1. HISTORY OF BICYCLES &
MOTORCYLCES
Aakash Patel

2. The Earliest Bicycle - 1790
The first contraption that can realistically be said
resembles a bicycle was constructed around 1790 by
Comte Mede de Sivrac of France called a celerifere,
it was a wooden scooter-like device with no pedals
or steering. A similar model, improved with a steering
mechanism attached to the front wheel, was
created in 1816 by German Baron Karl von Drais de
Sauerbrun. He called it a Draisienne, after himself,
though popular parlance also dubbed it the hobby
horse.
When using either of these devices, the rider
perched on a seat between two wheels similarly
sized wheels, and using the feet, propelled the
bicycle a bit like a scooter. Drais exhibited his bicycle
in Paris in 1818, and while popularly received, its
design limited its use to really just flat, well-groomed
paths through gardens and parks, which were offlimits to a good portion of the population in those
days.

3. 1817 – The Running Machine
Velocipede, Draisienne and dandy horse, it was invented by
Karl Drais, in response to widespread starvation and the
slaughtering of horses, the consequence of a crop failure the
year before (caused by the eruption of Tambora). It had a steerable front wheel. This is the first appearance of the two-wheeler
principle that is basic to cycling and motorcycling and
minimizes rolling resistance. The velocipedes were made
entirely of wood and needed to be balanced by directing the
front wheel a bit. People then did not dare to lift the feet off safe
ground, therefore the velocipedes were propelled by pushing off
with the feet. After the good harvest in 1817 riding velocipedes
on sidewalks was forbidden worldwide, since the velocipeders
used the sidewalks, and because they could not balance on the
rutted carriageway, the fad passed. It took nearly 50 years, until
a roller-skating boom created a new public with a better sense of
balance

4. First pedal bike - 1839
Some historians credit the invention of the pedal bicycle to Kirkpatrick
MacMillan, a Scottish blacksmith who lived from 1812-1878. One day
back in 1839, MacMillan was out watching people riding bikes, which
at that time were driven by kicking the ground with your feet. Thrilling,
eh? Seemed to him that there must be a better way. . .
According to later research done by family members, after musing
on the matter a bit MacMillan came up with an idea for the first
pedal set-up that could more effectively drive the bike. Using his
blacksmith tools, he put his idea into place, and voila! bicycling
suddenly took a giant leap forward.
Macmillan's contraption had a wood frame and iron-rimmed
wooden wheels. The front wheel, which provided limited steering
measured 30 inches (760 mm) in diameter, while the back had a 40
inch (1016 mm) wheel and was attached to pedals via connecting
rods. In total, Macmillan's bike weighed 57 lb (26 kg). His creation
gathered a lot of attention, and Macmillan helped generate
additional publicity when he rode the bike 68 miles to visit his brothers
in Glasgow. Copies of his invention produced by other firms soon
appeared on the market, and Macmillan saw little profit from his
innovation.

5. 1866 - Patent for an early Boneshaker bike
Many historians credit Pierre and Ernest Michaux as
being the true inventors of the modern bicycle. This
father and son duo operated a company that made
carriages in Paris when they first assembled a twowheeled vélocipède around 1867. This bike was was
propelled like a tricycle, with its cranks and pedals
connected to the front wheel.
The design soon came to the U.S. when a Michaux
employee named Pierre Lallement who also claimed
credit for the idea, saying he developed the
prototype in 1863, set out for America. He filed for
the first bicycle patent with the U.S. patent office in
1866.
The vélocipède ("fast foot") was also known as the
"boneshaker" thanks to its rough ride, caused by its
stiff iron frame and wooden wheels wrapped in an
iron rim.

6. Penny Farthing bike - 1870
By 1870, metalworking had improved to the point
that bicycles began to be constructed entirely of
metal, an improvement in both performance and
material strength, and bike design began to change
accordingly. The pedals were still attached directly
to the front wheel but solid rubber tires and long
spokes on a much large front wheel provided a
greatly improved ride. Also, the bigger the wheels,
the faster you could go, and the Penny Farthing as
they were called enjoyed a great popularity in the
Europe and the United States in the 1870s and 1880s.

7. 1872
Friedrich Fischer (German) first mass-produces steel ball
bearings, patented by Jules Suriray in 1869

8. 1876
Browett and Harrison (English) patent an early
caliper brake.

9. 1878
Scott and Phillott (English) patent the first practicable epicyclic
change-speed gear fitted into the hub of a front-driving bicycle
The first American manufacturer of cycles begun with the
Columbia Bicycle at the Weed Sewing Machine Company
factory in Hartford, Ct. The first regular trade catalogue was
twenty pages long. The first bicycles were the 60" High
Wheelers and sold for $125.00 when sewing machines sold for
$13.00
Henry J. Lawson (English) patents a rear wheel, chain-driven
safety bicycle, the “Bicyclette” (his earlier models were lever
driven).

10. 1880
Thomas Humber (English) adapts the block chain for use with
his range of bicycles.
While the men were risking their necks on the high wheels,
ladies, confined to their long skirts and corsets, could take a
spin around the park on an adult tricycle. These machines also
afforded more dignity to gentlemen such as doctors and
clergymen. Many mechanical innovations now associated
with the automobile were originally invented for tricycles.
Rack and pinion steering, the differential, and band brakes, to
name a few.
Bicycle Activism: Good roads society organized by bicyclist
and lobbied for good roads paving the way for motor vehicles.

11. 1888
Pneumatic tire: First applied to the bicycle by an Irish veterinarian
who was trying to give his sickly young son a more comfortable
ride on his tricycle. This inventive young doctor's name was
Dunlop. Now that comfort and safety could be had in the same
package, and that package was getting cheaper as manufacturing
methods improved, everyone clamored to ride the bicycle

12. The Rover Safety Bicycle, by J.K. Starley -1890
Safety Bike: As the name implies the safety bike is safer than the
ordinary. The further improvement of metallurgy sparked the next
innovation, or rather return to previous design. With metal that was
now strong enough to make a fine chain and sprocket small and light
enough for a human being to power, the next design was a return to
the original configuration of two same-size wheels, only now, instead
of just one wheel circumference for every pedal turn, you could,
through the gear ratios, have a speed the same as the huge highwheel. Initially, the bicycles still had the hard rubber tires, and in the
absence of the long, shock-absorbing spokes, the ride they provided
was much more uncomfortable than any of the high-wheel designs.
Many of these bicycles of 100 years ago had front and/or rear
suspensions. These designs competed with each other, your choice
being the high-wheel's comfort or the safety's safety, but the next
innovation tolled the death of the high-wheel design -- pneumatic
tires. This is basically the same design as standard contemporary
bikes. The safety bike allowed large numbers of people to take up
cycling. Bikes were relatively expensive so use was somewhat restrict
to the elite.

13. 1890
Mass Production: The bicycle helped make the Gay Nineties
what they were. It was a practical investment for the working
man as transportation, and gave him a much greater flexibility
for leisure. Women would also start riding bicycles in much
larger numbers.

14. 1894
Change In Social Order: Betty Bloomer's bloomers become very
popular. Ladies, heretofore consigned to riding the heavy adult
size tricycles that were only practical for taking a turn around
the park, now could ride a much more versatile machine and
still keep their legs covered with long skirts. The bicycle craze
killed the bustle and the corset, instituted "common-sense
dressing" for women and increased their mobility considerably
Bamboo bikes are manufactured.

15. 1903
Internal hub gears invented by Sturmey Archer. By 1930 these
were used on bikes manufactured around the world. There
dominance lasted until the 1950s the parallelogram derailleur
was introduced.

16. 1920 – Kids bikes
The focus of planning and development of the transportation infrastructure was
the private automobiles. Bicycles use declined and the bicycle was considered
primarily as children's toys. Kids bikes were introduced just after the First
World War by several manufacturers, such as Mead, Sears Roebuck, and
Montgomery Ward, to revitalize the bike industry (Schwinn made its big
splash slightly later), these designs, now called "classic", featured automobile
and motorcycle elements to appeal to kids who, presumably, would rather have
a motor. If ever a bike needed a motor, this was it. These bikes evolved into the
most glamorous, fabulous, ostentatious, heavy designs ever. It is unbelievable
today that 14-year-old kids could do the tricks that we did on these 65 pound
machines! They were built into the middle 50s, by which time they had taken
on design elements of jet aircraft and even rockets. By the 60s, they were
becoming leaner and simpler

17. 1930
Tullio Campagnolo patents the quick release hub.
Schwinn introduced the fat tire, spring fork, streamline
Excelsior, designed to take the abuse of teenage boys, which
was the proto-type mountain bike. The Schwinn Excelsior
frames became the model for the early mountain bikes almost
fifty years later.

18. Motorcycle
Motorcycle history begins in the second half of the 19th century.
Motorcycles are descended from the "safety bicycle," a bicycle with
front and rear wheels of the same size and a pedal crank mechanism
to drive the rear wheel. Despite some early landmarks in its
development, motorcycles lack a rigid pedigree that can be traced
back to a single idea or machine. Instead, the idea seems to have
occurred to numerous engineers and inventors around Europe at
around the same time.
The 1900 Werner Brothers patented
motorcycle.

19. 1881 – Steam Power
Lucius Copeland of Phoenix, Arizona designed a much smaller
steam boiler which could drive the large rear wheel of an
American Star high-wheeler at 12 mph. In 1887 Copeland
formed the Northrop Manufacturing Co. to produce the first
successful 'Moto-Cycle' (actually a three-wheeler).
Lucius Copeland 1894

20. 1885 - Petroleum Power
The Reitwagen was designed and built by the German
inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Bad
Cannstatt, near Stuttgart, in 1885. It was the first petroleumpowered vehicle, running on a light gasolene. Previous engines
designed by Nikolaus Otto had been powered by town gas. The
German name Reitwagen means "riding car". Daimler created
this machine solely as a testbed to prove that his Grandfather
Clock engine could work in a vehicle.
Replica of the 1885 Daimler-Maybah Reitwagen

21. First commercial products
In the decade from the late 1880s, dozens of designs and machines emerged,
particularly in France, Germany and England, and soon spread to America. During
this early period of motorcycle history, there were many manufacturers since
bicycle makers were adapting their designs for the new internal combustion engine.
In 1894, the Hildebrand & Wolfmüller became the first motorcycle available to the
public for purchase. However, only a few hundred examples of this motorcycle
were ever built. Soon, as the engines became more powerful and designs outgrew
the bicycle origins, the number of motorcycle-oriented producers increased.
The first known motorcycle in the United States was said to be brought to New
York by a French circus performer, in 1895. It weighed about 200 lb (91 kg) and
was capable of 40 mph (64 km/h) on a level surface. However, that same year, an
inventor from the United States, E.J. Pennington, demonstrated a motorcycle of his
own design in Milwaukee. Pennington claimed his machine was capable of a speed
of 58 mph (93 km/h), and is credited with inventing the term "motor cycle" to
describe his machine.

22. The 20th Century
In 1901 English quadricycle and bicycle maker Royal Enfield
introduced its first motorcycle, with a 239 cc engine mounted in
the front and driving the rear wheel through a belt. In 1898,
English bicycle maker Triumph decided to extend its focus to
include motorcycles, and by 1902, the company had produced
its first motorcycle—a bicycle fitted with a Belgian-built
engine. In 1903, as Triumph's motorcycle sales topped 500, the
American company Harley-Davidson started producing
motorcycles.
the Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company, which had
been founded by two former bicycle racers, designed the socalled "diamond framed" Indian Single, whose engine was built
by the Aurora Firm in Illinois per Indian's specifications. The
Single was made available in the deep blue. Indian's production
was up to over 500 bikes by 1902, and would rise to 32,000, its
best ever, in 1913.

23. Until the First World War, Indian was the largest motorcycle
manufacturer in the world. After that, this honour went to
Harley-Davidson, until 1928 when DKW took over as the
largest manufacturer. BMW motorcycles came on the scene in
1923 with a shaft drive and an opposed-twin or "boxer" engine
enclosed with the transmission in a single aluminum housing.
A 1923 BMW R32, with a shaft-drive, boxer twin engine
By 1931, Indian and Harley-Davidson were the only two
American manufacturers producing commercial motorcycles.
This two-company rivalry in the United States remained until
1953, when the Indian Motorcycle factory in Springfield,
Massachusetts closed and Royal Enfield took over the Indian
name
A pre-war Polish Sokol 1000

24. There were over 80 different makes of motorcycle available in
Britain in the 1930s, from the familiar marques like Norton,
Triumph and AJS to the obscure, with names like New Gerrard,
NUT, SOS, Chell and Whitwood, about twice as many motorcycle
makes competing in the world market during the early 21st century.
In 1937, Joe Petrali set a new land speed record of 136.183 mph
(219.165 km/h) on a modified Harley-Davidson 61 cubic inch
(1,000 cc) overhead valve-driven motorcycle. The same day, Petrali
also broke the speed record for 45 cubic inch (737 cc) engine
motorcycles.
In Europe, production demands, driven by the buildup to World War II,
included motorcycles for military use, and BSA supplied 126,000 BSA M20
motorcycles to the British armed forces, starting in 1937 and continuing until
1950. Royal Enfield also produced motorcycles for the military, including a
125 cc lightweight motorcycle that could be dropped (in a parachute-fitted
tube cage) from an aircraft
V-twin American motorcycle a 1941 Crocker

25. After World War II
In Europe, on the other hand, post-war motorcycle producers
were more concerned with designing practical, economical
transportation than the social aspects, or "biker" image.
Italian designer Piaggio introduced the Vespa in 1946, which
experienced immediate and widespread popularity. Imports
from the UK, Italy and Germany, thus found a niche in U.S.
markets that American bikes did not fill.
An original Vespa with sidecar
The BSA Group purchased Triumph Motorcycles in 1951 to
become the largest producer of motorcycles in the world
claiming "one in four". The German NSU was the largest
manufacturer from 1955 until 1959 when Honda became the
largest manufacturer.
A 1962 Triumph Bonneville

26. Honda, which was officially founded in Japan on
September 24, 1948, introduced their SOHC inline
four-cylinder CB750 in 1969, which was inexpensive
and immediately successful. It established the acrossthe-frame-four engine configuration as a design with
huge potential for power and performance. Shortly
after the introduction of the SOHC, Kawasaki
demonstrated the potential of the four-stroke fourcylinder engine with the introduction of the KZ900.
Suzuki, Kawasaki and the Yamaha each started
producing motorcycles in the 1950s. Meanwhile, the
sun was setting on British dominion over the bigdisplacement motorbike market
The Honda CB750

27. The excellence of Japanese motorcycles caused similar effects in all
"Western" markets: many Italian bike firms either went bust or only just
managed to survive. As a result BMW's worldwide sales sagged in the 1960s,
but came back strongly with the introduction of a completely redesigned
"slash-5" series for model year 1970.
From the 1960s through the 1990s, small two-stroke motorcycles were
popular worldwide, partly as a result of the East German Walter Kaaden's
engine work in the 1950s, later acquired by Suzuki via stolen plans supplied
by MZ rider Ernst Degner, who defected to the West on 13 September 1961
after retiring from the 125cc Swedish Grand Prix at Kristianstad
A factory full fairing was introduced by BMW motorcycle in the R100RS of
1977, the first factory fairing produced in quantity. In 1980, BMW stimulated
the "adventure touring" category of motorcycling with its dual-sport model,
the R80G/S. In 1988, BMW was the first motorcycle manufacturer to
introduce anti-lock-brakes (ABS) on its sporting K100RS-SE and K1 models

28. The Present
Today the Japanese manufacturers, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki,
and Yamaha dominate the large motorcycle industry,
although Harley-Davidson still maintains a high degree of
popularity, particularly in the United States.
Recent years have seen a resurgence in the popularity around
the world of many other motorcycle brands, including BMW,
Triumph and Ducati, and the emergence of Victory as a
second successful mass-builder of big-twin American cruisers.
In November 2006, the Dutch company E.V.A. Products BV
Holland announced that the first commercially available
diesel-powered motorcycle, its Track T-800CDI, achieved
production status. The Track T-800CDI uses a 800 cc threecylinder Daimler Chrysler diesel engine. However, other
manufacturers, including Royal Enfield, had been producing
diesel-powered bikes since at least 1965
A 2004 Kawasaki ZX-7RR

29. THANK YOU
Some glace to all the
Vintage