Roger Scoble blogs about the latest gadgets, travel and luxury…
Did you know that Mercedes-Benz also invented the motorbike? Exactly 125 years ago, on August 29, 1885, Gottlieb Daimler filed a patent for the “riding car” – a vehicle described as “automobile with two wheels” or as we call it today: motorbike.
Daimler riding car, 1885. The world's first motorcycle.In 1885, the so-called riding car was built in Gottlieb Daimler's workshop as a test unit to prove the suitability of Daimler's and Wilhelm Maybach's gas or petroleum engine for everyday use. The photo shows the Gottlieb Daimler Memorial in Bad Cannstatt with the Daimler riding car which is today regarded as the world's first motorcycle.Patent specification number DRP 34926 for Gottlieb Daimler's and Wilhelm Maybach's gas or petroleum engine.Daimler riding car, 1885. The world's first motorcycle.Patent No. DRP 34926, page 1: The Daimler engine, patented on 1 April 1886, was a fundamentally new design.Patent No. DRP 34926, page 2: Since the crank drive and fly wheel were for the first time encased in a crankcase that was both oil- and dust-tight. The engine was given the name grandfather clock.Wilhelm Maybach (1846 - 1929) astride the riding car, for which Gottlieb Daimler registered a patent in 1885. The vehicle was a test vehicle for the high-speed four-stroke engine invented by Daimler and Maybach.
Roger Scoble blogs about the latest gadgets, travel and luxury news. A graduate of UCLA, Roger loves to travel, drive luxe autos and have amazing adventures.
