The inspiration for the earliest dirt bike, and arguably
the first motorcycle, was designed and built by the
German inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach
in Bad Cannstatt in 1885. However, if one counts two
wheels with steam propulsion as being a motorcycle,
then the first one may have been American. One such
machine was demonstrated at fairs and circuses in the
eastern US in 1867, built by Sylvester Howard Roper
of Roxbury, Massachusetts. In 1894, the Hildebrand &
Wolfmüller became the first motorcycle available
for purchase. In the early period of motorcycle history
there were many manufacturers as producers of bicycles
adapted their designs for the new internal combustion
engine. Today the Japanese manufacturers, Honda, Kawasaki,
Suzuki, and Yamaha dominate the motorcycle industry,
although Harley-Davidson still maintains a high degree
of popularity in the United States. Recent years have
also seen a resurgence in the popularity of many other
brands including BMW, Triumph and Ducati, and the emergence
of Victory as a second successful mass-builder of big-twin
American cruisers.
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