The Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede was a
steam powered
velocipede
A velocipede () is a human-powered land vehicle with one or more wheels. The most common type of velocipede today is the bicycle.
The term was probably first coined by Karl von Drais in French as ''vélocipède'' for the French translation o ...
made in France sometime from 1867 to 1871, when a small
Louis-Guillaume Perreaux
Louis-Guillaume Perreaux (19 February 1816 – 5 April 1889) was a French inventor and engineer who submitted one of the first patents for a working motorcycle in 1869.
Early life
Perreaux was born in the village of Almenêches, in Normandy, Fran ...
commercial steam engine was attached to a
Pierre Michaux
Pierre Michaux (June 25, 1813 – 1883) was a blacksmith who furnished parts for the carriage trade in Paris during the 1850s and 1860s. He may have become the inventor of the bicycle when he added pedals to a draisine to form the Michaudin ...
manufactured iron framed pedal bicycle.
It is one of three
motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
s claimed to be the first motorcycle, along with the
Roper steam velocipede
The Roper steam velocipede was a steam-powered velocipede built by inventor Sylvester H. Roper of Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, United States sometime from 1867–1869. It is one of three machines which have been called the first motorcycle, a ...
of 1867 or 1868, and the
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...
Daimler Reitwagen
The Daimler ''Reitwagen'' ("riding car") or ''Einspur'' ("single track") was a motor vehicle made by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in 1885. It is widely recognized as the first motorcycle. Daimler is often called "the father of the mot ...
of 1885.
Perreaux continued development of his steam cycle, and exhibited a tricycle version by 1884. The only Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede made, on loan from the Musée de l'Île-de-France, Sceaux, was the first machine viewers saw upon entering the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...
rotunda in The Art of the Motorcycle
The Art of the Motorcycle was an exhibition that presented 114 motorcycles chosen for their historic importance or design excellenceSawetz. "The Art of the Motorcycle is curated by Thomas Krens, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, ...
exhibition in New York in 1998.
First motorcycle?
Motoring author L. J. K. Setright
Leonard John Kensell Setright (10 August 1931 – 7 September 2005) was an English journalist, motoring journalist and author.
Early life and education
Setright was born in London to Australian parents; his father, Henry Roy Setright, was an e ...
commented that, "the simplest way to define a motorcycle is as a bicycle propelled by a heat engine
In thermodynamics and engineering, a heat engine is a system that converts heat to mechanical energy, which can then be used to do mechanical work. It does this by bringing a working substance from a higher state temperature to a lower state ...
; and if we accept this we must go on to admit that its prototype is unidentifiable, shrouded in the mists of industrial antiquity."[ Both the Michaux-Perreaux and Roper machines have been assigned years of origin of 1867, 1868, and 1869 by different authorities, and which combination of these three years is given to the two steam motorcycles determines whether it was a tie, or whether one can be called the first.
Both steam cycles are rejected as the first motorcycle by other experts, such as '']Cycle World
''Cycle World'' is a motorcycling magazine in the United States. It was founded in 1962 by Joe Parkhurst, who was inducted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame as "the person responsible for bringing a new era of objective journalism" to the US. ''Cyc ...
s Technical Editor Kevin Cameron, who either argue that a true motorcycle must use a gasoline internal combustion engine, or that the first motorcycle must use the same technology as the successful motorcycles that later went into mass production, and not a 'dead end'. They therefore give credit to Wilhelm Maybach
Wilhelm Maybach (; 9 February 1846 – 29 December 1929) was an early German engine designer and industrialist. During the 1890s he was hailed in France, then the world centre for car production, as the "King of Designers".
From the late 19th ce ...
and Gottlieb Daimler
Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (; 17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist born in Schorndorf (Kingdom of Württemberg, a federal state of the German Confederation), in what is now Germany. He was a ...
's 1885 Daimler Reitwagen.[
After the period of experimental steam and internal combustion motorcycles, the uncertainty dissolves on the question of the first production motorcycle. The ]liquid cooled
Liquid cooling refers to cooling by means of the convection or circulation of a liquid.
Examples of liquid cooling technologies include:
* Cooling by convection or circulation of coolant, including water cooling
* Liquid cooling and ventilatio ...
four-stroke
A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...
Hildebrand & Wolfmüller
The Hildebrand & Wolfmüller was the world's first production motorcycle. Heinrich and Wilhelm Hildebrand were steam-engine engineers before they teamed up with Alois Wolfmüller to produce their internal combustion ''Motorrad'' in Munich in 1894 ...
of 1894 was the first motorcycle produced in quantity and sold commercially.
Year of origin
The earliest year suggested for the Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede is 1867, which could be either the same year, or earlier than the Roper velocipede, which some authorities also date as early as 1867,[ while others such as motorcycling historians ]Charles M. Falco
Charles M. Falco (born August 17, 1948) is an American experimental physicist and an expert on the magnetic and optical properties of thin film materials.
Biography
Falco earned his Ph.D. at the University of California, Irvine in 1974 and spent ...
and David Burgess-Wise
David Burgess-Wise is a motoring author, enthusiast, and automobile historian.
According to the dustcover of the book "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles" he edited in 1979, David Burgess Wise ith no "-"was born in 1942.
A motoring wr ...
, and ''Motorcycle Consumer News
''Motorcycle Consumer News'' (MCN) was a monthly motorcycling magazine that reviewed motorcycles and accessories, and covered motorcycle safety, training and industry news. Unlike most publications, it was wholly subscriber-supported and did no ...
'' design columnist Glynn Kerr
Glynn Kerr is a British-born motorcycle designer residing in California, who has specialised in motorcycle design for over thirty years. He has written for ''Bike India'', ''Kicxstart'' (Netherlands), ''Motorcycle Consumer News'' (USA), ''Solo M ...
date the Roper later, to 1868,[ and the AMA ]Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
member and author Mick Walker have it as 1869.[ Walker also dates the Michaux-Perraux at 1869, declaring a tie.][ Louis-Guillaume Perreaux patented his steam velocipede on December 26, 1869,][ while Roper did not seek patents on any of his steam vehicles,][ and Daimler took out a patent for his Reitwagen on 29 August 1885.] ''Classic Bike
''Classic Bike'' is a UK motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a ra ...
'' editor Hugo Wilson says because the Perreaux-Michaux has patents to verify its date, it has a stronger claim on being first than the Roper, even if they both probably appeared in about the same year.
Definition of first motorcycle
The ''Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
'' and others include having an internal combustion engine as a criterion for a motorcycle. This definition of motorcycle worked for nearly the entire 20th century until electric motorcycle
Electric motorcycles and scooters are plug-in electric vehicles with two or three wheels. Power is supplied by a rechargeable battery which drives one or more electric motors. Electric scooters are distinguished from motorcycles by having a st ...
s grew in prominence and were accepted as true motorcycles without question.[
A different tack in favor of the internal combustion Reitwagen is that it was the prototype for virtually all successful designs that followed, in so far as the powerplant is concerned. Cameron said, "History follows things that succeed, not things that fail."][ Design columnist Glynn Kerr, ignoring the Michaux-Perraux altogether and championing the Roper, feels it would be more accurate to call the Daimler Reitwagen, "the predecessor of all gasoline-driven vehicles on land, sea, or air", but not a true motorcycle because it used two outrigger wheels to remain upright and could not lean.][ Further, Kerr notes the design was not up to the standards Daimler and Maybach's engineering skill, because they had no interest at the time in motorcycles, but only wanted an expedient test bed for their engine, and immediately dropped the Reitwagen in favor of a four wheeled stagecoach, a hot air balloon and a boat for their ongoing research.][ David Burgess-Wise called the Daimler-Maybach test bed "a crude makeshift", saying that "as a bicycle, it was 20 years out of date."][
]
Development
Pierre Michaux's son Ernest is credited by L. J. K. Setright and David Burgess-Wise as having first fitted the Perreaux patented engine to the velocipede,[ while Charles M. Falco says it was Louis-Guillaume Perreaux.][ The Michaux-Perreaux machine was constructed using the first commercially successful pedal bicycle, a boneshaker which Michaux had been building over 400 of annually since 1863,] and the single cylinder alcohol fueled Perreaux engine, which used twin flexible leather belt drives to the rear wheel. A steam pressure gauge was mounted in the rider's view above the front wheel, and steam to the cylinder was engaged and regulated with a hand control.[ The base Michaux velocipede came with a ]spoon brake
A bicycle brake reduces the speed of a bicycle or prevents it from moving. The three main types are: rim brakes, disc brakes, and drum brakes.
Most bicycle brake systems consist of three main components: a mechanism for the rider to apply the ...
but the steam version had no brakes.[ The engine weighed , and the total weight of the steam velocipede was .][ A 14 June 1871 addition to Perreaux's patent included the removal of the cranks and pedals from the front wheel, and using an arched instead of straight downtube to allow space for the engine.][ Although the steam velocipede was functional, it did not have any commercial successors.]
Only one example of the original 1867–1871 machine was ever made,[ but by 1884, Perreaux exhibited a ]tricycle
A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) three-wheeled vehicle.
Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for passenger transport) and freight trikes, ...
version of his steam velocipede, with two rear wheels and the belt driving the front wheel, at the Industrial Exhibition on the Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc de Triomphe is lo ...
, Paris.[ The alcohol-fueled engine had a similar bore and stroke to the original, and developed a steam pressure of 3½ atm (250 kPa) in its boiler, resulting in a speed of .][ The water tanks were sufficient for two to three hours of operation, resulting in a range of .][
]
Notes
''Years for the Michaux-Perreaux and Roper machines noted, if given.''
References
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{{Early motorcycles
Steam motorcycles
Experimental vehicles
Motorcycles of France
19th-century motorcycles