Motorcycle - Its History and Basics

A motorcycle is a single-track motor vehicle with two wheels, an internal combustion engine, and at least one cylinder. There are bikes to fit many lifestyles, including touring bikes for long road trips, "crotch rockets" for speed, and bikes for city traffic, cruising, etc. Motorbikes are inexpensive and readily available in many countries, making them a popular form of transportation.

The first motorbike was designed and built by the German inventors Wilhelm MayBach and Gottlieb Daimler in Bad Cannstatt in 1885. However, if one counts two wheels propelled by steam as being a motorbike, then the first one may have been American built by Sylvester Howard Roper of Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1867

The first motorcycle available for purchase was Hillenbrand & Wolf Muller, in 1894. The number of motorbike manufacturers increased as engines become more and more powerful, and the designs grew beyond their bicycle origins. The largest motorcycle producer up until World War I was Indian, but by 1920, this honor went to Harley-Davidson. In 1928 DKW took over, and after the end of World War II, BSA Group became the largest manufacturer. From 1955 until the 1970s, the German-based company NSU Motorenwerke AG was at the top. Currently, Japanese manufacturers Hondo, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Yamaha hold that position.

The engineering, manufacturing, and assembly of components and systems result in a motorbike construction as desired by the designer. The construction of modern mass-produced motorcycles has mostly standardized on a steel or aluminum frame, telescopic forks holding the front wheel, and disc brakes. It usually has one- to six-cylinder gasoline powered engine.

Motorbikes with short wheel base, like sport bikes, are able to generate enough torque at the rear wheel and enough stopping force at the front wheel to lift the opposing wheel off the ground. These moves are respectively known as wheelies and stoppies. If the action is carried past the point of recovery, it can result in an upset known as "looping" the vehicle.

You must also be aware of the fact that a motorbike's fuel economy benefits from the relatively small mass of the vehicle in comparison to the passengers and other motor vehicles and the subsequent small engine displacement. Riding style has a large effect on fuel economy as well. Some riders have reported that they are able to double their fuel economy by using low accelerations and lower speeds than usual, though this is an extreme case.