HISTORY OF MOTORCYCLES PART 2
Gottlieb Daimler graced the world
with his presence in 1834 in the town
of Schorndorf Wartenburg, Germany.
Growing up he studied at Polytechnic
in Stuttgart and apprenticed as a
gunsmith. Luckily for the modern
day biker, he was a curious man and
wanted to increase his understanding of
engineering, he set out on a journey to
France that would eventually lead him to
create the first gas powered motorcycle.
The predecessor to the dreams of many
and to the lifestyle enjoyed by those of
us fortunate enough to have found love
on two wheels.
Daimler’s work on the first gas powered
engine began on the engine of JJ Lenoir
in Paris and continued to the factory
of Joseph Whitmore in Manchester. In
1872 Daimler settled into a position
working for Nikolaus Otto at the Deutz-AGGasmotorenfabrik in Cologne, which at the
time was the world’s largest manufacturer of
stationary engines. It was here that Daimler met
Wilhelm Maybach. Maybach was a designer, and
would quickly become Daimler’s closest friend
and co-conspirator. Daimler and Maybach spent
their time focusing on gas engine development
and partnered up in the business in 1882.
Daimler and Maybach set up shop in a
greenhouse that they converted into a fully
functioning workshop in Stuttgart. The
greenhouse became the refuge of the two
engineers. They worked day and night in complete
secrecy. The two were so guarded in their
development that even their families were unaware
of what the two were up to in the greenhouse.
Then something that any of us living in a small town
can relate to happened…when you don’t have the
inside scoop on what’s going down…you create
your own reality, and of course spread it far and
wide. Eventually a suspicious gardener, unable
to convince the two men to divulge their secret,
called in local law enforcement on suspicion of a
money counterfeiting operation inside the converted
greenhouse. Once the police were able to conduct
their search, which turned up only tools and some
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