Object Details
- Roper, Sylvester H.
- Description
- 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.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of John H. Bacon
- ca 1869
- ID Number
- TR.314809
- catalog number
- 314809
- accession number
- 209499
- Object Name
- bicycle
- Velocipede
- Other Terms
- Velocipede; Road; Steam
- Measurements
- 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
- place made
- United States: Massachusetts
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Transportation, Road
- Bicycling
- America on the Move
- Transportation
- Road Transportation
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_1339960
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ac-690f-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
