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1894 Roper Steamer

A hall-of-Famer's Last Ride

When 73-year-old Sylvester Roper showed up at a bike path local Boston aboard this steam engine powered bike has invented the bicycle young drivers just laughed.

Here was this old man riding a strange contraption that wanted to race the local hotshots around one-third-mile Charles River Park track. It was not until the race was built on the old one that came with something really incredible.

On that day-June 1, 1896-Roper has three laps, covering the distance in just over two minutes for an average speed of 30 mph. Then he tried to go even faster. After all, just a week before he had scored a mile off on Dorchester Avenue and completed with an average speed of 40 mph.

The Boston Daily Globe reported the tragic events that followed:

"The machine was cutting a lively pace on the back stretch when the men seated near the training quarters noticed the bicycle is unstable," said paper. "The forward wheel wobbled, and then suddenly, the cycle was deflected from its course e fuori pista immersa nella sabbia, gettando il pilota o di ribaltamento.

"Tutti si precipitano in aiuto del inventore, che giaceva immobile, sotto la sua ruota, ma non appena ha toccato lui percepito che la vita è stato estinto," la carta aggiunto. "Dr. Welcott è stato convocato e dopo un esame ha dato il parere che il signor Roper era morto prima che la macchina a sinistra la pista ".

È stato poi stabilito che un attacco di cuore ucciso Roper, che ha lasciato dietro una eredità di vapore moto che risale a quasi tre decenni. Il suo primo, in mostra presso la Smithsonian Institution, è stato costruito nel 1869, per quasi 20 anni prima di Gottlieb Daimler ha creato la prima moto a combustione interna. A proposito a further 10 steam-powered vehicles followed, culminating in this machine, now owned by Robert Boudeman of Richland, Michigan, and on display at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame museum.

In this final project, Roper's engine consists of a small coal-fired boiler in a home that was good for about 7 miles on each stirring. As the inventor liked to say: "It would climb any hill and outrun any horse."