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.
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