Roper steam velocipede
Manufacturer | Sylvester H. Roper |
---|---|
Production | 1867–1869, 1884–1896 |
Assembly | Boston, Massachusetts |
Class | Steam motorcycle |
The Roper steam velocipede was a steam-powered velocipede built by inventor Sylvester H. Roper of Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, United States sometime from 1867 to 1869. It is one of three machines which have been called the first motorcycle,[1] along with the Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede, also dated 1867–1869, and the 1885 Daimler Reitwagen. Historians disagree over whether the Roper or the Michaux-Perreaux came first. Though the Reitwagen came many years later than the two steam cycles, it is often labeled as the "first motorcycle" because there is doubt by some experts whether a steam cycle should meet the definition of a motorcycle.
After his initial prototype of the late 1860s, Roper built a new and revised version in 1894, based on the then state of the art safety bicycle frame type. Sylvester Roper died of an apparent heart attack while riding this machine in 1896.
An 1869 Roper machine is now in the
First motorcycle?
There are competing claims for the title of first motorcycle, depending on whether a steam motorcycle, or only one with an internal combustion engine, counts as a true motorcycle, and the uncertainty as to which of the two earliest steam motorcycles, the Roper or the Michaux-Perreaux, was built first.
Date
The earliest date claimed for the existence of the Roper steam velocipede is 1867,[7][8][9] but some say the Michaux-Perreaux also could have been made in 1867.[6][10] Motorcycling historians Charles M. Falco and David Burgess-Wise, and Motorcycle Consumer News design columnist Glynn Kerr date the Roper later, to 1868,[1][9][11] and the Owls Head museum's example is of that year.[12][13] The AMA Hall of Fame and motoring author Mick Walker put Roper's steam velocipede at 1869, in accordance with the date of the machine in the Smithsonian.[14][15] Cycle World's Alan Girdler dates both at 1868, while Mick Walker also declares a tie, but in the year 1869.[1][15] Classic Bike editor Hugo Wilson says the existence of an 1869 patent for the Michaux-Perreaux gives it "the better claim to 'first'", even though the Roper was built around the same time.[16] Though Sylvester Roper took out a number of patents for firearms, industrial machinery and other inventions, he did not obtain patents for any of his steam cycles or cars.[17]
True motorcycle?
If the definition of a motorcycle requires an internal combustion engine, as asserted by the Oxford English Dictionary and others,[18][10][19][20] then the two pre-1870 steam cycles are disqualified and the first motorcycle may be Bernardi's 1882 motorized tricycle, or the Reitwagen of Wilhelm Maybach and Gottlieb Daimler, patented in 1885.[10][11][20] Encyclopædia Britannica defines a motorcycle as, "any two-wheeled or, less commonly, three-wheeled motor vehicle, usually propelled by an internal-combustion engine."[21]
A somewhat different argument acknowledges that while the several steam two- and three-wheelers that preceded the Reitwagen might have been technically motorcycles, none are candidates for the historical milestone of "the first motorcycle" because the technology they used was a dead end.[11][20] Instead, the recognition should go to the internal combustion Reitwagan because it blazed a trail that was followed by the thousands of successful motorcycles subsequently built in the 20th century.[11][20] As Cycle World's Technical Editor Kevin Cameron noted, "History follows things that succeed, not things that fail."[11] By this logic, when some future form of motorcycle propulsion takes over from internal combustion, everything that went before will be disqualified, because it turned out to be a dead end technology. The ideology of elevating ideas current in the present and dismissing the past is sometimes called presentism.
Allan Girdler and Glynn Kerr nonetheless still favor the Roper, even by Cameron's criterion.
1867–1869 version
Spoon | |
Tires | 34 in (860 mm) Iron on wood rims, wood spokes |
---|---|
Wheelbase | 49 in (1,200 mm) |
According to the Smithsonian, Roper's first velocipede of 1867–1869 used a purpose built frame rather than adapting an existing velocipede frame by retrofitting a steam engine,
The original 1868 version of the velocipede is attributed to W.W. Austin of Winthrop, Massachusetts by some early newspaper accounts, which were taken up in later histories.[7][24][28][29] Motoring author L. J. K. Setright believes Austin was only the rider or demonstrator of a Roper machine, and had been misidentified as its inventor.[7] Austin is also mentioned as the owner, in 1901, of both the 1867–1869 Roper velocipede and an older four wheeled Roper steam car.[30][31] The Smithsonian says a "Professor" W.W. Austin had exhibited a Roper steamer of unknown date, leading to the erroneous attribution to Austin instead of Roper.[24] A Roper velocipede was on display at the first New York Auto Show in Madison Square Garden in November 1900,[32] and again Austin was sometimes described as the inventor.[33]
The 1867–1869 Roper velocipede, or one like it, was later given to the Smithsonian by John H. Bacon, and is currently in the America on the Move exhibit in the National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.[2][3] It is the oldest self-propelled road vehicle in the Smithsonian,[24] and the second oldest in America, after the Dudgeon steamer.[24]
1884–1896 version
Spoon |
Roper's second steam cycle was apparently constructed in 1884, and was further developed in 1896, when Colonel Albert Pope, owner of
Roper was asked to demonstrate his 'self propeller' at the Charles River velodrome, a banked concrete bicycle racing track, where he first paced the racing cyclists, then raced professional rider Nat Butler, easily outpacing the bicyclists with timed laps at around 30 mph (120.2sec/mile on the 1/3mile track). He was then encouraged to give a demonstration of maximum speed, and was timed at over 40 mph, when a 'sudden pallor' was seen on his face, and his machine wobbled to a stop, Roper falling off his cycle. He died at the track-side with his son Charles, of 'natural causes', at age 72.[39]
This machine was on exhibit in the 1960s at Bellm's Cars of Yesterday in
See also
Notes
Years for the Michaux-Perreaux and Roper machines noted, if given.
- ^ )
- ^ a b c Johnson, Paul F., "Roper, Clarke, Indian and Harley", America on the Move, Smithsonian Institution, retrieved 2011-02-06
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Johnson, Paul F., Roper steam velocipede, Smithsonian Institution, retrieved 2011-02-06
- ^ a b 1894 Roper Steam Motorcycle; Lot No. 703, Auctions America by RM, 2012, retrieved March 12, 2012
- ^ ISBN 0-8109-9106-3
- ^ a b c Edwards, Alyn (January 18, 2011), "Vancouver exhibit honours North American motorcycles; Fabulous Deeley collection is one of the world's best", Edmonton Journal
- ^ )
- ^ Tharp, Dave (19 July 2007), "The First Motorcycle? It seems like a simple question, but the answer is a bit complicated.", Motorcycle.com, retrieved 2011-02-07
- ^ ISBN 0-600-34407-X)
Michaux-Perreaux year 1867. Roper year 1868.{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link - ^ ISSN 1059-1028.
- ^ )
- ^ Exhibitions at OHTM, Owls Head Transportation Museum, 2010, retrieved 2011-02-07
- Sun Journal, Lewiston, Maine, pp. C14, 20 August 2007, retrieved 2011-02-07
- ^ American Motorcyclist Association (2002), "Sylvester Roper; American inventor and transportation pioneer who built a steam-powered motorcycle in 1869", AMA Motorcycle Hall of FameRoper year 1869
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ ISBN 0-8018-8530-2, retrieved 2011-01-28)
Michaux-Perreaux year 1869. Roper year 1869.{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link - ISBN 1-56458-303-1
- ^ See Sylvester H. Roper#List of patents
- )
- ^ "motorcycle, n.". Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford University Press. March 2009.
1. A two-wheeled motor-driven road vehicle, resembling a bicycle but powered by an internal-combustion engine; (now) spec. one with an engine capacity, top speed, or weight greater than that of a moped.
- ^ ISBN 1-4054-5466-0
- ^ "motorcycle", Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition (subscription required), Encyclopædia Britannica, 2013, retrieved June 6, 2013
- ^ ISBN 1-889540-53-6
- ISBN 0-19-518951-5
- ^ LCCN 68009579
- ^ Boston, Massachusetts, 2 June 1896
- ISBN 1-4054-3952-1Roper year 1869. Michaux-Perreaux year 1868.)
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: postscript (link - ^ U.S. patent RE3297 Wm. Hanlon, Edw'd Hanlon, "Improvement in Velocipede", issued 1869-2-9
- ^ Stanford, Harold Melvin (1921), "The Story of the Motorcycle", The Standard reference work: for the home, school and library, vol. 8, Standard Education Society, pp. 52–58, retrieved 2011-02-06
- ^ O'Connor, J. J. (5 July 1913), "The Genealogy of the Motorcycle; From the Steam Velocipede, 1868, to the Standard Machine of 1913", Scientific American, Munn & Co
- ISSN 0032-4558, retrieved 2011-02-06
- ^ Johnson, Paul F., Sylvester Roper's steam carriage, Smithsonian Institution, retrieved 2011-02-06
- ^ Wren, James (21 September 1993), "Early autos strutted their stuff at N.Y. show", Automotive News, p. 52
- ^ "Motor Show is Opened", The New York Times, 4 November 1900
- ^ Boston Daily Globe, p. 1, 2 June 1896
- ISBN 978-0786440894
- ISBN 978-0956497550
- ^ Boston Directory, 1895, Boston Public Library
- ^ "Houston Auto Repair Services: Santa Ana Auto Care Shop".
- ^ Boston Post, June 2, 1896
- ^ Ford, Dexter (October 28, 2011), "1894 Roper Motorbike Aims at World Auction Record", The New York Times, retrieved March 12, 2012
- Wall Street Journal, retrieved 2011-11-14
External links
- Video on YouTube— Working replica of 1867-1869 version
- Pete Gagan - 1896 Sylvester Roper Steam Motorcycle on YouTube— Demonstration of working replica of Roper velocipede by Pete Gagan of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America.