The history
From a wooden 'riding car' in 1885 to 20 million bikes and scooters a year in India.
People fitted engines to bicycles almost as soon as there were engines small enough. Daimler's petrol engine made the idea practical, factories and two world wars made motorcycles common, and Italian scooters and Honda's Super Cub put the world on two wheels. Then India took over: bikes built for mileage, made by the million, and now a turn towards ABS, fuel injection and electric scooters.
1885
First petrol-engined motorcycle
Daimler Reitwagen, Germany
1894
First production motorcycle
Hildebrand & Wolfmüller, Germany
since 1901
Motorcycle brand longest in production
Royal Enfield (England, then India)
1988
First production motorcycle with ABS
BMW K100, Germany
1980
India's first two-seater moped
TVS 50, Hosur
100 million by 2017
Most-produced motor vehicle ever
Honda Super Cub series, Japan
1860 – 1900
Inventors bolt steam and then petrol engines onto bicycle-like frames. The first motorcycles are slow, rare and experimental.
1868
c. 1867–1871
Perreaux fitted a small steam engine to one of Michaux's iron-framed velocipedes. Its boiler sat under the saddle and belts drove the back wheel. In the United States, Sylvester Roper built steam cycles around the same time.
Why it mattered. Before petrol engines were light enough, people were already trying to make bicycles move by themselves.
1885
29 August 1885 (patent); first ride 18 November 1885
Daimler and Maybach needed a test bed for their new small, fast-running petrol engine. They put it in a wooden frame with two wheels and two small outrigger wheels. Daimler's 17-year-old son Paul rode it about 5 km, at up to 11 km/h. Its single cylinder made about half a horsepower.
Why it mattered. It is widely recognised as the first motorcycle with a petrol engine, the kind every commuter bike still uses.
1894
Hildebrand & Wolfmüller sold the first motorcycle made in series, and they were the first to call it a Motorrad, 'motor wheel'. Its 1,489 cc two-cylinder engine made about 1.9 kW and drove the back wheel directly. About 2,000 were built.
Why it mattered. For the first time, you could simply buy a motorcycle.
1900 – 1945
Motorcycle companies are born in Britain, America and Europe. The engine settles low between the wheels, and two world wars put hundreds of thousands of riders on the road.
1901
In 1897 the Werner brothers sold a 'Motocyclette' with its engine in front of the handlebars, which made it hard to handle; the name became the French word for motorcycle. At the end of 1901 their 'New Werner' put the engine low in the frame, where a bicycle's pedals would be.
Why it mattered. Low and central is where a motorcycle's engine has sat ever since, still called 'the New Werner position' for years: it keeps the bike stable.
1901
A bicycle and gun-parts maker in Redditch built its first motorcycle in 1901. The name Royal Enfield came from its work for the Royal Small Arms Factory.
Why it mattered. It is the oldest motorcycle brand still in production, and it later became an Indian company.
1901
The Hendee Manufacturing Company, a bicycle maker, built its first motorcycle in 1901 and sold it under the brand name Indian. By the 1910s it was one of the biggest motorcycle makers in the world.
Why it mattered. It showed that motorcycles could be built in large numbers, like bicycles.
1903
Two young friends built their first motorcycle in a small wooden shed. Harley-Davidson grew into one of the best-known motorcycle makers anywhere.
Why it mattered. It is one of only two big American makers to survive the Great Depression.
1916
July–September 1916
In 60 days the Van Buren sisters rode two 1,000 cc Indian motorcycles about 8,800 km (5,500 miles) across the United States, over dirt roads and mountain passes. They wanted to prove that women could serve as military dispatch riders, and to support women's right to vote.
Why it mattered. They showed that a motorcycle could take anyone almost anywhere, at a time when many people thought women shouldn't ride at all.
1917
1914–1918
In the First World War armies used motorcycles to carry messages, pull machine guns in sidecars and move quickly behind the front. Harley-Davidson and Indian supplied thousands to the US Army.
Why it mattered. War orders made motorcycle makers big, and taught them to build tough, simple machines.
1932
Royal Enfield introduced the Bullet, a single-cylinder four-stroke. The same basic design would later be made in India for more than six decades.
Why it mattered. It became one of the longest-running motorcycle designs ever.
1942
1939–1945
Harley-Davidson built about 56,000 WLA motorcycles for the Allies during the war, plus about 20,000 WLC models for Canada. Germany used BMW and Zündapp sidecar outfits. Royal Enfield's light 125 cc 'Flying Flea' was dropped by parachute with airborne troops.
Why it mattered. After the war, many soldiers came home knowing how to ride, and cheap ex-army bikes helped start a motorcycle boom.
1946 – 1983
Cheap, easy scooters and step-throughs from Italy and Japan become everyday transport. India starts building its own.
1946
April 1946
Aircraft engineer D'Ascanio designed a scooter for a country with broken roads and little money: a step-through body that kept your clothes clean, a small engine beside the back wheel and a spare tyre. Vespa means 'wasp' in Italian.
Why it mattered. It turned powered two-wheelers into everyday transport for ordinary families.
1947
A Milan steel-tube company launched the Lambretta scooter, the Vespa's great rival. Both were later built under licence around the world, India included.
Why it mattered. Two Italian scooters set the pattern for millions of scooters in Asia.
1955
After the Indian Army ordered Bullets for patrolling the borders, Royal Enfield and Madras Motors set up Enfield India to assemble them. By 1962 every part was made in India. The Bullet has been built in Chennai ever since, even after the English factory closed.
Why it mattered. It started India's own motorcycle industry, and Royal Enfield eventually became an Indian company.
1958
August 1958
Honda built a light, reliable 50 cc step-through with an automatic clutch, so you could ride it with one hand while carrying a tray of noodles in the other. It was cheap, frugal and nearly unbreakable.
Why it mattered. More than 100 million have been made: the most of any motor vehicle in history.
1969
Honda's CB750 had four cylinders, electric starting and a hydraulic disc brake on the front wheel, at a price many riders could afford. Magazines called it the first 'superbike'.
Why it mattered. It helped make disc brakes normal on motorcycles, and Japanese bikes the world's favourite.
1972
Bajaj had built Vespa scooters under licence. In 1972 it launched its own version, the Chetak. Demand was so high that at one point the waiting list was 10 years long.
Why it mattered. For a generation of Indian families, the Chetak was the first vehicle they owned.
1980 – 2017
Frugal four-stroke commuters from joint ventures sell by the million, and India becomes the world's biggest market.
1980
TVS rolled out India's first two-seater moped, a 50 cc machine that you could also pedal. It was cheap to buy and to run.
Why it mattered. It brought powered two-wheelers to small towns and villages.
1984
Hero, a bicycle maker, teamed up with Honda. Their first bike, the CD 100 of 1985, used a four-stroke engine that went far on a litre of petrol, at a time when many small bikes were thirsty two-strokes.
Why it mattered. It made fuel economy the thing Indian buyers cared about most.
1985
March 1985
A light bike with a 98 cc two-stroke engine that was quick for its size. Production ended in 1996 as emission rules tightened, but it is still a cult favourite.
Why it mattered. It showed a small commuter could also be fun, and why cleaner four-strokes eventually won.
1988
BMW offered an electronic anti-lock braking system on the K100, the first on a production motorcycle. Sensors watched the wheels, and a pump eased the brake whenever a wheel began to lock.
Why it mattered. It made hard braking much safer, and it is now the law on bigger bikes in India and many other countries.
1994
The Splendor, a 97 cc four-stroke commuter based on Honda's Cub engine, became India's best-selling motorcycle. By 2009 about a million a year were being sold. Hero took over the Splendor when the partners split in 2011–2012.
Why it mattered. It is the model of the Indian commuter: light, frugal and nearly unbreakable.
2001
Bajaj launched the Pulsar 150 and 180, sportier commuters with more power. Later versions added twin spark plugs (DTS-i), disc brakes and fuel injection. This box uses the Pulsar 150's numbers.
Why it mattered. It created a new kind of Indian bike: a commuter that also felt fast.
2017
2016–17
In the year to March 2017, India's makers sold about 17.7 million two-wheelers at home, more than the 16.8 million sold in China. Most were 100–110 cc commuter motorcycles and scooters.
Why it mattered. India is now where most of the world's new motorcycles and scooters go.
By the numbers
Domestic two-wheeler sales reported by SIAM, by financial year (April to March). Sales peaked in 2018–19, fell with new rules and the pandemic, and are climbing back.
2017 – today
ABS and CBS become the law, fuel injection replaces the carburettor, and electric scooters arrive in force.
2017
19 October 2017
Honda celebrated the 100 millionth Super Cub series motorcycle at its Kumamoto factory, 59 years after the first.
Why it mattered. No other motor vehicle has been made in such numbers.
2018
June 2018
A Bengaluru start-up launched a fast electric scooter with a touchscreen and its own charging network. It uses about 25–30 Wh of electricity per kilometre.
Why it mattered. It showed that electric scooters could be desirable, not just cheap.
2019
1 April 2019
A 2016 rule came fully into force: every new two-wheeler above 125 cc must have ABS, and smaller ones must have ABS or a combined braking system (CBS), in which the rear lever also brakes the front wheel.
Why it mattered. Two-wheeler riders are among the most at risk on Indian roads, and better brakes save lives.
2020
1 April 2020
India jumped straight from BS-IV to BS-VI emission rules. To meet them, almost every new motorcycle switched from a carburettor to electronic fuel injection and a catalytic converter.
Why it mattered. Cleaner air in crowded cities, and the end of the carburettor on new Indian bikes.
2021
15 August 2021
Ola Electric launched its S1 scooters, built at a huge new factory in Tamil Nadu. Electric scooters from many makers quickly became a common sight in Indian cities.
Why it mattered. India's two-wheelers began to switch from petrol to batteries.
Did you know?
The first motorcycle ride, in 1885, was made by a 17-year-old: Paul Daimler, at about 11 km/h.
More than 100 million Honda Super Cubs have been built, more than any other motor vehicle.
At one time the waiting list for a Bajaj Chetak scooter was 10 years long.
The Royal Enfield Bullet has been made in Chennai since 1955, long after its English factory closed.
India buys around 18 to 20 million two-wheelers a year, more than any other country.
The people
1834 – 1900 · Engineer · Germany
Built the small high-speed petrol engine that made the first motorcycle and car possible.
1846 – 1929 · Engine designer · Germany
Daimler's partner, who designed much of the Reitwagen's engine.
1884 – 1959 and 1889 – 1949 · Riders · United States
Crossed America on motorcycles in 1916 to show women could be dispatch riders.
1891 – 1981 · Aeronautical engineer · Italy
Designed the Vespa scooter.
1906 – 1991 · Engineer and founder of Honda · Japan
Built Honda from a small workshop into the world's biggest motorcycle maker.
1923 – 2015 · Industrialist · India
Founder of Hero Cycles, who took Hero into motorcycles with Honda.
1938 – 2022 · Industrialist · India
Led Bajaj Auto through the Chetak and Pulsar years.
Where it happened
Sources
Dates marked “c.” are approximate, and historians sometimes disagree about who was first. If you spot a mistake, tell us.
↑↓ move↵ open/ or ⌘K search anywhere