Roper steam wheel

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Roper Steam Velocipede (1869)
Roper steam wheel from 1894–1896

The American Roper steam bike was a forerunner of the motorcycle .

Roper steam wheel around 1869

Around 1869, Sylvester H. Roper (born November 24, 1823 in Francestown , New Hampshire , † June 1, 1896 in Cambridge , Massachusetts ) built a steam engine into a steel-reinforced wooden frame, a replica of a Michaux frame. The charcoal-fired boiler was hung between the wheels, and it was driven with a push rod directly on the rear axle. In contrast to the Michaux-Perreaux steam wheel , Roper had not applied for a patent for his steam wheel with a “chimney on the boiler”, so there are no exact details of the year of manufacture. The historian Stephen Wright gives the date of completion as "four years after the Civil War ". The example in the America on the Move collection of the Smithsonian Institution was dated "around 1869" by the latter. Long journeys with the first model from 1869 are controversial and are not considered to be occupied. Nevertheless, it has been proven that Roper performed with his steam bike at circus events and fairs.

Roper steam wheel 1894-1896

Another Roper steam wheel, a further development based on the chassis of the Pope Manufacturing Company , is documented for the year 1894 to 1896. Technical data is also available for this model. A 1 3/4 bore and 4 inch stroke made a displacement of 9.6 cubic inches (158  cc ). The power was 3 HP, the top speed 48 km / h.

Roper set a speed record of 64 km / h in Boston in 1896 with a revised steam wheel. Roper died with this model during test drives; one of the first documented fatal "motorcycle accidents" in history.

An original Roper steam wheel from 1894 was called up at an auction in January 2012. Experts were expecting a record amount, which was reached at 425,000 US dollars , but the price was not high enough for a hammer price.

literature

  • Richard J. Evans: Steam Cars (Shire Album No. 153). Shire Publications, 1985, ISBN 0-85263-774-8 . (English)
  • Anthony Bird, Edward Douglas-Scott Montagu of Beaulieu: Steam Cars, 1770-1970. Littlehampton Book Services, 1971, ISBN 0-304-93707-X . (English)
  • Floyd Clymer, Harry W. Gahagan: Floyd Clymer's Steam Car Scrapbook. Literary Licensing, LLC, 2012, ISBN 1-258-42699-4 . (English)
  • John Heafield Bacon: American Steam-Car Pioneers: A Scrapbook. 1st edition. Newcomen Society of the United States, 1984, ISBN 99940-65-90-4 . (English); Beginnings; Sylvester A. Roper; George A. Long; George E. Whitney
  • H. Walter Staner: The early days of motors and motor-driving - steam cars. Lightning Source UK, Milton Keynes UK, ISBN 978-1-4455-2487-0 . (undated reprint of instructions for operating steam cars from the publisher of the specialist newspaper Autocar , approx. 1900; English)

Web links

Commons : Roper Steam Velociped  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Art Of The Motorcycle. Guggenheim Museum, Las Vegas, ISBN 0-89207-207-5 , p. 25.
  2. ^ A b Christian Bartsch (ed.): A century of motorcycle technology. VDI-Verlag, Düsseldorf, ISBN 3-18-400757-X , p. 10.
  3. ↑ Paul Simsa: It started with the steam. In: Motorcycle Revue. Edition 1979, p. 65.
  4. ^ Stephen Wright: The American Motorcycle. Volume 1: 1896-1914. Megden Publishing Company, 2001, ISBN 0-9603676-2-4 , p. 9.
  5. ^ Smithsonian: Roper steam wheel around 1869.
  6. ↑ motorcyclemuseum.org Sylvester Roper: American inventor and transportation pioneer who built a steam-powered motorcycle in 1869 (accessed November 11, 2011)
  7. ^ The Art Of The Motorcycle. Guggenheim Museum, Las Vegas, ISBN 0-89207-207-5 , p. 399.
  8. ^ Died in the saddle. In: Boston Daily Globe . June 2, 1896.
  9. ↑ Two-wheeler auction: Experts expect price record for steam motorcycles. on: spiegel.de , November 7, 2011, accessed November 10, 2011.
  10. ↑ Auction America: Las Vegas Premier Motorcycle Auction, January 12-14, 2012: Lot No. 703, 1894 Roper Steam. Motorcycle