When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

The Dawn of Motobikes and Truss Rods

-
Double top tube frames were made in Europe also, but I don't know how early. As far as I know, tanks on bicycles is very American.
 
Highly likely! But I'm curious if the idea came from motorcycles. I posted the earlier ads just as a reference to when the evolution may have started. I don't have enough access to the publications of the time to really define when double top tubes began. Of course earlier motorcycles looked more like bicycles with engines added to them, so one COULD say that these were built to look like motorcycles, but are obviously not the same shape as a motorbike bicycle.

Enter the 240 cc Shaw Motor...
nudyjata-1.jpg

Here's a 1912 Shaw Motorcycle from Tom Gray's collection found online.
hugequ9y-1.jpg

For more pics and couple more killer ads, check out
http://www.tomgraycollection.com/gallery/?album=6&photo=254&occur=1
 
The Pope Motobike made it's debut at the Chicago Motorcycle and Bicycle Accessory Show in Feb 1913 show here in this ad. This is the first time I've seen the word "Motobike" used for a bicycle. I would say that this is the first to use the motobike design with the camelback top tube and straight lower tube.

attachment.php


As far as double tube designs Excelsior lead the way!

The Excelsior "Twin Truss" from 1906 states "Original Design" and "Double forged crown" They may have been sharing with their English counter parts on some of the design aspects. The first Excelsior motorcycle was a Triumph with a very English design utilizing the double top bar design.

8422680934_c423f9de67_h-1.jpg


This 1908 ad also mentions a cantilever truss pattern with I would love to see an example of. I've never seen an early Excelsior before they moved to Michigan City from Chicago.

8486763578_335236eabd_b-1.jpg


The 1913 Merkel could very well be the 1st bicycle to use truss rods, though the parallel top tubes make it more a hybrid than the true motobike design with the camelback top bar and the straight under bar.


Most of the teen era truss forks look like they were converted from normal stock with the braces brazed on. Some more aesthetically pleasing than others. Schwinn made a pretty seamless truss rod bracket that they added to their forks. I think because of the demand for raw materials around WWI there may have been necessity to have these modified fork features with truss brackets slapped on a stock fork. The same goes for some of the lower top tubes that have trumpeted ends. They may have been converted camelbacks from old stock frames. Why else would you have beautiful flush joint construction on all the joinery, except the lower top tube??? The boy scouts movement played a big part in this new marketing strategy for the early motobikes.
 
We're in agreement the early Motor-Bike or Motor-Cycle, was nothing less then a typical straight bar diamond frame with a motor attached.
EarlyMotorcyclespng-1.jpg


Between 1902- 1914, a new two-wheel paradigm evolved. Bikes had fizzled and lost interest amongst the consumer...almost every bike maker recognized this diminishing trend and had a motorbike, either in production or on the drawing board to recapture brand loyalty.

Machismo, speed and convenience suddenly fell in alignment for the average man with the motorcycle. The excitement and thrill of witnessing a motorbike roaring down a street, or competing for a victory lap around a board track was exhilarating. Many motorcycle competitions and challenges sprang up across the countryl held on tracks, country roads, mud, gravel, rocks, and dirt! For a manufacturer to be a winner, their products had to endure and prevail under these harsh conditions. Hence the need for truss rods, then later the introduction of rear and front suspensions for comfort and stability.

One of the earliest engineer of the front and rear suspension on motorcycles was Joseph Merkel of the Merkel brand. It stands to reason that Merkel (an ex-bike part mfg) would introduced truss supports on his Flying Merkel to replicate its big brother, pre-dating other bicycle makers by a few years? Check out the ad copy featured in 1913.

MerckelMotobikepng-1.jpg
 
Back
Top