Motorcycle Love Affair Spanning the Years

Motorcycle love affair between a veteran biker man and a sexy biker girl

The affair with the motorcycle began well before the modern bikes of today. In fact, depending on who you ask, the first motorcycle ever invented was built way back in 1867 by an American named Sylvester Howard Roper. It was a steam powered, two cylinders, two wheeled bike that ran with the help of coal. It was truly a marvel for its time, although few people would consider it as revolutionary as its predecessors to come. It wasn’t until nearly eighteen years later in 1885 that the first gas engine motorcycle by Gottlieb Daimler was tested for the first time. It was a wooden bicycle that had a gasoline engine attached to it. Not exactly the safest contraption ever built, but one that sparked the imagination and drive of everyone around it. Ever since then, riders and manufacturers alike have been riding, and improving the ride.

Of course, no treatment of the love affair between humans and the motorcycle can be complete without taking into consideration the Harley Davidson Motorcycles. Considered by many to be the premier motorcycle manufacturer in the world, this company got its start in 1903 under the guidance of William Harley and his friends of Arthur and Walter Davidson. The strange thing was that even though the engine was sound enough to prove itself on the racetrack, the original intent was to manufacture them for transportation vehicles.

However, like all love affairs worth its weight, there have been some hard times between the motorcycle and the riding public. Between the years of 1979 and 1987, sales did significantly decline for motorcycle manufacturers. Perhaps it was a combination of higher gas prices, or the people that grew up with the allure of motorcycles began to settle down and follow the standard formula of raising a family, having a white picket fence, and the all-important and roomy family mini-van. This relatively small time apart could have been caused by any number of reasons, but it didn’t last that long. Those manufacturers who survived the lean times became hungrier, more efficient, and more able to attract both the baby boomers and the younger generation back to the thrill of owning and riding a motorcycle.

In very real sense, the love affair that exists today between the motorcycle and its rider has never been stronger. It has survived wars, fuel shortages, the onslaught of middle age, the disrespect of authority, and various other forms of endangerment and disrespect that bikers encounter every day on the road. The classics and standards still stand on their own, while the next generation of motorcycles are always bucking and chomping at the bit to get out in the front and offer a more thrilling ride.

While no one can predict the future, there is absolutely no reason to believe that the love affaire between two biker singles will ever really diminish. Manufacturers are constantly creating revamping, and reimagining those classics that came before, or creating new and exciting rides just waiting to be tested. And that doesn’t even include all the inventions and insights that are found in the back corners of local motorcycle mechanic shops, or in the garages of motorcycle maniacs throughout the world.