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| FACTOID:
The original Einspur was constructed
in 1885 simply as a mobile testing ground for the gasoline engine
that the German inventor and engineer Gottleib Daimler was developing.
His ultimate intention was to install it in a four wheeled carriage
but, by putting it in what was effectively a two wheeled machine,
he earned the nickname "Father of the Motorcycle" which is the center of controversy due to the dating of Sylvester
Roper's steam cycle. |
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GOTTLIEB
DAIMLER (1834-1900)
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| DAIMLER EINSPUR |
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| The
German word EINSPURIG means "single track",
an inaccurate description of this early machine, since it was
equipped with spring loaded outrigger wheels to keep it upright;
these were necessary because the saddle was so high above the
engine that the rider's feet could not reach the ground. The
top of the engine projected up between the frame members, and
above it was mounted a curved saddle more suited to the back
of a horse. O n the first machine, the handlebars were attached
to a tiller, but this was later replaced by the link arrangement
shown here. Then engine had an automatic inlet valve fed from
a surface carburetor and a mechanically operated exhaust valve.
In many ways
the engine was ahead of it's time. The drive from the engine
was by means of a flat belt to a countershaft, on the end
of which was a pinion engaging with an internally toothed
gear attached to the rear wheel. This was controlled by cords
passing around the handlebars, twisting of which simultaneously
tightened the belt and released the rear brake.
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| The
crude clutch is provided by a movable jockey wheel bearing against
the belt to vary it's tension. Ignition is by hot tube, heated
by an enclosed burner attached to the cylinder head. The engine
has a crankshaft of two flywheels joined by a crankpin, and
is enclosed within a cast aluminum crankcase. |
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©1999-2003 The Little Shack That Could |
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