This week marks the 86th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Rally has long been a Fotz family tradition, but tragically, tragically, we can't make it this year. So instead, I'm sharing some motorcycle knowledge with all of you. I'm Mimi Fotz, and this is the episode of Hello from the Van. Ah yes, motorcycles. If you had to guess where motorcycles were first invented, where do you think they came from? Go ahead, I'll give you five seconds to shout out your answer. Did you guess France? Because I sure didn't. It all dates back to the 1860s with a man named Pierre Michot, a blacksmith in Paris. He started a company called Michot and Company. Pierre didn't start out making motorcycles right away. It was actually a which came first, the chicken or the egg type situation. It was a which came first, the bicycle or the motorcycle. Before Pierre could invent the motorcycle, he had to invent a bicycle with pedals, and he did, and called it a velocipede. This next part of the history is where things get a little dicey. You see, around 1867, Pierre's son that he invented with, Ernest, put a small steam engine on one of these velocipedes, and thus the motorcycle was born. Sort of. Because around the same time, one of Pierre Michaud's employees, Pierre Lamont, fled to the United States and claimed that he developed the prototype. Four years earlier, in fact, in 1863, we know from records that Pierre Lamont filed for a bicycle patent with the US Patent Office in 1866. So who had the idea first? The guy who fled to the United States with his ideas, or the guy in France who started the company and executed the ideas. We don't actually know. What we do know is that by the end of the decade in 1868, the race for a reliable motorcycle design was on. You see, these early designs had a big problem. They kept blowing up. Just a little like oops, sorry guys. The steam engines strapped between your legs as you rode were inherently dangerous and, you know, again, prone to explosion. In 1868, an American Sylvester H. Roper of Roxbury, Massachusetts, developed a two-cylinder steam velocipede with a coal-fired boiler between the wheels. But back in France, other engineers were also still jockeying for motorcycle position. French engineer Louis Perrault patented a similar single-cylinder machine, and then the Michot Perrault steam velocipede was born. All of these inventors and engineers were working together to figure out a way to go quickly and not die. And that's a worthy goal if I ever heard one. By the time the 1870s and 1880s rolled around, different inventors in France and the United States continued to work on the problem of velocipede explosion. They tried coal power, petroleum, alcohol, and steam. The problem of accidentally blowing themselves up or starting themselves on fire continued. It would take until 1881, when Lucius Copeland of Phoenix, Arizona would finally solve the problem. The answer was a smaller engine. Lucius designed a much smaller steam boiler, which could drive the large wheel of a big bike called an American Star High Wheeler, and it could do so at about 12 miles per hour. Six years later, Copeland would go on to start the Northrop Manufacturing Company to produce the first successful motorcycle. Ironically, this first motorcycle had three wheels, not two. But if you think that solves the mystery of who invented the first motorcycle, you'd be sorely mistaken. Remember how I said that it was a race to design the first motorcycle? Well, the Germans were about to be left out. Around the same time, German engineers were working on combustion engines for velocipedes, while the French and Americans were focusing almost solely on steam power. The first internal combustion, gas-fueled motorcycle, was called the Reichwagon. It was made by two inventors out of Germany, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in 1885. Due to the fact that it's a combustion engine, much like we have today, this design is widely recognized as the first true motorcycle, and Daimler is often called the father of the motorcycle. But would he have ever gotten there if the French hadn't tried a steam engine first? It was a collaborative effort. With the turn of the new century, motorcycle designs and inventions exploded. But not literally this time, figuratively. Over a hundred designs for motorcycle prototypes were developed across Germany, England, France, and the United States. By 1901, Indian motorcycles had begun commercially selling their motorcycles, and by 1913 were producing over 32,000 motorcycles a year. In 1903, the now famous Harley Davidson Motorcycle Company also began producing motorcycles. The goal of simply creating a motorcycle that worked was now done because a new sport was driving invention and innovation. Motorcycle racing. The early 1900s saw the end of boring old pedal bike races and gave way to hugely popular and much more dangerous motorcycle races. And when I say that things were moving quickly, by 1911, Berkeley, California had the first ever motorcycle police brigade. It did not take long. By the beginning of World War I in 1914, motorcycles had taken on a life of their own. These weren't just steam-powered velocipedes anymore. They were motorcycles. Symbols of freedom, power, and speed, and those symbols of freedom would find themselves on the front lines of war. During World War I, troops needed a quick way to get information back and forth between the front lines, command posts, and other armies. Originally, horses were used. They were called war horses. But tragically, war horses had to be fed, shooed, and were in mortal danger due to their size. The answer to the war horse problem was motorcycles. Soldiers on motorcycles began doing everything from currying messages to supplies and even acting as military police. Motorcycles were such an important part of World War I that it led to a boom in production for two large manufacturers. You see, at this time, over 50% of Harley Davidson output was going to just the American military. Similarly, the company Triumph Motorcycles across the pond in England also began ramping up their production. They sold over 30,000 Triumph Type H motorcycles. So one model of motorcycle alone, just to Allied forces. This motorcycle that they sold, the Type H was unique because it was incredibly reliable. Something you needed during war when your literal life was on the line. Finally, World War I ended, but that was just the beginning for motorcycles. Harley Davidson continued to grow as a company, soon being sold in over 67 countries by 1920. BMW, out of Germany, started selling motorcycles by 1923. And by the 1930s, there were over 80 motorcycle manufacturers across the world. People could not get enough of motorcycles. This is also the time that the first annual Sturgis motorcycle rally began. See how it's all connected? The innovations of war brought events that we can still participate in today, nearly 100 years later. But we need to go back a little bit. Because after World War I, before too long, World War II happened, and motorcycles continued to be a part of the front line of communication for troops. Eventually, the war would end, but the scars it created remained. And this led to something happening. You see, with the devastation and loss of millions of lives, those soldiers who remained were looking for camaraderie. Many were suffering from what they then called shell shock, but what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder. Former soldiers came home looking for ways to experience a little bit of the brotherhood they had been a part of when they were in the war. They needed not only companionship but adrenaline as well. And once again, the call was answered by motorcycles. Before long, biker clubs, later called biker gangs, began to appear all across the United States throughout the 40s and 50s. This is when the term biker began to become synonymous with outlaw. This is also where American lore claims that the universal biker wave came from. If you've ever seen two motorcycles pass each other on a highway, you might have noticed that they use their left hand and point two fingers down towards the road. It looks almost like an upside-down peace sign. This is simply how riders acknowledge each other. It's a sign of respect and well-wishes. The two fingers symbolize two wheels down or to keep the rubber side down. It's the, hey buddy, I see you, safe travels of bikers. Some claim this wave came from the early days of Hartley Davidson, but there's no real definitive evidence for that. I guess it doesn't matter where it originated. What we do know is that it was solidified by soldiers following World War II in the United States. The post-war motorcycle club culture was a distinctly American shift in ideology. After World War II, the European motorcyclists and inventors focused on quality engineering and how to build a better, more reliable bike. Well, in America, Harley Davidson became the poster bike for rebellion, counterculture, and outlaw behavior. Oh, and also during this post-war time, we started getting new companies and countries joining the motorcycle fray. The 1950s saw companies like Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki joining the ever-growing line of bike companies. And by the 1960s and 70s, well, motorcycles were a lifestyle. But what about motorcycles today? What call are they answering now? It has to do with the economy. There is a high demand for small, inexpensive, and fuel efficient motorcycles and scooters in many developing countries. We've also seen a surge in motorcycles and scooters in high density cities and countries where the use of cars and even buses is simply not practical for the layout of cities and the amount of people living there. Scooters especially fill a niche for reliable and inexpensive transportation. We're also seeing the emergence of electric motorcycles that have huge potential for future economies. And all of this begs the question, why do people love motorcycles so much? I can tell you why I love them. A motorcycle is unique in the way it requires your focus to drive safely. There's a special kind of adrenaline and freedom that comes with knowing that your fate is largely determined by your own ability to remain focused and aware. There's also this very unique kind of sacredness that comes with riding alone with just you and the wind and an engine through the trees of places like Iron Mountain Road. It's unique and special. Along with this, one of the first things you learn when beginning to ride a motorcycle is the phrase, where you look is where you go. I remember taking a motorcycle safety course in my early 20s to renew my motorcycle license. During the course, you learn how to handle a motorcycle effectively and safely, how to get out of sticky situations and how to prevent accidents. At the end of the course, you take a motorcycle safety test, and this renews your motorcycle license. And during the test, you have to do what's called a figure eight pattern. I began doing my timed course, and when it came to the figure eight, I suddenly found myself standing next to my motorcycle. I had completely dropped the bike, bent a peg, and I was just standing there, wondering what happened. I looked to my instructor, a sun-weathered soul with decades of riding under his belt. I don't know what happened, I shouted. What did I do wrong? He simply walked over, picked up my motorcycle, and said, You stopped looking where you wanted to go, and you focused too much on where you are, and then you stayed there. Motorcycles and life are like that. If you focus too much on where you are, you'll lose sight of where you want to be, and that's when the fall happens. The trick is to pick yourself up, focus on where you want to go, and try again. And with that, I'm Mimi Fotz, and this has been the episode of Hello from the Van.