World Motorcycle Day is celebrated on the third Monday in June, but it’s not the only motorcycle holiday. Today, August 29, is the motorcycle’s birthday. What happened on this day?
Exactly 137 years ago, on August 29, 1885, the German inventor Gottlieb Daimler received a patent for the world’s first motorcycle. By this time he had a working internal combustion engine, which he had been developing since about 1872, and it had to be plugged in somewhere.
The development of a car was a long-term perspective, but it was possible to equip a bicycle with it quickly and at minimal cost. This is what Gottlieb Daimler did when he received a patent for an invention called the Daimler Petroleum Reitwagen (Kerosene Riding Cart).
The frame of the first motorcycle was made of wood, and the transmission was a belt (belts, along with chains and universal joints, are still used today). The bike weighed only 50 kg and was equipped with a single-cylinder gasoline engine, the working volume of which was 264 cubes. The engine power was small – only 0.5 horsepower. Today, similar-sized engines are rated at about 20 horsepower.
The motorcycle had no shock absorbers – a real hardtail, and the wheels had no tires – only iron rims with wooden spokes were used. The most important thing is that the bike moves.
This was experienced by Gottlieb Daimler’s son – Paul Daimler, who ran into the distance on a bicycle at a speed of 12 km / h. He did not return soon and in a bad mood, declaring that in his life he would no longer sit on this “bone breaker”. A joke, probably.
Maxim “Senator” Karfidov, commissioner of the motorcycle club Druzhina (Lyubertsy), motorcycle instructor:
– The creator and tester of the first motorcycle, of course, could not imagine what it would become after plus or minus a century of their initiatives. Then they simply tested the first combustion engine, making it the simplest device it seemed to them.
But still, something made them akin to modern motorcyclists. The same desire to go your own way, willingness to take risks, desire to broaden your horizons, discover new things, take responsibility.
Today it is impossible to imagine the world without motorcycles, but in many countries, including Russia, they remain a symbol of freedom from borders, a symbol of people who choose their own way, who are not afraid to take risks and take responsibility to take.
The first ride on the first motorcycle ended with Daimler Jr.’s ass blazing. (the saddle caught fire on the structure), but this could not stop the desire for freedom. At that time – freedom of horses, horse carts, etc.
Likewise, the risk of accidents today does not stop hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists, for whom freedom from the tightness of iron boxes, traffic jams, etc. remains a priority. And because of the physical degree of freedom comes the feeling of inner freedom. The most valuable thing motorcycles give us today.
On this occasion, in honor of the motorcycle’s birthday, tours of motorbikes from clubs and independent riders are on the program today. For example, the Kataemsk group in Moscow (on the M4 highway) has appointed a meeting of those who want to drive and chat. A request to motorists today to be attentive and often look in the rear-view mirrors.