Japanese Dominance

Japanese Dominance

Late after the second world war American veterans found that after experiencing the excitement and thrilling rush of having driven motorcycles in the war they would then create a group outside of the war that could enjoy the thrill of driving them freely. So they created a social institution in the us known as the  motorcyclists or "bikers" 

Motorcycles also became used for sporting purposes and also leisure, the motorcycle was known for being a machine for the carefree youth. The motorcycle soon caught the interest of the Japanese their where able to produce designs more quickly and at a cheaply price they where also at a better quality standard than all their competitors. all their motorcycles that a much better style  and where far more reliable this caused the british to lose their titles as mass-market producers.

The excellence of the Japanese motorcycle spread in all the western markets it became a popular industry as motorcycle producers. many western people preferred the japanese motorcycles to the italian  ones the italian company sales rock plummeted they were just able to survive but some went bust. BMW's sales dropped by a staggering rate in the 1960s But in 1970 came back strongly BMWs released their completely new design the "Flash-5" for model year.

The Honda CB750 was a revolutionary step in motorcycle marketing and was Emblematic of Japanese dominance.     

http://motorbike-search-engine.co.uk/classic_bikes/cb750-gallery.php

The First Commercial Motorcycles

The First Commercial motorcycles

From the late 1880s During the early period of motorcycle history, there were many manufacturers of bicycle the makers were adapting to new designs for the new in built internal combustion engine. In early 1894 the Hidebrand and Wolfmuller motorcycles became the very first series production motorcycle and also the first to be called a motorcycle. 

Information about producers

Heinrich and Wilhelm Hidebrand were steam-engine engineers before they teamed up with Alois Wolfmuller to produce their internal combustion Motorrad in Munich  in 1894. 
Information accord from wikipiedia 

The company Exelsior motor company, who where original a bicycle manufacturing based company based in England, soon began a new production of their own motorcycle model in 1896 it was soon available to the public for purchase. The first production model was the Orient - aster,  built by Charles Metz in 1898 in is factory in Waltham, Massachusetts.


In the very early stages of the motorcycle history many bicycle producers adapted their designs around the new internal combustion engine more engine designs where being made and because of this the engine soon outgrew the bicycle. Later on in the motorcycle history many more producers started popping up. many of the inventors who had worked on the early motorcycle design decided to make new inventions like the automobiles.





http://www.snipview.com/q/Triumph_Model_H

WW1 Motorcycle


This post is going to be about the great need for motorcycles in the first world war.   






Because of the up coming war the military needed a way to increase the communication and supplies to the front lines so they chose to use motorcycles instead of messengers on horses. They were replaced by the dispatch riders these were men on motorcycles they sent messages and also did some recognisance for the military this greatly helped the war effort.


 The need for motorcycles was great so the American company  Harvey Davidson devoted 50% of there factory output to the military contract. The British sold over 30,000 motorbikes it was the triumph motorcycles model H it was the first motorcycle to be fitted without pedals the British company designed and sold this motorcycle was called Triumph Motorcycles they sold them to the allied forces as aid to their cause.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley-Davidson

The triumph motorcycle model H was regarded by people as the "modern motorcycle" it was introduced in 1915 it had a 550cc side-valve, stroke engine with a three-speed gearbox and belt transmission. The motorcycle

was so popular by its users that it was given the nickname the "Trusty Triumph".

The first successful motor cycle

The first successful motorcycle !

The first ever successful motorcycle was produced by Lucius Copland in 1881. He achieved this by creating a much smaller steam boiler this was a strong enough engine to drive a large rear wheel of an American star high-wheeler.

 

It was a large wheel that would be placed as the back wheel of an American star high-wheeler.

 

http://www.ozebook.com/copeland.htm

After Lucius Copland found no flaws in his invention, Six years later he would form a company called the Northrop manufacturing company.

 

This company was the first company to successfully produce the very first successful motorcycle.

The motor cycle actually had only three wheels. 

How Motorcycles Came About

Motorbikes. How did they come about?

Motor bikes started in Europe in the second half of the 19th century. The motorcycles is a descended from the safety bicycle. But the real sign of the development of motorbikes is when a man named Pierre Michaux setup a company that was the first company to manufacture bicycle with pedals it was called velocipede. The fist steam powered motorcycle appeared when one of Pierre sons attached a steam engine to one of their velocipede this happened in 1867.

Shortly after Pierre son Ernest Michaux died one of the men who had help him build the steam powered motorcycle brought the idea to the usa he claimed he had helped develop the prototype.
An American man by the name of Sylvester H. Roper shortly came across this invention and soon enough made some changes to the design and created his very own velocipede he created a twin cylinder which he implemented to his velocipede it also had a coal boiler build in between the wheels.


Later he died after demonstrating his invention in Cambridge in June 1, 1896. Even after all these incidents motor bikes were still a very popular subject in the eyes of many inventors. 


credit to Wikipedia