 900 RPM, a major performance boost over Otto’s 130. This was achieved through the advent of the surface carburetor, a device that vaporized the petrol fuel and mixed it with air to prepare it for combustion. To test the performance of their new high-performance engine, the two built the world’s first gas powered motorcycle. This motorcycle was the Daimler Rietwagen. The bike took its first ride in 1885 and set into motion a new culture that has continued to the present day.

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In addition to being the first motorcycle ever built, the Rietwagen is often considered to be among the very first self-propelled vehicles. While it may not be the shiny chrome beast you have sitting in your garage, this bike was as mean as they came in the late 1800s. The Rietwagen was built out of a wooden frame and came complete with stiff, unforgiving wooden wheels. Needless to say, the bike was not exactly a comfortable way to cruise around town. Though the Rietwagen is widely accepted as the first gas powered motorcycle ever built, some controversy surrounds this claim because of the bike’s two training-wheel like supports on the back.

Some people argue that this technically makes the cycle a four wheel vehicle, but most experts chalk it up a safety precaution implemented by Daimler in order to test the engine without the risk of falling. Of course, the big question on every serious biker’s mind is: how much power could this baby crank out? In reality, your child’s Power Wheels might be able to smoke the Rietwagen in a drag race. With its 264cc, 0.5hp, four stroke, single cylinder engine, the bike topped out at around 16 kph (9 mph).

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While the Rietwagen might not be something you can imagine cruising around in your leather jacket on, bikers of today owe a great debt of gratitude to Daimler and Maybach. By showing the courage to rebel against their boss and start their own project, they spearheaded the motorcycle revolution that has become the love and joy of millions of people’s lives. The original Rietwagen was lost in 1902, however many replicas and rebuilds have been made for historical purposes and can be found in several automotive museums across the country.