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Bicycle had younger brother

A Michigan State Police trooper on a motorcycle stops to offer assistance, circa 1920s. (Photo courtesy of the Marquette Regional History Center)

MARQUETTE — Imaginative inventors have always tried to improve existing objects. Some inventors of the 1860s merged their imagination and technology to improve upon the bicycle, which lead to the modern day motorcycle.

French inventor Pierre Michaux, who invented the bicycle, created the first steam powered motorcycle at his bicycle factory in France in 1867. The popularity of the bicycle was growing in both Europe and places across the Atlantic. The new mode of transportation sparked other inventors to try and improve the bicycle.

One such inventor was American Sylvester H. Roper. In 1868 presented his twin cylinder steam velocipede –an early form of bicycle propelled by working pedals on cranks fitted to the front axle.

Roper’s velocipede had a coal burn furnace, which could travel a total of seven to eight miles. Sylvester would travel to carnivals and fairs to demonstrate his creation. In 1896 Mr. Roper took his 1894 Columbia high frame racing bike to the one-third mile Charles River Park Track to race against some young bicycle racers. At the age of 73, Roper completed three laps in two minutes and twelve seconds with an average speed of thirty miles per hour.

Wanting to beat his previous week’s record of 40 miles per hour Dorchester Avenue mile ride, Roper started another lap and increased his speed. But in the back stretch, the bike became unsteady with the forward wheel wobbling and then suddenly the cycle was deflected from its course, plunged off the track into the sand, throwing the rider and overturning.

Sylvester Roper was pronounced dead at the scene. When Dr. Welcott examined Mr. Roper’s body, it was discovered that he suffered a heart attack, which caused the accident, not his invention.

The credit for creating the first motorcycle goes to German inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach because they produced the first motorcycle with a diesel based engine in 1885. A small 264cc engine was equipped on a wooden bicycle and was named “Daimler Reitwagen,” which means riding wagon.

This kick started future innovation and were precursor to all other forms of gasoline internal combustion engine forms of transport.

After the introduction to the motorcycle in the United States in 1895 via a French circus group, E.J. Pennington demonstrated his first version of a motorcycle that had a top speed of fifty-eight miles per hour.

Then just five years later, the Werner Brothers submitted a patent for the first motorcycle. In the following years, several big manufacturing plans started their production of motorcycles. Most notably are English Royal Enfield, Triumph, American Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company. Between 1901 and 1903 the first organized motorcycle races began, which increased demand for faster and powerful engines and designs.

In 1908, the city of Detroit placed an order with Harley-Davidson so that some of their officers could become the motorcycle patrol unit. With the rise in automobile and motorcycle use, law enforcement officers needed a quick mode of transportation to catch up with speeders and enforce speed limit traffic laws.

The Michigan State Police post in Negaunee Township also utilized the use of motorcycles during the 1920s. Some believe that motorcycles helped law enforcement to capture bootleggers and rumrunners during the Prohibition Era. The city of Marquette had motorcycle officers as well. Between 1922 and 1930, the city spent $150 to $600 in motorcycle equipment and maintenance costs.

The motorcycle has an interesting beginning and many inventors helped shape the modern marvel that we see today. The bicycle’s younger brother has fans all over the world, whether they are a fan of motorcycle racing, part of a motorcycle club or are a weekend warrior.

So, the next time you see a motorcycle, just remember that it started out as a bicycle and through the hard work and imagination of some inventors, it turned into an engine powered marvel of its time.

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