Handbill for Roper steam demonstration. |
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| 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 1867–1869. 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. Enrico Bernardi's 1882 one-cylinder petrol-engined tricycle could claim priority, however.[2][3]
An 1869 Roper machine is now in the Smithsonian Institution,[4][5] and one from 1868 is in the collection of the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, Maine.[6][7] An 1894 Roper velocipede was in The Art of the Motorcycle, Las Vegas, and was in the 2011 Deeley Museum collection in Vancouver.[8][9]
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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 question of which of the two earliest steam motorcycles, the Roper or the Michaux-Perruaux, was first.
The earliest date claimed for the existence of the Roper steam velocipede is 1867,[10][11][12] but some say the Michaux-Perreaux also could have been made in 1867.[9][13] Motorcycling historians Charles M. Falco and David Burgess-Wise, and Motorcycle Consumer News design columnist Glynn Kerr date the Roper later, to 1868,[1][12][14] and the Owls Head museum's example is of that year.[6][7] 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.[15][16] Cycle World's Alan Girdler dates both at 1868, while Mick Walker also declares a tie, but in the year 1869.[1][16] Classic Bike editor Hugo Wilson says even though the dates are almost the same, the Perreaux-Michaux has the better claim because they have patents that verify the dates.[17]
If the definition of a motorcycle requires an internal combustion engine, as asserted by the Oxford English Dictionary and others,[18][13][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.[13][14][20]
A somewhat different argument acknowledges while the steam velocipedes might have been motorcycles, they are not the first motorcycles because the technology they used was a dead end, and that the honor should go to the machine which blazed a trail that was taken by the thousands of successful models subsequently built in the 20th century.[14][20] As Cycle World's Technical Editor Kevin Cameron put it, "History follows things that succeed, not things that fail."[14] Allan Girdler and Glynn Kerr contend the Roper did in fact pioneer successful motorcycle technology, such as the twist grip throttle control and frame geometry and engine placement much more like the motorcycle as we know it, while the Reitwagen was exceedingly crude, failing to employ the well understood principles of rake and trail to remain upright via the front fork and turn by leaning.[1][14] David Burgess-Wise called the Daimler-Maybach test bed "a crude makeshift", saying, "as a bicycle, it was 20 years out of date."[12]
| Production | 1867–1869 |
|---|---|
| Engine | Twin cylinder steam |
| Bore / Stroke | 2-1⁄4 in (44 mm)/? |
| Frame type | Iron |
| Suspension | Forged iron fork, rigid |
| Brakes | 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,[1][5][21] but one contemporary newspaper account does assert that Roper repurposed a velocipede frame,[22] and Setright and motoring author Roland Brown say Roper used a hickory wood frame built by the Hanlon Brothers, who made and demonstrated boneshakers at fairs and circuses.[10][23][24] It had a wheelbase of 49 in (1,200 mm) and two 34 in (860 mm) diameter wheels made of iron bands on wooden felloes with wooden spokes.[5][21] It had a rigid, forged iron fork and a solid handlebar with wooden grips,[21] which was rotated forward to open the throttle and backwards to apply the spoon brake to the front wheel.[1][5] The seat doubled as the water reservoir; or the water tank can be described as saddle shaped.[1][4][5] A hand pump transferred water from this tank to the boiler.[5] The boiler was between the wheels with a "nautical looking"[1] chimney from the boiler angling backwards behind the rider, with the firebox in the lower half of this housing, all of which hung from the frame with a spring to absorb shock, while two stay rods attached from the bottom of the housing to the back of the frame.[5] There were three water level cocks on the left side, near the water pump, and a drain valve on the bottom.[5] The two cylinders, with bores of about 2-1⁄4 in (44 mm) are located on either side of the frame, from the upper part of the boiler near the chimney, connecting to 2-1⁄2 in (38 mm) cranks on the rear wheel.[5] Exhaust steam was conveyed by tubing to the base of the chimney provided a forced draft.[5]
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.[10][21][25][26] 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.[10] Austin is also mentioned as the owner, in 1901, of both the 1867–1969 Roper velocipede and an older four wheeled Roper steam car.[27][28] The Smithsonian says a "Professor" W.W. Austin had exhibited a Roper steamer of unknown date, leading to the erroneous attrition to Austin instead of Roper.[21] A Roper velocipede was on display at the first New York Auto Show in Madison Square Garden in November 1900,[29] and again Austin was sometimes described as the inventor.[30]
The 1867–1969 Roper velocipede, or one like it, was later given to the Smithsonian by John H. Bacon.[5] It is the oldest self propelled road vehicle in the Smithsonian,[21] and the second oldest in America, after the Dudgeon steamer.[21]
| Production | 1884–1896 |
|---|---|
| Engine | Single cylinder steam |
| Bore / Stroke | 13⁄4 by 4 inches (44 × 100 mm)[8] |
| Top speed | 40 mph (64 km/h)[8][31] |
| Power | 3 hp (2.2 kW)[8] 8 hp (6.0 kW)[31] |
| Frame type | Pope Columbia bicycle |
| Brakes | Spoon |
The later version, first built in 1884 and developed up to Roper's death in 1896 while riding a version using an 1893 Pope Columbia safety bicycle, used a single-cylinder coal fired steam engine added to the center of the frame.[1][22] The bicycle was furnished by the manufacturer for the purpose of investigating its use with steam power.[31] The weight, including coal and water, was 150 lb (68 kg).[22][31] The steam engine normally generated 150 pounds of steam pressure, but could go as high as 185 pounds, which the Boston Daily Globe in 1896 described as equivalent to 8 hp (6.0 kW).[31] That machine was on exhibit in the 1960s at Bellm's Cars of Yesterday in Sarasota, Florida.[21] An 1894 Roper velocipede was lent from the R. J. Boudeman family collection to the Guggenheim Las Vegas The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition in 2001,[8] and is on view at the 2011 Deeley Motorcycle Exhibition in Vancouver.[9]
Years for the Michaux-Perreaux and Roper machines noted, if given.
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