Introduction

1.1 History of Motorcycle

Hello and welcome to The Motor. In this blog, I will review a little bit about the motorcycle. As I not the expert, so I also need your opinion if I do a mistake during my explanation. I also take a few website as reference. The history of motorcycle begin when Sylvester Howard Roper built a steam-powered bike in 1868. Actually the concept of motorcycle came from the "safety bicycles with front and rear wheels with the same size and also with pedal crank mechanism to drive the bicycle. The motorcycle that Howard made is not powered by a gasoline engine, but then by a steam engine. It was demonstrated at fairs and circuses in the eastern US in 1867. Though it is not catch on, but then it is the most modern motorbike features including twisting-handgrip throttle control at that era.


Then in 1869, Howard upgrade his motorcycle. It's powered by a charcoal-fired two-cylinder engine that connecting rod to drive a crank on the rear wheel. According to Totalmotorcycle, The machine predates the invention of the safety bicycle by many years, so its chassis is also based on the "bone-crusher" bike. "Bone-Crusher's" appeared around 1800, used iron-banded wagon wheels, and were called "bone-crushers," both for their jarring ride, and their tendency to toss their rider.

Year by year of the improvement of the motorcycle, in 1895, DeDion-Button produce an engine that totally revolutionize the motorcycle. I take a statement from a howstuffworks websites said that he engine of DeDion was a small, light, high-revving four-stroke engine that could generate half of a horsepower. Even tough he used the engine in its motorcycle, many of motorcycle manufactures around the world copies and use the design.


In 1895, DeDion-Buton introduced an engine that would revolutionize the motorcycle industry by making mass production possible. The DeDion-Buton engine was a small, light, high-revving four-stroke engine that could generate half a horsepower. Although DeDion-Buton used the engine in its motorcycles, motorcycle manufacturers around the world copied and used the design.

American production motorcycles were also based on the DeDion-Buton engine. The two most famous American motorcycle manufacturers to incorporate the DeDion-Buton engine, however, were the Indian Motorcycle Company and Harley-Davidson.


Year by year motorcycle being involved until nowadays many of motorcycles not just being use for transportation instead for racing, touring and others. Many of company also produce a lot of motorcycle with different specification, engine, specialities and others. The big company that create their name in the entire world is Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda, Kawasaki, Harley Davidson, Ducati and others. But in this blog I' focusing on Yamaha because the company get a big reputation in Malaysia as well as the number 1 chosen motorcycle company.

(Sylvester Howard Roper 1869 Steam Cycle)

REFERENCES:

1. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/motorcycle6.htm

2. http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/future.htm