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The Spanish
Motorcycle Tour Specialists
The Hildebrand & Wolfmüller Motorcycle
Many
of you will possibly cite Gottlieb Daimler as the inventor of the
motorcycle. Once again, you would be correct in aspect only. Mr. Daimler’s
“boneshaker” motor bike was actually a hybrid motor driven bicycle. It
sported a wooden frame, wood wheels, as well as wood outrigger wheels to
steady the contraption (It’s to be noted, Daimler only accorded this frame
to demonstrate his engine. (It is thought he never accepted it would be a
working model.)
According to several sources, once Daimler revealed his “motorbike” to the
world, De Dion-Bouton brought forth his version and then an American; E. R.
Thomas revealed his motorcycle, also utilizing a bicycle frame for his
chassis.
The ER Thomas deserves a write up of its own. I’ll get to that at a later
date! There was also something known as the Motocyclette, designed by Felix
Millet that was introduced one year prior to Hildebrand and Wolfmuller’s.
Millet used an aviation style radial five cylinder engine, but this
motorcycle never saw mass production.
The period from 1868 to 1900 is considered the “invention” time period of
the motorcycle.
The Hildebrand Brothers along with Alois Wolfmuler and his mechanic, Hans
Geisenhof discarded the steam efforts in favour of developing a two stroke
gasoline engine. It soon became clear, the larger four stroke engines would
be the new wave of the future, so the Hildebrands and Wolfmuler as well as
Hans Geisenhof were soon developing water cooled four strokes for their
motorcycles.
The
second period, titled "Time, Space and Speed," runs from 1894 to 1919. It
includes a 1489cc Hildebrand from 1894 that was the world's first series
production motorcycle.
The Hildebrand and Wolfmüller was the first mass produced TWO wheeled motor
vehicle to be dubbed a “motorcycle.” Actually the Germans were the first to
call it “motorrad”, meaning motorcycle in German, the word was now (1894)
patented by Hildebrand and Wolfmüller.
So now you understand how this bike became known as the first “Motorcycle.”
It was the first practical motorcycle to be put on to the market, and many
were built in Germany and France up to 1896.
The Hildebrand and Wolfmüller had no clutch. Power was delivered to the rear
wheel via locomotive-style pushrods which were linked directly to the
engine's pistons. The solid rear wheel was used as a flywheel. The pushrods
were returned by the force generated from two large rubber straps - one on
each side of the motorcycle.
It is said this motorcycle sported a price tag regarded as high end. This
fact along with technical problems such as NO CLUTCH, hindered the
popularity of this bike. The partnership between the Hildebrand’s and the
Wolfmüller’s came to an end with financial failure the result. The factory
closed in 1919.
Article kindly supplied by Chessie's Tales
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