MOTOR CYCLE Frame, two wheels, engine, handlebars and saddle. Do you sense the magic of this bewitching word? The motor cycle became the promise of speed, adventure and freedom. In more than a hundred years of its existence it underwent unbelievable development winning devotees as well as opponents, but nobody is indifferent to it. People become addicted to motor cycles. No other vehicle can give you that delight in riding, the intoxicating sensation of the wind in your face and the power over the machine you are on. Though it had changed in the course of years beyond recognition, it is the same all along. Frame, two wheels, engine, handlebars and saddle. How many ever-young boys had dreamt of the wonderful machine? The first of them - Gottlieb Daimler: "It would be marvelous beyond thought to have a vehicle with power drive enabling at least one person to travel freely along the road." This he said in 1884. A year later, on August 29, 1885, he applied for registration at the Patent Office in Berlin a design and twelve drawings of such a machine. He was granted Patent No. 36423 for it. According to the official specification the whole vehicle was made with wood, only the wheels were equipped with iron tyres. The engine installed in the frame under the saddle was an air-cooled single cylinder producing 0,5 HP at 700 r.p.m. and was to drive the rear wheel by means of a belt. In the actual construction Gottlieb Daimler with his collaborator Wilhelm Maybach changed many details, beginning with the saddle and handlebars to the drive of the rear wheel by gears. Since the spring 1885 Daimler tested his powered two-wheeler on the paths in the garden of his house at Cannstatt. After many changes at long last the inventor's eldest son Paul left on November 10, 1885, Taubheimstrasse setting forth to UntertOrkheim, distant exactly 3 kilometers. Just think of it - such a long way negotiated without pushing, without pedaling, without draught ... Though a miracle was brought off, there were no celebrations, no fireworks, no music. In the wooden cycle without pedals, but with supporting wheels the internal combustion engine proved capable to drive a vehicle and that was the end for him. He continued to construct horseless carriages never returning to his first experiment. And which is more, the world's first powered two-wheeler came to an end in a 1903 fire. The three kilometers were the beginning of a way taken by the marvelous invention consisting of a frame, two wheels, engine, handlebars and saddle. The motor cycle. From the “EVERGREEN JAWA 1929-1989” ~ Jan Kralik Click here to submit an article for the History Section:  |
