Marsh (motorcycle)
The 1900 Marsh was one of the first motorcycles in the United States . The Marsh brothers produced the auxiliary motor bicycle in Brockton, Massachusetts from 1900 to 1906 . The single - cylinder four-stroke engine was suspended from a bicycle frame ( Motosacoche system ) and reached a top speed of 25 mph (about 40 km / h). WT Marsh drove the route from Brockton to Plymouth, Massachusetts and back on July 2, 1900 in two hours and 35 minutes.
The engine with a bore of 1 7/8 and a stroke of 2 1/4 inches had a controlled exhaust valve, the intake valve was opened "automatically" by the negative pressure of the aspirating piston. The imported Longuemare carburetor and battery ignition ensured the fuel was burned. Weighing only 60 pounds (about 30 kg), the motorbike was driven by a chain and stopped by an interrupted ignition and coaster brake. The further developed Marsh of 1902 had an engine of 244 cm³ displacement (bore / stroke: 2 5/8 × 2 3/4 inches) and made 2¼ hp . In 1906 the manufacturer Marsh was taken over by the magnate Charles Metz. Motorcycle production remained in Brockton under the Marsh-Metz brand .
literature
- Jerry Hatfield: Standard Catalog of American Motorcycles 1898-1981. Krause Publications 2006, ISBN 978-0-89689-949-0 .
- Stephen Wright: American Racer, 1900-1940 , Megden Publishing Co. 1979, ISBN 0-9603676-0-8 .