Women on motor cycle

Motorcycle

Source is Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text is licensed under the GFDL.

A motorcycle (or motorbike, plural "motorcycles") is a two-wheeled vehicle powered by an engine. The wheels are in-line, and at higher speed the motorcycle remains upright and stable by virtue of gyroscopic forces; at lower speeds continual readjustment of the steering by the rider gives stability. The rider sits astride the vehicle on a seat, with hands on a set of handlebars which are used to steer the motorcycle, in conjunction with the rider shifting his weight through his feet, which are supported on a set of "footpegs" or "pegs" which stick out from the frame.

The inspiration for the earliest motorcycles, and arguably the first motorcycle, was designed and built by the German inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Cannstatt (a city district of Stuttgart) in 1885. It was the first petroleum-powered vehicle ever and, but for the provision of a pair of stabilizing wheels, a motorized bicycle, although they called their invention the Reitwagen ("riding car"). They had not set out to create a vehicle form but to build a simple carriage for the engine which was the focus of their endeavours.

In the early period of motorcycle history there were many manufacturers as producers of bicycles adapted their designs for the new internal combustion engine. As the engines became more powerful and designs outgrew the bicycle origins, the number of motorcycle producers reduced.

British manufacturers held a dominant position in some markets until the rise of the Japanese manufacturers (led by Honda) in the late 60s and early 70s who were able to produce designs faster, cheaper and of better quality. Today, the Japanese manufacturers Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha dominate the motorcycle industry, although Harley-Davidson still maintains a high degree of popularity in America.