You probably picture a leather-clad rebel on a roaring Harley when you think of motorcycles. Or maybe a sleek Ducati screaming down a track. But the reality of who invented the first motorbike is a lot messier, smellier, and frankly, more dangerous than anything you’ll see at a modern dealership. It wasn't one guy waking up with a genius idea. It was a slow, awkward evolution involving steam engines, wooden wheels that could shatter at any moment, and a whole lot of trial and error in 19th-century workshops.
Most history books will point a finger at Gottlieb Daimler. They aren't wrong, exactly. But they aren't telling the whole story.
If we’re being honest, the "first" depends entirely on how you define a motorcycle. Is it just a bicycle with a motor? Does it have to run on gasoline? Because if you’re okay with a bike that basically functions like a tea kettle on wheels, we have to go back much further than the 1880s.
The steam-powered "boneshakers" you’ve never heard of
Before gasoline was even a thing for transport, inventors were obsessed with steam. Imagine sitting on top of a pressurized boiler while bouncing over cobblestones. Sounds like a nightmare, right? Well, that was the reality in 1867.
Sylvester Roper, an American inventor from Roxbury, Massachusetts, is the guy who really started this mess. He built a steam-powered velocipede. It had two wheels, a tiny coal-fired boiler, and a chimney sticking up behind the seat. It wasn’t a mass-produced product; it was a wild experiment. Roper used to ride it around fairs and tracks, scaring the absolute life out of onlookers. He actually died in 1896 while demonstrating a later version of his steam bike at a bicycle track. He was 73. Heart failure, they said, but he crashed doing about 40 miles per hour. That’s a hell of a way to go.
Around the same time over in France, Pierre Michaux’s son, Ernest, was tinkering with something similar. The Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede used a small commercial steam engine strapped to a "boneshaker" bicycle. It worked. Sorta. It was heavy, inefficient, and remarkably loud.
But here’s the thing: while these were technically "motorized cycles," they didn't lead to the industry we have now. Steam was a dead end for bikes. It was too heavy. You can't exactly wait twenty minutes for your bike to build up head of steam just to go get a loaf of bread.
Gottlieb Daimler and the Reitwagen breakthrough
This is where the guy everyone remembers comes in. In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach—names you definitely recognize if you like Mercedes-Benz—created the Reitwagen (the "riding wagon").
This is the moment when we truly answer the question of who invented the first motorbike in the modern sense. Why? Because Daimler didn’t use steam. He used a high-speed internal combustion engine fueled by petroleum. This was the "Grandfather Clock" engine.
It was a vertical, single-cylinder beast.
📖 Related: Why Every White Text Meme Maker Still Uses That Iconic Impact Font
The Reitwagen wasn't even meant to be a motorcycle. Daimler didn't care about two-wheeled transport; he was just trying to prove his engine could power a vehicle. He chose a bike frame because it was small and cheap. Ironically, the Reitwagen actually had four wheels—it had two small outriggers (training wheels) to keep it from tipping over because Daimler wasn't convinced a human could balance the thing once the engine started vibrating.
On November 10, 1885, Daimler’s son, Paul, took the Reitwagen for a spin. He rode it about three miles from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim in Germany. It reached a staggering speed of about 7 miles per hour. It also caught fire. The seat, which was made of leather, heated up so much from the engine underneath that it literally started smoldering while Paul was riding it.
Talk about a hot seat.
Why the Reitwagen gets all the credit
You might wonder why we ignore the steam guys and worship at the altar of Daimler. It comes down to the engine. The internal combustion engine (ICE) changed everything. It was light. It was (relatively) fast. It was the blueprint for every Ninja, Goldwing, and Sportster that followed.
- Fuel: It used Ligroin, a petroleum spirit usually sold in pharmacies as a cleaning agent.
- Frame: It was made almost entirely of wood. Imagine the vibration of a piston firing directly into a wooden beam.
- Wheels: Iron-banded wooden wheels. No rubber tires here. Your spine would feel every single pebble.
Daimler proved the concept, but then he immediately moved on to four-wheeled cars. He left the motorcycle world behind almost as soon as he created it. He didn't see the "fun" in it. He saw it as a test bench.
The first bike you could actually buy
If Daimler invented the first motorbike, the duo of Hildebrand & Wolfmüller made it a business. In 1894, they produced the first functional, series-production motorcycle.
🔗 Read more: 10 to the Third Power: Why This Simple Number Actually Runs Your World
This thing was a monster. It didn't have a clutch or pedals. To start it, you had to push it until the engine fired, then jump on while it was moving. To stop? You basically just closed the throttle and prayed. It was the first vehicle to actually be called a "motorcycle" (motorrad in German).
It was a total commercial flop.
It was too expensive, too complicated, and the "hot tube" ignition—which involved a literal flame heating a tube to ignite the fuel—tended to blow out in the wind. But it set the stage. It moved the motorcycle from a backyard experiment to something you could find in a shop.
Common misconceptions about early bikes
A lot of people think Harley-Davidson or Indian started the fire. Not even close. Harley didn't get going until 1903. By then, the "pioneer" era was already over, and the "refinement" era had begun.
Another big myth? That these inventors were trying to make life easier for the working man. Nope. Early motorcycles were toys for the rich and the brave. They were messy. You’d end a ride covered in oil, soot, and dust. They weren't "transportation" yet; they were a hobby for people who didn't mind the occasional explosion between their legs.
What this means for you today
Looking back at who invented the first motorbike gives you a bit of perspective. We complain if our bikes don't have Bluetooth or lean-sensitive traction control. Gottlieb Daimler was just happy his wooden bike didn't incinerate his son's trousers on the first run.
The evolution from the 1885 Reitwagen to a 2026 electric superbike is a straight line of engineering obsession. We went from steam, to wood and fire, to the precision machines we have now.
If you want to truly appreciate the history, do these three things:
Visit the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. They have a replica of the Reitwagen. Seeing it in person makes you realize how tiny and terrifying it actually was. The engine looks like it belongs in a factory, not a vehicle.
Research the "Pre-1916" Cannonball Run. There are groups of people who still ride these ancient, prehistoric motorcycles across the country. Watching a 1912 Indian or a 1915 Harley actually navigate modern traffic is a masterclass in mechanical grit. It’s the closest you’ll get to feeling what the pioneers felt.
💡 You might also like: Why the Vizio 65 inch television is basically the smart choice for regular people
Look at the frame of your own bike. Whether you ride or just admire them, notice the "diamond" shape. That basic geometry hasn't changed much since those early "safety bicycles" that Roper and Michaux were strapping boilers to. We are still essentially riding 19th-century skeletons with 21st-century hearts.
The "first" motorbike wasn't a single moment. It was a 30-year span of men in sheds getting burned by steam and oil until they finally figured out how to make two wheels move without a horse.