Motorcycle Firsts

I originally wanted to do a piece about the very first water-cooled motorcycle. This, it seems, turned out to be more complicated than I expected. Apparently some of the earliest motorcycles had water cooled engines. I was thinking, however, about the first "modern" (post war) water-cooled motorcycle. Anyway here are some of the motorcycle firsts I discovered along the way.

1867 First steam powered "motorcycle" - S.H. Roper

1885 First gasoline powered "motorcycle" - Daimler and Maybach
1893 First multi-cylinder motorcycle - Millet

1894 Fist commercially available motorcycle - Hildebrand and Wolfmuller

1898 First American production motorcycle - Orient Aster
1905 First four cyclinder motorcycle - FN
1907 First eight cylinder motorcycle - Curtiss
1913 First overhead cam motorcycle - Pugeot

1971 First watercooled "modern" motorcycle - Suzuki GT750

1972 First production six cylinder motorcycle - Benelli Sei1980 First fuel injected production motorcycle (carborated model shown)

1988 First ABS equipped motorcycle - BMW K100

2006 First motorcycle equipped with air bags - Honda GoldwingI found a lot neat stuff, but there were still some firsts that I just couldn't find.

First ohv motorcycle?

First diesel motorcycle?

First two stroke motorcycle?

First V twin production motorcycle?

Maybe I'll have to leave that for next time.

More New Timelines

New Triumph timeline

New Norton timeline
New Indian timeline
New Harley timeline
I've been hard at work over at moto-timeline.blogspot.com. Here's some of the new additions that dig a little deeper than the 1960's. On the way I have a flood of dirt bike timelines from companies like; Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki, KTM, Husqvarna, Husaberg, ATK, and more.

Lots of new timelines

I've got a boat load of new motorcycle timelines over at... motorcycle timelines. Here's a taste of what I've been cooking.

Click to view any of them.

I've got a boat load of new motorcycle timelines over at... motorcycle timelines.

Motorsport of the Month: Drag Racing

With road racing series like Moto GP, and AMA superbike taking all of the racing glory, motorcycle racing gets all but forgotten. Drag bikes even play second fiddle auto drag racing. Never-the-less motorcycle drag racing is offers a rush unlike any other. A rider straddles what's little more than a monsterous engine attatched to a even more monsterous slick, and rockets down the strip at 250 miles an hour, all while try to keep the front tire on the ground.

Motorcycle drag racing started to get organized after the war in the 1950's and 60's. Riders would modifiy their Harleys, Triumphs, and Nortons for straigh line speed. The sport grew in the 1970's and 80's with big bore superbikes from Japan. 

Drag bikes are seperated into two different types stock based and modified.  Stock based bikes start off as regular production bikes which are then modified for drag racing, these bikes can get into the 7 second quarter mile bracket. The modified type such as top fuel and funny bikes are fabricated race bikes with tube chassis and are purpose built. These bikes can cover the quarter mile in 5 seconds in speeds exceeding 240 miles per hour.

Some early top fuel bikes

There are several different governing bodies for drag racing. The two biggest are the AMA dragbike series, and the NHRA super stock series. The AMA offeres several different classes, the NHRA offers one class. The NHRA super stock class had historically been dominated by four cyclinder Japanes bikes, but since Harley's involvement in the series with the V Rod, 

V twins have become the favored configuration.

Bikes of the NHRA Pro Stock

Sources/Links

http://www.dragracingonline.com/special/fuelbikes_1.html

http://www.nhra.com/index.asp

http://www.dragbike.com/

http://www.amadragbike.com/

Street Beasts: New Age UJM's

They first crawled out of the primordial ooze in 1969 in the form of the Honda CB750. They had big air cooled inline fours, electric starts, disc brakes, and they were called the UJM's, or universal Japanese motorcycle. Called universal because these Hondas, Kawasakis, Suzukis, and Yamahas all look and performed more or less the same. UJM's enjoyed huge success in the 1970's but as the 80's and 90's rolled in the UJM began to be displaced by sports bike and cruisers. That's where these machines come in.

I call them street beasts because they're all pretty beefy for standard bikes. But they are modern versions of their UJM ancestors, similar to new and old Ford Mustangs, or VW Beatles. Beasts are perticularly popular in Japan where for many years motorcycles displacing over 750cc were prohibited. Sometime in the 80's or 90's the ban was lifted and the power hungry Japanese market gobbled up what they've been missing out on all those years.  Today "naked" bikes have gained some popularity, however, bikes like Honda's 919, or Yamaha's FZ1 are (in my eyes) not UJMs.

Honda tried a couple of UJM's in the 90's before they came up with the retro CB1300. The X11 isn't quite a UJM with its alluminum frame but I included it anyway.

Honda CB1000F

Honda CB1100SF (X11)
Honda CB1300

Kawasaki offered both the Zephyr 1100 and ZRX in the states. Sadly it no longer makes anything in the category today.

Kawasaki ZR1100 (Zephyr)
Kawasaki ZRX1100 and ZRX1200
Suzuki revisted the GSX series with the GSX1100G in the 1990's. Suzuki has had the Bandit series for quite some time now. Today it is the only one of these bikes available in the US. Overseas the GSX 1400 is available as well.

Suzuki GSX1100G
Suzuki GSF1200
Suzuki GSX1400
Yamaha's sole beast is the XJR. A name which connects with one of Yamaha's UJM series the XJ. XJR's were never sold in the US.

Yamaha XJR1200
Yamaha XJR1300

Finally there are some bikes that aren't quite like the rest, but they're close. The Yamaha V max is a good example, but it has a V4 and is more of a cruiser. Suzuki's B King fit in with the big bore standards but it's more of a naked street bike rather than UJM.

Cruiser V-twins in Sporty Chassis

Over the years a division has occurred in the motorcycle market, especially in the US. Motorcyclist are often lumped into two categories, sportsbikes and cruisers. Sure there's lots of other categories, such as touring or off road, but when it comes to sales in the US these two are kings. Over the years a strange sub category has emerged between these two. It doesn't really have a name because it is so rare and elusive. This category combines the big torquey V-twin from a cruiser and the upright high performance frame of a standard or sportbike. The result is an unusual mix of looks and performance. These creatures have never really sold well, which would explain their rarity. But they have created a strong following of riders who are as strange as they are.

You could argue Harley's Sportster is a "standard" type bike rather than an entry level cruiser. But if ever there was a sporty standard from Harley it'd be the XLCR (of which I just mentioned in Harley Sport Specials). This bike is what i consider to be the first crusier twin sport.

Harley-Davidson XLCR1000 77-78

When Yamaha first got into V twins (more or less Harley knock-offs) they tried something different. Yes there was teh 920 Virago you tipical Japanese cruiser, but then there was the 920R, an intirely different animal. The 920R never caught on in the US and got a little more attention in Europe.

Yamaha VX920R 81-86 (81-82)

The Honda Ascot (NT500) and Yamaha Vision (XZ550) are two examples of Japanese companies tring something new. Neither of the these bikes did well in the US, and both faired a bit better over seas (a recurring theme). Honda would continue with V twins with the Hawk GT, Yamaha tried again with the TDM based TRX. Finaly Suzuki came to market a little later with the VX800, again a nice bike that didn't fit into mainstream categories.

Honda NT500 82-84
Yamaha XZ550 82-83
Suzuki VX800 90-97 (90-93)

Most Buells could be considered for this category. The XB12S is perhaps the best example though.

Any Buell 89-

Yamaha brought this segment back to life around 2005 with the MT-01. Based on a wild concpept bike with a 1700cc Road Star engine (complete with air cooling and pushrods!) the MT was an excersize in style and tourque. It's not available in the US, probably because original bikes don't sell well here.

Yamaha MT-01 05-

Like the MT-01 the Harley XR1200 isn't for sale in the US of A. It's a pitty too because it's (in my eyes) the best looking production Harley to date. This bike brings the segment full circle back to Harley.

Harley XR1200 08-