Roper Steam Velocipede, about 1869
date: label: date made
content: ca 1869
name: label: maker
content: Roper, Sylvester H.
notes: label: Description
content: Sylvester Roper, a machinist and inventor in Massachusetts, built this steam velocipede and demonstrated it at fairs and circuses. It is believed to be the oldest existing American motorcycle. With its forged iron frame and wooden wheels, it resembles a velocipede, a popular bicycle of the late 1860s. The saddle served as a water tank for the boiler, which was heated by a firebox that burned charcoal. Twisting the handlebar controlled the throttle and brakes. Roper built several other steam vehicles, including another motorcycle in 1895, but he died just before the motor vehicle manufacturing industry got underway.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Transportation, Road
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content: Bicycling
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content: America on the Move
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content: Transportation
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content: Road Transportation
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of John H. Bacon
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.314809
label: catalog number
content: 314809
label: accession number
content: 209499
objectType: label: Object Name
content: bicycle
label: Object Name
content: Velocipede
label: Other Terms
content: Velocipede; Road; Steam
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 15/16 ft x 2 1/8 ft x 6 9/16 ft; 1.1936 m x .64008 m x 2.0065 m