DID YOU KNOW…
The World's First Motorcycle Had Training Wheels!
The "Daimler Reitwagen," often credited as the world's first gasoline-powered motorcycle (1885), was actually a four-wheeled vehicle. It featured two main wooden wheels and two smaller outrigger wheels, designed to keep it upright.
Invented by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Germany, the Reitwagen ("riding wagon") was primarily a prototype to test Daimler's compact, high-speed internal combustion engine. With its 0.5-horsepower engine, this wooden-framed machine could reach speeds of about 11 km/h (7 mph). While it never entered production, it laid a fundamental groundwork for the development of both the automobile and the modern two-wheeled motorcycle.
Love discovering things like this?
A new fact every day with photos, on the free app.
Run a business? This line is for you. Everyone else, read on.
I wrote this page once and it has been working on its own ever since, including tonight while I sleep.
I build the storefront for your business, under your own name, and you see it before you pay anything. If you don't like it, that's the end of it.
Show me my shopBlackstar Digital Studio · Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Made in Italy 🇮🇹