The Roper steam velocipede was a steam-powered velocipede built by inventor Sylvester H. Roper of Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, United States sometime from 1867 to 1869. It is one of three machines which have been called the first motorcycle,[1] along with the Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede, also dated 1867–1869, and the 1885 Daimler Reitwagen. Historians disagree over whether the Roper or the Michaux-Perreaux came first. Though the Reitwagen came many years later than the two steam cycles, it is often labeled as the "first motorcycle" because there is doubt by some experts whether a steam cycle should meet the definition of a motorcycle.
After his initial prototype of the late 1860s, Roper built a new and revised version in 1894, based on the then state of the art safety bicycle frame type. Sylvester Roper died of an apparent heart attack while riding this machine in 1896.
An 1869 Roper machine is now in the Smithsonian Institution,[2][3] and one from 1868 is in private hands after being offered at auction in 2012.[4] An 1894 Roper velocipede was exhibited in the Guggenheim Museum's The Art of the Motorcycle show at their Las Vegas venue, and was shown in 2011 at the Deeley Museum collection in Vancouver.[5][6]
^Girdler, Allan (February 1998), "First Fired, First Forgotten", Cycle World, vol. 37, no. 2, Newport Beach, California: Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., pp. 62–70, ISSN 0011-4286 Michaux-Perreaux year 1868. Roper year 1868{{citation}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^Johnson, Paul F., "Roper, Clarke, Indian and Harley", America on the Move, Smithsonian Institution, retrieved 2011-02-06
^Johnson, Paul F., Roper steam velocipede, Smithsonian Institution, retrieved 2011-02-06
^Cite error: The named reference AuctionsAmerica2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Krens2003 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Edwards2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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