With the invention of steam engines and bicycles, 19th century scientists quickly realized that combining of these two technologies could substantially improve transport on public roads.
Young ladies on motorcycles
True revolution in motorcycle technology happened in 1885, when two German inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach managed to produce first motorcycle with a gasoline internal combustion engine. This machine called “Daimler Reitwagen” (riding wagon) is today known as a first example of modern motorcycle that we know and use today. Since its appearance, many other inventors and engineers began making their own versions of engine-equipped bicycle.
Ten years after the premiere of “daimler reitwagen”, German manufacturer Hildebrand & Wolfmüller started the first motorcycle mass production factory. Their initial business did not manage to stay alive for very long but new safety features and increase of popular demand resulted in great motorcycle expansion during first years of 20th century.
Several major manufacturing companies started making their own motorcycle designs, most notably English Royal Enfield, Triumph, American Harley-Davidson, Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company and DKW.
A set of cool photos from Vintage Cars & People that shows people posing with their motorcycles from between the 1920s and 1950s.
A dapper fellow in a woollen suit and a lady posing with a D-Rad R 0/5 Combination in front of a monumental equestrian statue, 1927
A rugged-looking fellow in a leather jacket posing in the saddle of a single-cylinder motorcycle in front of Lorelei Rock in the Middle Rhine Valley, circa 1928
Three dapper fellows in suits and a stylish lady dressed in white posing with an English HRD “Howard Davies 90” motorcycle, circa 1928
A company of six posing with an Opel convertible and an ancient motorcycle on a sunny street corner, circa 1929
A stylish couple posing in the saddle of an ancient Norton 16H motorcycle in the countryside, 1929
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