Millet motorcycle

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Millet motorized bicycle

Felix Millet.jpg

Unrestored Millet, titled 1897 model
Manufacturer Alexandre Darracq
Production ca. 1894–1895
Engine 5-cylinder air-cooled radial-configuration rotary engine
Top speed 35 km/h (hypothetical)
Power 1.2 PS (1.2 hp)
Ignition type Bunsen cell/ignition coil hybrid
Tires Pneumatic

The Millet motorcycle, designed in 1892 by Félix Théodore Millet, may have been the first motorcycle (or motorized bicycle) to use pneumatic tires. [1] It had an unusual radial-configuration rotary engine incorporated into the rear wheel, believed to be the first one ever used to power a person-carrying vehicle of any type.

Motorcycle two- or three-wheeled motor vehicle

A motorcycle, often called a bike, motorbike, or cycle, is a two- or three-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long distance travel, commuting, cruising, sport including racing, and off-road riding. Motorcycling is riding a motorcycle and related social activity such as joining a motorcycle club and attending motorcycle rallies.

Motorized bicycle

A motorised bicycle is a bicycle with an attached motor or engine and transmission used either to power the vehicle unassisted, or to assist with pedalling. Since it always retains both pedals and a discrete connected drive for rider-powered propulsion, the motorised bicycle is in technical terms a true bicycle, albeit a power-assisted one. However, for purposes of governmental licensing and registration requirements, the type may be legally defined as a motor vehicle, motorbike, moped, or a separate class of hybrid vehicle. Powered by a variety of engine types and designs, the motorised bicycle formed the prototype for what would later become the motorbike.

Rotary engine internal combustion engine with cylinders rotating around a stationary crankshaft

The rotary engine was an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration, in which the crankshaft remained stationary in operation, with the entire crankcase and its attached cylinders rotating around it as a unit. Its main application was in aviation, although it also saw use before its primary aviation role, in a few early motorcycles and automobiles.

Contents

Production history

A prototype with rear-wheel rotary engine ran in 1892. Production rights were acquired by Alexandre Darracq in 1894. Production halted following an unsuccessful entry in the Paris–Bordeaux–Paris race of 1895. [2]

Alexandre Darracq French automobile manufacturer

Alexandre Darracq was a French investor, engineer, cycle manufacturer and automobile manufacturer. By 1904, Darracq was producing more than ten percent of all automobiles in France and he sold a substantial part of his business to British investors. He became fascinated by the possibilities of a rotary valve engine, put it into production and though it became a disaster for Darracq & Cie persisted in installing it in Darracq products. He was obliged to retire in June 1912 aged 56 and after the Armistice his name was dropped from his Suresnes factory's mass-produced products.

Paris–Bordeaux–Paris

The Paris–Bordeaux–Paris Trail of June 1895 is sometimes called the "first motor race" although it did not conform to modern convention whereby the fastest finisher is the winner. It was a triumph for Émile Levassor who arrived first after completing the 1,178 km race in 48 hours, nearly six hours ahead of the runner-up. However, the official winner was Paul Koechlin, who arrived third in his Peugeot, exactly 11 hours slower than Levassor, but officially the race had been for four-seater cars, whereas Levassor and the runner-up drove two-seater cars.

Technology

The five cylinders were mounted radially in the rear wheel, with the connecting rods directly attached to the fixed crank of the hollow-drilled rear axle. The rear fender served as a fuel tank; a surface carburetor and air filter were located between the wheels. [3] Ignition was electric via combination Bunsen cell and induction coil. Millet used a rotating handlebar twistgrip for its operation. [4] It was started with pedals so the motorcycle could be moved even after engine failure. Maximum power was rated at 1.2 metric horsepower (1.2 hp), continuous power at 0.75 metric horsepower (0.74 hp) at 180 RPM. With the rated continuous power, the bike should have reached a speed of 35 km/h. [4]

Bunsen cell

The Bunsen cell is a zinc-carbon primary cell composed of a zinc anode in dilute sulfuric acid separated by a porous pot from a carbon cathode in nitric or chromic acid.

Induction coil type of electrical transformer

An induction coil or "spark coil" is a type of electrical transformer used to produce high-voltage pulses from a low-voltage direct current (DC) supply. To create the flux changes necessary to induce voltage in the secondary coil, the direct current in the primary coil is repeatedly interrupted by a vibrating mechanical contact called an interrupter. Invented in 1836 by Nicholas Callan, with additional research by Charles Grafton Page and others, the induction coil was the first type of transformer. It was widely used in x-ray machines, spark-gap radio transmitters, arc lighting and quack medical electrotherapy devices from the 1880s to the 1920s. Today its only common use is as the ignition coils in internal combustion engines and in physics education to demonstrate induction.

Twistgrip

A twistgrip is a handle that can be twisted to operate a control. It is commonly found as a motorcycle's right handlebar grip to control the throttle, but is sometimes found elsewhere, such as on a bicycle as a gearshift, and in helicopters.

See also

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References

  1. William Harris, Motorcycle History, How Stuff Works, retrieved 2012-11-26
  2. Cyril Posthumus; Dave Richmond (1978). Motorräder gestern und heute[Motorcycles yesterday and today]. München Heyne. p. 11. ISBN   3-453-52080-7.
  3. Dinglers Polytechnisches Journal. Bd. 299 (1896), p. 178, Reprint: ISBN   3-931965-13-9
  4. 1 2 Juráj Porázik (1983). Motorräder aus den Jahren 1885 bis 1940[Motorcycles of the years 1885 through 1940] (in German). Dausien Werner. p. 48. ISBN   978-3768402408.