Remembering, almost all of us believe that the first bikes were created between 1901 and 1904. The brands we recognize are those of Indian Motorcycle and Harley-Davidson Motorcycle… but these are not the first.
Heinrich and Wilhelm Hildebrand together with Alois Wolfmüller patented the first 4-stroke, two-cylinder engine. This was on January 20, 1894 with patent number 78553.
This particular engine has a displacement of 1,498 cc (90.9 cu in). The diameter of the cylinder is 90 mm with a stroke of 117 mm. It is an engine capable of producing 2.5 Hp (1.9 kw,) with such low revolutions … 240 rpm. Its weight is 50 kg (110 lb) achieving a maximum speed of 45 km/h (28 mph).
The air and fuel mixture of the surface carburetor is regulated by a valve, operated by controls on the handlebar. The motor, which was placed flat on the frame, uses the ignition from a hot tube with the heater in front of the cylinder heads. The tube heater is ventilated by the lower tubes while the upper tubes have lubricating oil.
Some of the design details were transferred from a steam prototype made by the Hildebrand brothers in 1889, including the water tank on the rear mudguard and the engine cranks that drive the rear wheel directly. The water tank is reused to supply water to the cooling jackets that surround the cylinders. The steam prototype had a double-acting cylinder, which applied power to the piston in both directions. Without a double action available in the gasoline engine and without a wheel effect other than the movement of the rear wheel, the return impulse for the piston is provided by thick rubber bands.
The intake valves are operated by the suction caused by the intake stroke, while the exhaust valves are operated by an eccentric brass ring on the rear wheel and a device on the cylinder head that alternately opens the valves of each cylinder .
This bike was started in a factory in Munich. It was also manufactured under license in France, but in 1897 the Franco-German association was broken. It is believed that it reached manufacturing between 800 and 2000 units.
