Horses of Iron

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From Knight's new mechanical dictionary 1884

Ve-loc'i-pede, Steam. At the recent Industrial Exhibition at the Champs Elysees, Paris, M. Louis-Guillaume Perreaux, of Orne, exhibited a steam velocipede, which is illustrated herewith. Fig. 2503.

The generator, the fireplace, and the motor are arranged behind the saddle of the velocipede, after the manner of the portmanteau of a horseman. Chains or belts transmit motion from the engine to the wheels. All the parts are small, well put together, and very compact. The smalt tubular boiler is cylindrical and has a capacity of about three quarts; and at the sides there are two receptacles containing a sufficient supply of water to last during a journey of two to three hours. The piston of the engine is about 1" in diameter and has a 3" stroke. The whole engine is a mere plaything, and yet, with a pressure of 3 1/2 atmospheres, it has sufficient power to drive the velocipede at a speed of from 15 to 18 miles per hour. The fireplace which heats the boiler is an ingenious novelty, and consists of a small gasometer fed by wood spirit. The vapor of the alcohol issues through holes, and gives a flame endowed with great calorific power. The fire is lighted at will, and in a few minutes steam is up. A method is provided for regulating the escape of the alcohol vapor, and consequently the intensity of the heat. Externally the boiler is furnished with two tubes rolled in the form of a spiral, so that the steam which is produced circulates through these continuously, and is exposed directly to the fire before entering the motor. The steam being superheated, no water is carried over with it. With a speed of 18 miles an hour, the cost of alcohol consumed is from 40 to 60 cents (this calculation, of course, for France). This is certainly not very economical, but it is very pleasant to have a horse under control which eats only when he works.

 

[Lock]

No records that he EVer got his Electro Motor Velocipede built, but in the same year Charles Adams Randall also filed a patent for his coin-operated Parlophone, and he is said by many to be the "father" of the jukebox...

 

[Lock]

No battery? Range 60 feet??? Geee, THANKS Dad!

 

[Lock]

Amazing site from the Czech republic...
http://www.sterba-bike.cz/en/?lang=EN

About BI(CZ)YCLE COLLECTION

“Biczycle collection” has a great many meanings. One of then corresponds to an independent and unorganized group of friends and fans of historical bicycles. This is a group of people of different ages, education and devotion to collecting and study. And especially different professions that, however, always meet and overlap around bicycles.

You will find three basic spheres of information on our web site:
General information on museums, collections, events and especially about the technology of historical bicycles
Professional articles on the history of bicycles
A collection of individual services intended for anyone who may need them
A selection of collector’s’ items intended for sale

TONS of vintage bikes and replicas for sale, biking memorabilia, etc, but also pics taken from visits to about 50 different bike museums, expositions etc, dozens of pictures from each of these venues, many close-up detail shots of classic and vintage and antique bikes and velocipedes etc and EVen a few early motorbikes as well...

Just a few examples that I am too lazy to crop/resize (sorry):

8)

 

[sk8norcal]

wow! good find!


Lock, this one is you,

[youtube]pwPUJxiJdA0[/youtube]

 

[Lock]

Lock, this one is you,

Hehe... I wonder how the Italians say "je ne sais quoi"...

`Nother nice page here from the French firm "Creative Automotive Research & Development" (CAR&D) titled "Tributes" which lists lots of little facts about firsts in vehicle design, all the way from the invention of the wheel to the Segway etc:
http://www.car-d.fr/hommages.php?lng=en&PHPSESSID=c91671a8878a28b5a29359e8cc632adf

Stuff like rare footage of the worlds first car crash:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wMkn3zh9dk
[youtube]1wMkn3zh9dk[/youtube]

Bits like this:

The vulcanization of the rubber (adding sulfur to make it not sticky and cooking) was "invented" by Charles Goodyear in 1839, but it was already used by the pre-Colombian American civilizations for the manufacturing of game balls and shoes.

In 1887, the Scottish veterinarian John Boyd Dunlop wrapped his son tricycle with a rubber air chamber. His patent was however invalidated because of the previous patent of the Scottich R.W.Thomson in 1845 (hereunder).

The indutrial production began in Belfast at 1890.

The 1923 German motorcycle Megola was as aesthetically and technically interesting with its 5-cylinders in star engine in the front wheel inspired by aeronautics, as it was poorly adapted.

1938 Tatra T77

Lots more...

 

[Gilles.Schaefer]

Thank you Lock for citing my site
But my main concern is about the future,
for instance have a look to this electric motorcycle with 3 wheels partially designed by CAR&D for Véléance called Tri'Ode
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mzjA9PPF9Fo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
http://youtu.be/mzjA9PPF9Fo

 

[Lock]

Hello Gilles

Your first post here! Welcome to the `Sphere!

Thank you Lock for citing my site

You're welcome! Great work that you are involved in Gilles

But my main concern is about the future,

Me too! If you have poked around this "Horses of Iron" thread you will see it is all about the future!

In other words, this endless-sphere.com site is sub-titled "Electric Vehicle Technology Forums". And most of the content here is about the technology. The depth of knowledge and experience here with EV tech is pretty amazing. I am constantly awed by what is being accomplished here.

My "problem" is I am more interested in the widespread adoption and use of ebikes, and to me this adds issues like product design and marketing, vested and competing interests, cultural and legal barriers...

News reports these daze are filled with reports about ebikes using words like "exploding" (interest in ebikes, not LiPo packs :lol: ) and "megatrend". EVents like this have happened in the past including bicycles and trikes in the 1880-1890's and the horseless-carriage (automobile) and motorized bicycles (motorcycles) in the early 1900's.

And I see a lot of parallels in reports from these earlier periods with what is happening today. Rapid technological development, politics, etc.

If nothing else, I hope that some here on the `Sphere find this history stuff as amusing as I do. But for myself if helps provide a little context and perspective for the introduction of modern ebikes in this new century.

for instance have a look to this electric motorcycle with 3 wheels partially designed by CAR&D for Véléance called Tri'Ode
http://youtu.be/mzjA9PPF9Fo
[youtube]mzjA9PPF9Fo[/youtube]

Magnifique Gilles! See? You are making history!

L0cK

 

[Lock]

Seen here:
http://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/account/3328/object/1688/Nelco_Solocar

This three wheeled battery powered vehicle had a number of features. It was originally designed to allow disabled people to have their own transport. Steering was by means of a tiller connected to the front wheel. Rotating the tiller clockwise gave a choice of 3 speeds. Forward or reverse by a separate control. Anti clockwise rotation provided regenerative control while going downhill. The motor acted as a generator to recharge the battery. The motor was 24 volt. Built in England after the Second World War. Only a few remain in existence.

 

[Lock]

Found another Fend Flitzer (mentioned before here
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=8099&p=358345#p358345


38cc

Seen here:
http://steadyeddie.posterous.com/?search=larmar&sort=

 

[Lock]

Seen here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/peter.walsh05/MiniMicroShows2011#5631270059003475650

A 1935 Staub Scarab. Was designed to be an office on wheels so it followed an aircraft fuselage design with seats that can face forward or back. Has a rear engined V8 monster. Only 8 survive today.

In 2012, how many folks would buy an electric Scarab? Get in line!

 

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Seen here:
http://www.motorsnippets.com/news_item_MUSEUMS.asp?articleid=361

A collection of scooters includes one that was once owned by Princess Margaret, a 1963 Vespa Sportique. Amongst the many bicycles, one room is devoted to some 30 power assisted bicycles and auto cycles. The oldest is a 1914 Wall Autowheel and the most unusual must be a 1930 Kendrick tricycle that has a small motor attached to the front frame driving a forward-mounted propeller! This prop is protected by a bicycle wheel rim! Don told me: "It is not very fast".

:lol:

The Lakeland Motor Museum here:
http://www.lakelandmotormuseum.co.uk/

 

[Lock]

Seen here:
http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/sinclair/vehicles/zike.htm

Zike
Sinclair Research, 1992

Modestly promoted as "the greatest invention since the bicycle," the Zike is an ultra-light electric bicycle (weighing less than 11kg) with an electric motor hidden inside the frame. It has a top speed of 15kph (about 10mph) and recharges itself when ridden down slopes. Launched in 1992, it was only available through mail order and cost £499.99.

The Zike unfortunately went the same way as the C5, perhaps because people still had vivid memories of that fiasco. In sales terms, it was actually less successful than the C5. It sold only about 2,000 units, compared to 17,000 C5s, and production - originally intended to be 10,000 a month - was wound up after only six months. Zikes are today extremely rare items and are not often seen on the market.

 

[sk8norcal]

Thank you Lock for citing my site
But my main concern is about the future,
for instance have a look to this electric motorcycle with 3 wheels partially designed by CAR&D for Véléance called Tri'Ode
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mzjA9PPF9Fo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
http://youtu.be/mzjA9PPF9Fo

that's a very cool tilter,
blogged about that one before,
hope they do well in the future.
check out my blog if ur interesting in tilting vehicles...


[youtube]mzjA9PPF9Fo[/youtube]

 

[sk8norcal]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peel_Trident

[youtube]utrMvAcWDUM[/youtube]


peel trident converted to electric...

[youtube]mGnKiNTyIMA[/youtube]

 

[Lock]

Amusing to see the horse-style mount on the small trike with saddle and stirrups... surprising to see what looks like wire spokes.

 

[Lock]

Scene from the British Museum:

Scene on a high-road passing through a village. Those who see their livelihood threatened by mechanical transport attack the riders of velocipedes. In the foreground a dismounted dandy lies on his back, while a fat veterinary surgeon stands with one foot on his chest, squirting a syringe into his mouth. A stalwart blacksmith is breaking the machine into small pieces. The dandy, who is very thin, with a wasp waist, exclaims: "I swear by my stays, I never will mount a Hobby again! don't now you'll take all the stiffening out of my collar and frill." The man answers: "I'll only give you a dose to make you remember! and if ever I catch you again you shall swallow all the contents of my shop!" The smith says: "That's right Doctor! if we don't exterminate these Hobbies, you'll never have to bleed or drench or I to shoe." Behind him (left) are houses bordering a village street. The mistress and maid of an inn, with 'Man and Horse taken in' over the gate, watch delightedly. Next door is a smithy: 'Anvil Smith and Farrier &c.', adjoining the thatched and gabled cottage of 'Drench Veterinary Surgeon Cows Asses & Dogs cured'. In the middle distance an ostler prises a dandy out of his seat with a pitchfork; he shouts: "D—n you but I'll spoil your sitting! if the Doctor can't get horses to dose he shall have asses to plaster! D—n me! I shall never have an opportunity of cheating a horse of his corn any more if these Hobbies come in Use." The road curves to the left and recedes in perspective, a sign-post pointing 'To Coventry'. A man eggs on a dog to attack a retreating hobby-rider; and a tiny fugitive in the distance shouts: "Dick! steer clear of the Blacksmiths in the next village and put up your Hobby where there is no stabling." After the title:
"Then beware Hobby Horsemen, beware of yr fate
"Dismount from your Hobbies before t'is too late,
"For Farmers, horse doctors and horses providers,
"Cry down wooden horses & down walking riders,
whoa hobby, down hobby down."
1819
Hand-coloured etching

Inscriptions
Inscription Content: Lettered: "London Pubd 1819 by T. Tegg 111 Cheapside".

:lol:

 

[Lock]

The riders, dandies, in the foreground all have a female partner seated facing them, in a little seat behind the steering-bar. These machines have two back wheels placed close together, anticipating the tricycle. A rider falls off, losing his wig; his passenger scratches his face, saying, "You are not Man enough to manage such a thing as this! You are always tumbling off." A second woman says to her dandy: "What a delightful Sensation! What a charming manner of Riding!—" [. . . &c.]. A band-box and a rolled umbrella are strapped to the back of the pole, to which is tied a small dog, who is under the back wheels of a third machine, upsetting it; the rider, in dandified regimentals, falls backwards, clasping his passenger. In the background are grass slopes on which many men are riding singly; one is a quaker who says: "Now the Spirit moves!" A child bestrides a stick, saying, "Ride a Cock horse To Banbury cross!"

Haven't seen this style of velocipede before... amusing to see the guys still wearing their spurs! :lol:

 

[Lock]

Three dandies inspect a velocipede, which the dealer, bow-legged, horsy, and flashy-looking, holds by the steering-handle. They are outside a stable with an aperture through which look three hungry and startled horses. Above the closed door is a board: 'Stables [scored through] Hobby Horses taken in to mind or Stand at Livery NB a Fine Stud of Real Horses To Be Sold as cheap as dogs meat—The present proprietor going into the Hobby Line.' A lean stable-hand in patched clothes sits against the wall on an overturned bucket, curry-comb and broom beside him. He glares with a twisted grimace at the velocipede. At his feet is a book: 'Othello's Occupation's gone.' The dealer looks slyly at a dandy (right) who stands with his hands on a cane: "I'll warrant him sound Sir & free from Vice." The other answers: "I can see he has been down once or twice though my lad." A second dandy stoops, hand on knees, to inspect the bar or pole: "He seems to me Jack not to have quite Barrel enough." The third, holding an eye-glass to his eye, says: "Good fore hand by Jupiter." They wear rakish bell-shaped top-hats. In the background a dandy on a velocipede follows a lady, similarly mounted; both wear top-hats; behind them rides a sour-looking groom.
25 July 1819
Etching

Inscriptions
Inscription Content: Lettered with title and "JS Esqre del - G.Cruik fect / Pubd July 25th 1819 by G.Humphrey 27 St James's St -"

 

[Lock]

This bike is up for auction next Thursday:


...at Bonhams in Las Vegas:
http://www.bonhams.com/eur/auction/19679/lot/301/

Anybuddy care to bid on this beat up old bike? When it was new it cost $275... plus tax?


Estimated value for the auction... US$200,000-250,000



If $200K, compound annual growth rate on original cost 7.03%

Not too shabby. I wonder if there is an ebike sold today that will turn out to be "investment grade"...

EDIT: Well, no takers for the Harley apparently... Somebuddy did buy this 1911 Flying Merkel though:

Sold for US$40,950 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

 

[Lock]

From a history of the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), here:
http://thevictorianist.blogspot.com/2011/06/abuse-of-our-powers-over-animals-or.html

During Reverend Broome’s incarceration, Lewis Gompertz had temporarily taken over as the Honorary Secretary of the Society, a role which he remained in after Reverend Broome was released.
Lewis Gompertz was somewhat of an eccentric man. He was an inventor (aren’t the eccentrics’ always?) and always maintained that he would do nothing in his life to cause suffering to animals. This belief was such that not only was he a vegetarian, but also refused to ride in coaches because he believed that pulling coaches and carts caused suffering to horses and donkeys. To alleviate the need for such quadruped power for transport, in 1821 he came up with his most notable design; a hand-crank to be applied to a small cart which the driver used to propel his vehicle, thus removing the requirement for a horse or donkey to pull it. He applied the hand-crank design to Baron von Drais’ bicycle design, and came up with the vehicle below.

I see Lewis published, in 1851 his book "Mechanical inventions and suggestions on land and water locomotion, tooth machinery, and various other branches of Theoretical and Practicle Mechanics", here:
http://books.google.ca/books?id=fJQPAAAAMAAJ&dq=Lewis Gompertz&pg=PP5#v=onepage&q&f=false

Chock full of suggestions on how to make the world a better place... Lewis was also the inventor of the expanding chuck...

THE REPERTORY OF ARTS, MANUFACTURES, and AGRICULTURE.
Consisting of ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS,
SPECIFICATIONS OF PATENT INVENTIONS,
PRACTICAL AND INTERESTING PAPERS,
SELECTED FROM
THE PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS AND
SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS OF ALL NATIONS.

INTELLIGENCE
RELATING TO
THE USEFUL ARTS,
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES,
AND
NOTICES OF ALL PATENTS GRANTED FOR INVENTIONS.

VOLUME XXXIX.—SECOND SERIES.
London:
PRINTED FOR THE PROPRIETORS,
REPERTORY OFFICE, HATTON GARDEN.
1881.

An Addition to the Velocipede. By Mr. Lewis Gompertz, of the Oval, Kennington, Surrey.

With an Engraving.

Fig. 4 (Plate III.) is a representation of that ingenious and well-known invention, the velocipede, of Baron Von Dray, with my addition to it for increasing its speed, or of lessening the labour of the rider, the velocipede being slightly altered and adapted to the addition, and the chief object of which is to bring the arms of the rider into action, in assistance to his legs, and consists in the application of a handle C, which is to be worked backwards and forwards, to which is attached a circular rack D G, which works in a pinion E, with a ratch-wheel on the front wheel of the velocipede, and which, on being pulled by the rider with both hands, propels the machine forwards, and when thrust from him (in order to repeat the stroke) does not send it back again, on account of the ratch which allows the pinion to turn in that direction free of the wheel; H is the saddle, and the rest B requires to be different to the original of Baron Von Dray, as shewn, and is made so that the breast of the rider bears against the front of it, while the sides come partly round him at some distance below his arms, and is stuffed with something soft, and by means of this he can balance the machine without any exertion of his arms, which are employed in giving motion to the velocipede, in conjuncion with his legs, and also of guiding it, as the front wheel swings in the same way that it does in the original, and the same handle that works it forward also guides it. The rider may, if he choose, keep his arms and the handle at rest without causing the machine to stop, or he can keep the velocipede in motion by means of it, without using his legs if the ground be good, and if he can balance himself.

The circular rack must be a sufficient portion of a circle to admit of a full contraction of the arms of the rider, and of nearly a full extension likewise but not quite, because when the velocipede goes backwards the rack must be kept still beyond the pinion, in which case the arms are extended rather more than when they are in motion, and were this not attended to, the handle would be drawn out of the reach of the rider. The wheels were larger in the velocipede to which the drawing refers than they commonly are, and if they should be smaller than represented, the pinion should also be smaller to correspond to it, or the circular rack larger, so that one stroke of the handle will move the machine the same distance as when made like this, which from experience has seemed best to me; the determination of this point is important, and if the motion of the handle were to be much quicker it would become but of little advantage. The back or beam of the velocipede was made of beech strengthened underneath with iron, the parts where the wheels go were of iron, and the upright parts of the handle, though of steel, were rather too slight. This velocipede requires to be rather stronger and heavier than when they have not got the hand motion; but I have found the speed of them to be greatly increased by this addition, and though there is more exertion of the arms required to work the handle in the one, than to lean on the rest with them in the other, it is not such a continual stress; the action of the arms then resembles that of rowing, but less tiresome to the hands, which have only the force of the arms to resist, whereas in rowing they must first resist the muscles which draw back the trunk or spine on the os femoris, with the weight of the body added to it, and afterwards the force of the arms themselves.

It is worthy of observation, how much delighted the public were with the velocipede on its first appearance, and how soon it was thrown aside as a useless toy; the fault, however, seems not to be in the invention, but in the manner in which it has been received by those persons whose patronage they required, and by those also whose injudicious criticism they did not require, and chiefly owing to their having been prohibited the use of the footpaths, which, if necessary in some places, should have been accompanied with an Act for allowing them three or four feet of the width of the roads for their sole use, and for that to be kept in very good repair; this they deserve, and persons then while using them would not be exposed to danger where there are many carriages and horses, nor be obliged to wade through mud; and it is only by this being adopted that mankind would reap the advantage from machines for this purpose, of being converted from one of the slowest animals in the creation, to one of great continued speed from his own salubrious exertions; the ridicule then with which they have been assailed by some of the idle and the caricaturists, if of any importance, must yield to the advantages which they will bestow on the world.

Thanks Lewis!

 

[Lock]

Held by the British National Trust:
http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/1338830

Experimental tricycle - Wrought iron and ash framed 'Experiment' tricycle with large wheel at the rear and two smaller wheels at the front. Steering handle on off side of seat and rear wheel brake handle to near side of seat. Signed 'Morley Fec Haddiscoe' from Norfolk. Swinging wooden foot pedals fitted to iron frame are connected by cords. 'The three-wheeled freewheeling velocipede called the 'Experiment' was made in 1840 by Morley of Haddiscoe in Norfolk, said to be the son of a vicar. It is a remarkable piece of ingenuity but probably no more efficient for being so. The pedals are connected by cords to spiral pulleys on the single wheel, these pulleys are connected by ratchets to the hub and are returned by spring-loaded recoil wheels above the pulleys. The pulleys are quite separate from each other so that the pedals could be used independantly and by adjusting the length of the drive cords a form of variable speed was achieved. The front axle is steered by a handle on the off side operating cords in a manner reminiscent of that used on traction engines. (M. Jessup). 'Out in the Norfolk Marshes near St Olaves stood a unique tricycle. The Experiment of about 1839, the first known machine with free-wheeling capacity.' (CPW quoted by M. Jessup).

 

[Lock]

http://www.petersen.org/default.cfm?docid=1082

Scooters have captured the attention of motorists throughout the world. In addition to their quirky and often endearing styling, the diminutive two-wheelers are affordable, maneuverable, extremely economical to operate, simple to park or store, and often easier to license and register than cars or motorcycles. Thanks to their mechanical simplicity and wide availability, scooters have long played a vital role in the pursuit of personal mobility throughout the world. Not surprisingly, they outsell automobiles in many areas and are even a preferred means of family transportation in places like India, Pakistan, China, and elsewhere. In the United States scooters are becoming increasingly popular as gas prices continue to rise and the motoring public seeks a new way to proclaim their individuality and personal style on a budget.

The earliest precursor to both scooters and motorcycles was the 1894 Hildebrand and Wolfmuller, the first motorized two-wheel vehicle sold commercially. Yet while the primitive vehicle used a scooter-style step-through frame design, it did not directly influence the evolution of most two-wheeled vehicles other than to demonstrate that a two-wheel layout was viable and that there was a potential market for vehicles configured as such. Instead, motorcycles evolved directly from bicycles and shared their large wheels, vertical frames, and saddle-like seats. In contrast, scooters evolved from the kick-push children’s toys with which they shared their name. These vehicles had a single small diameter wheel at each end of a platform about the size of a large skateboard upon which the rider stood. A pole extended upward from the front wheel to the handlebars for directional control. Ultimately, the word “motor” was added ahead of the word “scooter” to distinguish them from their unpowered counterparts. Today a motor scooter is normally defined as a small two-wheeled vehicle with small wheels, a small engine, a step-through frame, and a platform upon which a rider can rest his or her feet.

From the beginning, no vehicle has been simpler to operate or easier to get onto than a scooter and they did not require a great deal of gear and specialized apparel to wear while operating. Motor scooters could be driven in places too small for even motorcycles and were much cheaper to buy and operate than automobiles. The step-through frame and foot platform meant that all a rider had to do to mount a scooter was take one small step up, turn to face forward, and sit down. It was not necessary to throw one’s leg over a high mounted frame member or gas tank, a maneuver that women during the early years of powered transportation would have found impossible to execute because of their long dresses and untold layers of bulky undergarments. Like most consumer goods that embodied newly introduced technologies, scooters were purchased primarily by wealthy motorists to use as local runabouts when they were first marketed during the 1910s.

The American 1915 Autoped is regarded by most historians as the first true scooter. Looking little different than the child’s toy to which it was so closely related, the New York-built Autoped was powered by a tiny 1.5-horspower, one-cylinder motor attached to the left side of the front wheel. To accelerate, one simply had to push the handlebar stalk forward while pulling it back slowed the engine and engaged the brake. The fact that a brake was fitted to the front wheel only was a minor concern because of their severely limited performance; top speed on level ground was just 18 miles per hour. Autopeds appealed to early buyers because they were nimble, easy to maneuver, and easy to mount. They were also easy to store and, because the handlebars could be folded down, it was theoretically possible to carry the device with one hand like a suitcase. Though primitive compared to later scooters, the Autoped was as cutting edge during the 1910s as the Segue is today. It would have been difficult for observers not to be amazed as the new conveyance buzzed past them and down the road, usually with a smug, well-dressed rider aboard. They were greatly admired abroad and Krupp made them under license in Germany from 1919 to 1922. Like electric cars, Autopeds were heavily promoted to women because they could ride them while wearing regular street clothes, including large hats and the long dresses that were then in fashion, and their limited range and poor performance was not an issue.

The large majority of early motor scooter buyers lived in cities with smooth paved streets that did not have the bumps or deep ruts in which very small wheels could get caught and possibly cause injury to the rider or damage to the machinery. That scooters were significantly less powerful, far slower, and more delicate than the average full-size car or motorcycle was actually appealing to women of the day, most of who would have found themselves intimidated by anything larger or more massive and unwieldy. Eventually the tiny platforms sprouted seats for greater comfort (and marketability) and horns and lights for safety in traffic and night riding. Despite the obvious advantages, scooters did not become popular during the 1920s in part because most people lived in neighborhoods where they had easy access to employment, shopping, and businesses, and an integrated public transportation systems to take them where they needed to go. For the vast majority of the population, a scooter—or any other means of personal transportation—would have been superfluous.

English entrepreneurs spearheaded a resurgence in scooter manufacturing for a brief period after World War I as a large number of thrm entered the scooter building business in an effort to utilize some of the excess production capacity that had been created for the construction of weapons of war. Electric lighting, new suspension systems, and multiple speed gear boxes were soon incorporated into scooter designs. Yet while the little vehicles evolved rapidly, the placement of their engines would not be standardized for several years. While early scooters like the Autoped had engines that attached directly to the front wheel, later models from other manufacturers (like the 1917 Kenilworth) had engines mounted low and ahead of the rider’s feet and others (such as the 1919 ABC Scootamota) were designed with their tiny engines immediately above the rear wheel. One American manufacturer, Briggs & Stratton, built theirs with the single-cylinder engine attached directly to the side of the rear wheel, a placement that simplified the drive system although it added significantly to unsprung weight and affected stability and ride quality.

By the early 1920s, virtually all scooters were equipped with seats and an ever increasing number were designed with engines located under the rider, an area that would otherwise have gone unused. Such an engine placement allowed for a low center of gravity and permitted stylists to create attractive metal bodywork that served as both a covering for the engine and a support for the seat. Some progressive designers eventually extended this sheet metal shroud forward at the bottom to form the foot platform and splash guard. A few manufacturers took styling more seriously than others and one unusually advanced design, the British 1920 Unibus, was so well integrated that it could easily be mistaken for a 1950s German model. As it did with automobiles, the overall appearance of scooters slowly progressed from a collection of disparate, unattractive parts to a unified, neatly packaged whole. Unfortunately, the reputation of most early scooters was damaged by an overabundance of bad handling, poorly designed, and weakly constructed examples that had been rushed to market to take advantage of the then current fad. And while a small number of quality manufacturers continued their pioneering efforts, their models were too expensive to compete and during the mid-1920s scooters all but disappeared from the market for the second time.

The world wide lull in scooter production continued until almost the end of the Great Depression, when a newly emerging class of American motorists created a fresh demand for the blend of distinction, utility, and enjoyment that scooters offered. During this period, domestic manufacturers rose to the forefront of motor scooter design and innovation, and a large number of scooter builders were established in the Midwest and California. One of the first scooters to rise to national prominence was the Salsbury, brainchild of minimalist transport pioneer E. Foster Salsbury. Working first in the back room of his brother’s heating and plumbing shop in Oakland, California before relocating to Los Angeles, Salsbury was reportedly inspired to create his first scooter when he noticed famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart riding one of the few remaining operational Autopeds around the Lockheed Airport in Burbank. But whereas the Autoped of the mid-1910s was intended as a plaything for the affluent, Salsbury scooters of the mid-1930s were intended to mobilize the masses by offering inexpensive, reliable transportation for average people to take to the increasing number of places that were too far to walk, but too close to drive.

Breaking with American scooter tradition, Salsbury equipped their first scooter, the 1935 Motor Glide, with a seat for the rider. It also had an exposed engine with a primitive roller drive system that easily lost grip on wet surfaces. Predictably, very few were manufactured before it was replaced with a model having direct drive and a seat mounted on an attractively designed metal shroud that surrounded the engine. By 1937 Salsbury was building what looked like a bar stool on wheels equipped with a continuously variable transmission, the first ever on a scooter. Foster Salsbury’s early success inspired other manufacturers to join the fray and the Salsbury Motor Glide was soon sharing the market with scooters manufactured by Powell (Pomona, California), Moto-Scoot (Chicago, Illinois), Cushman (Lincoln, Nebraska), and dozens of others. Included among these manufacturers, though often absent from formal listings, were those that offered assemble-it-yourself models like the Renmor Constructa-Scoot, which could be purchased with or without an engine. Catering to the lowest end of the market, some scooter designers offered only plans for sale to those who were (or thought they were) handy enough to build a scooter from scratch using their own parts, although it is extremely unlikely that many did despite their good intentions. By the late 1930s, aficionados came to consider scooters as important as clothes and jewelry in proclaiming their status and very few wanted to be seen riding on anything that looked rickety or homemade.

Advertisements and articles in magazines such as Popular Mechanics helped to propagate the excitement surrounding scooters among adults even as they whetted the appetites of early adolescents anxious to experience the thrill of operating a motorized vehicle that seemed to be sized just for them. Many photographs showed attractive women riding scooters (often Salsburys) in the California sunshine or employing them as mechanical ponies for games of parking lot polo. Hollywood actors and actresses contributed to scooter popularity—and glamour—by being photographed on them as they clowned for the camera or by using them to traverse expansive movie studio lots. And like Amelia Earhart did with her Autoped, airplane pilots and airport workers across the United States began to use scooters to cover large stretches of tarmac, which they were often obliged to do. This utility was later appreciated by World War II pilots, ground crews, and messengers, most of who were spared having to walk the long, tiring distances to, from, and between airplane hangars, offices, mess halls, barracks, and the aircraft.

During World War II, some specially designed motor scooters took flight so that they could be airlifted behind enemy lines and dropped by parachute with Army Airborne troops who then used them for basic ground transportation when they landed. Sometimes called parascooters, they were built by companies such as Cushman in America, Welbike in Great Britain, and Volugrafo in Italy. Other scooters were deployed on the ground, serving as tiny troop movers, supply vehicles, and weapons carriers. But whatever the use, they were usually stripped of all comfort and convenience amenities, equipped with heavy duty tires and other components, and painted the preferred color of their country’s military. Having developed a basic kind of automatic transmission of its own, Cushman eventually replaced Salsbury as the dominant American scooter manufacturer, building as many as 300 units per day for use by both military personnel and civilians who found it virtually impossible to get around any other way during the days of gas rationing, tire shortages, and other limitations related to private transportation.

Motor scooter sales boomed after World War II and large numbers were built all over the world, though the reasons for their popularity varied from country to country and region to region. In America, the pent up demand for anything motorized created a sellers’ market for all forms of personal transportation and after the armistice a considerable number of newly established manufacturers invested the money they earned during the conflict into the business of building vehicles of all kinds. Like their counterparts in the automobile industry, these new scooter manufacturers seized what they believed was the ideal opportunity to launch a new high-demand consumer product. Anticipating a brisk market, some companies, including jukebox manufacturer Rock-Ola, diversified into scooter building. Regrettably, most new motor scooter manufacturers misread the market and the transportation revolution they were planning for did not materialize. As the American economy grew beyond all expectations, the very large majority of domestic motorists developed a taste for ever more advanced styling and engineering along with a desire to display their increasing affluence. For them, scooter ownership was not compatible with these new priorities and demand plummeted. Even the space age look of the swoopy Salsbury Model 85 could not save it and by 1948 the firm that had pioneered scooter design and manufacturing was unceremoniously forced out of business.

Overseas, the economy of most countries after the war was shattered and the mood was somber. Whether Allied or Axis, the warring nations had to deal with a decimated manufacturing infrastructure, a scarcity of raw materials, and, for some, new rules about what they could and could not produce. In Germany, Italy, and Japan, military aircraft manufacturers like Heinkel, Piaggio, and Mitsubishi were prohibited from building aircraft or anything else with the potential to be used as a weapon of war. Desperate to remain in the manufacturing business, a number of these firms turned to building motor scooters, unwittingly creating some of the most iconic vehicles of all time. The designers derived their inspiration from a variety of sources and embodied in their products the kind of progressive, yet rational styling that American scooters had always lacked. Foremost among them, the Italian Vespa was introduced in 1946 by Piaggio, a firm that built airplane engines during the war, but needed a low cost product with mass appeal to remain viable in the postwar environment. Their now legendary motor scooters helped put Italy back on wheels and by 1949 Italian roads were buzzing with an estimated 110,000 of the tiny vehicles, a large proportion of them Vespas. Thanks in part to the Italian government aid also enjoyed by Vespa, Ferdinando Innocenti was able to introduce his Lambretta in 1947, setting the stage for their now famous rivalry with Vespa.

American investment aided in the rebuilding of the German manufacturing industry and motor scooters were an important contributor to the reindustrialization of the nation. A number of scooter manufacturing operations were established by firms that were not allowed to return to building war materiel such as Heinkel (a former aircraft manufacturer) and Simson (a former firearms manufacturer). Their products, like those of most other German scooter manufacturers, were large, heavy, and fast. And while such qualities made them ideal for travelling long distances on long, straight autobahns, they were incompatible with the needs of motorists from other European nations forced to contend with cobblestone city streets and twisty country lanes. A relatively small number were sold outside of Germany as a result. French companies also produced scooters that were little known outside their native land as did British scooter manufacturers, who tailored their products too specifically for the conservative home market to be appealing to international buyers. Operating in near isolation, Eastern European motor scooter manufacturers found themselves building the only type of vehicles that the majority of citizens in their home markets could afford, many of which came to embody the Western design excesses they supposedly disapproved of.

As in Germany and Italy, Japanese industry was not permitted by the occupying forces to manufacture any product that could potentially be used as a weapon of war and many former airplane and armament manufacturers turned to building scooters. Fuji Sangyo, an offshoot of the defunct Nakajima Aircraft Company (builders of bombers, fighters, and interceptors during the war), was reborn as Fuji Heavy Industries and began building Fuji Rabbit scooters in 1946. These scooters used a number of surplus aircraft parts, including the tail wheel of a bomber that had been re-purposed as the front wheel of the scooter. Mitsubishi (manufacturers of the legendary Zero fighter plane) introduced their first scooter, the Silver Pigeon, also in 1946. Both firms’ designs borrowed heavily from those of the Powell and Salsbury scooters that had been brought to Japan by United States military personnel, giving them an unexpected, but strong California connection. Fuji and Mitsubishi scooter production continued into the 1960s with a large proportion of their early production going to their insatiable home market, a situation that temporarily allowed European and American manufacturers the chance to operate without significant competition from the East.

When their home market became saturated, Japanese manufacturers expanded their reach to include North America, with disastrous consequences to the few remaining domestic scooter manufacturers. Period advertisements accurately portrayed Japanese scooters as the fun, friendly and reliable vehicles that they were and attracted the attention of a market segment not normally associated with scooter ownership. Even Vespa could not compete against the low cost, high quality products from Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki, and withdrew from the American market in 1979. Having added mini bikes and mopeds to their product mixes over time, manufacturers from Japan enjoyed great success in the United States, but could not possibly have predicted the wave of nostalgia that would sweep North America during the last decade of the twentieth century. Just as cars of the 1950s and 1960s have recaptured the imaginations of American motorists of all ages, so have scooters. Fond desires for the trappings of a bygone era coupled with unpredictable fuel prices, concerns for the environment, and an enduring desire to look as stylish as possible regardless of prevailing circumstances, have created a brisk demand for the kind of economy, social responsibility, and chic that motor scooters now represent. Models with paired front and rear wheels for stability, permanent canopies for weather protection, and battery electric power for economy have become commonplace and manufacturers from China, India and Korea now vie for shares of the lucrative American market. Vespa has even returned to the United States, remaining strong despite the flood of cheaper, look-alike retro models.

California remains one of the top scooter markets in the United States and a large number of brands eagerly battle for market share in the Southland despite rigorous statewide emissions standards that have driven up the cost of manufacturing. Scooters have become a realistic alternative to automobiles for many motorists who have grown weary of traffic snarls, high gas prices, and difficult parking. Riding a scooter can also be a source of fun and is entertaining in ways that even the most expensive cars cannot be. Like the Autopeds of almost a century ago, modern motor scooters offer a sense of freedom and independence and buzzing around on one tends to confer on the rider a kind of youthful sophistication not associated with any other type of two wheel vehicle. Scooters seem to have become the mechanical equivalent of the bow tie; they are not right for everybody, but those who dare to embrace them will earn a measure of respect, distinction, and personal satisfaction known to few others.

 

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Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research. Founded 1907.

Their Control and Power Research Group has put together a page of PDFs here:
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/controlandpower/research/motorcycles/historicalpapers

"Control and dynamic analysis of two-wheeled road vehicles - papers of historical interest"

W J M Rankine (On the Dynamical Principles of the Motion of Velocipedes)
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/pls/portallive/docs/1/42149701.PDF
This paper from 1869 is of historical interest only; it is presented in four parts, together with a short supplement. It sets out to analyse “balancing”, “steering” and “propulsion”. The analysis given is elementary, without differential equations, and in our view is of little lasting technical value. Its main claim to fame stems from the fact that it was one of the first papers ever written on (steady-state) bicycle dynamics.

F J W Whipple (The Stability of the Motion of a Bicycle)
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/pls/portallive/docs/1/42149699.PDF
The first formal analysis of the self-stability of a bicycle was presented in Whipple’s famous paper in 1899. On page 326, Whipple presented the linearized equations of a straight running bicycle in matrix form. As Hand pointed out in his 1988 MSc thesis, there are two typographical errors in the linearized equations presented by Whipple. Once these errors are corrected, Whipple’s linearized equations correspond exactly to the now accepted benchmark equations by Meijaard et al. (2007).

F. J. W. Whipple memorabilia
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/pls/portallive/docs/1/42149698.PDF
A small collection of F. J. W. Whipple memorabilia courtesy of the Wren Library, Trinity College Cambridge. This file contains three obituaries which were published in Nature, Engineering and Who Was Who, all appearing in 1943 following his death on 17th March of that year. The Cambridge University Reporter of June 13 1899 announces the Smith Prize: Whipple received an honourable mention for his Essay “On the stability of the motion of a bicycle.” An extract from the University of Cambridge Historical Register shows Whipple’ part I and part II Mathematical Tripos results. These where not “politically correct” times with the female students listed separately!

G G R Routh (On the Motion of a Bicycle)
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/pls/portallive/docs/1/42149700.PDF
This paper by G.R.R. Routh (1899), son of the famous E.J. Routh, focuses on the small perturbation behaviour of the Whipple-like bicycle. Four problems are considered: (I) The behaviour of the machine with its steering locked; (II) the machine’s oscillatory behaviour around steady-state straight running, (III) Steady-state cornering, and (IV) small oscillations around a steady-state cornering condition. An interesting analysis shows the conditions under which a bicycle under steady cornering behaves like a simple inverted pendulum.

Timoshenko-Young
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/pls/portallive/docs/1/42149696.PDF
The Timoshenko-Young bicycle model is a very simple mathematical description of a bicycle’s roll dynamics. Recently, this model has found favour with the control systems community. Timoshenko and Young derive the model using a conservation of angular momentum argument. The wheels are represented with pure rolling non-holonomic constraints, the steering assembly is not raked, and the bicycle is represented by a single point mass. Despite the extreme simplicity of the model, the equations of motion are surprisingly complex.

D E H Jones (The Stability of the Bicycle)
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/pls/portallive/docs/1/42149702.PDF
Jone’s Physics Today article from 1970 (re-printed in 2006) is widely known for the simple “unridable bicycle” experiments that illustrated some of the dynamical features of bicycle steering mechanisms. Contrary to popular belief, the front wheel gyroscopic moment play very little part in a bicycle’s “ridability” at normal and low speeds. His experiments highlighted the critical role played by the trail and the front steering geometry. Jones did not do any dynamical modelling; his experiments mainly focused on gyroscopic effects, the effects of trail on machine stability and on the steering torques that resulted from roll.

R S Sharp (The Stability and Control of Motorcycles)
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/pls/portallive/docs/1/42149703.PDF
This 1971 paper represents an advance in the analysis of the straight-running motorcycle. Unlike the Whipple model, the tyres are modelled as “force and moment producers” rather than as rolling constraints. These forces and moments are linear (and time varying) functions of the tyre’s side-slip and camber angles; relaxation effects are included. Aerodynamic effects were not explicitly included. This paper shows that the tyres are responsible for a steering shimmy oscillation called “wobble”. The “wobble” and “weave” modes are analysed in detail. The stabilizing effect of a steering damper on the wobble mode, and its destabilizing effect on the weave mode are demonstrated.

Financial Times (The art of the motorcycle)
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/pls/portallive/docs/1/42149697.PDF
Tuesday 18 August 1998: “The art of the motorcycle”, an exhibition held at the Guggenheim museum between June 26 and September 20 1998. Perhaps more than any other single object of industrial design, the motorcycle can be considered a metaphor for the 20th and 21st centuries. Predating the automobile by 25 years and the airplane by 36, the motorcycle was the first form of personal mechanized transport to emerge from the industrial age. The motorcycle represents technology, engineering, innovation, design, mobility, speed, rebellion, desire, freedom, love, sex and death.

An interesting account of the historical development of the motorcycle can be found at the Guggenheim museum site: http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/past_exhibitions/motorcycle/motorcycle.html
Link now broken.Per the Guggenheim:
The Art of the Motorcycle
Guggenheim Las Vegas
October 7, 2001–January 5, 2003
This exhibition is not available online.


R S Sharp (Stability, Control and Steering Responses of Motorcycles)
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/pls/portallive/docs/1/42149704.PDF
This paper (2001) follows on from the author's prior reviews of the stability and control of motorcycles in 1978 and 1985. The paper treats the earlier material in tutorial fashion and then adds some more recent research. Small perturbations from straight running and from cornering equilibrium states are analysed. Steering control by handlebar torque and by rider upper body lean torque are compared. Theoretical analysis, experimental measurements and general experience are linked where possible. By 2000, there was a strong movement towards the use of stiff frames for large high-powered machines, as well as the widespread use of multibody dynamics software for automated analysis. The paper has a good mix of nonlinear and linear analysis, which emphasises such things as sensitivity analysis and mode shapes.