Hot seat
The Benz engines were equipped with electronic ignition - a battery and trembler coil system with spark plug which was very advanced for its time. Daimler & Maybach used the simpler hot-tube system which gave engine speeds of up to 900 rpm compared to the maximum 180 rpm of other engines of the time.
In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler patented a light engine, which could be fitted into a vehicle. This engine had a closed crankcase and a single vertical cylinder and was jokingly know as the 'grandfather clock'. Daimler and Wilhelm
Maybach could now fulfill the dream of a lifetime and decided that a two-wheeled vehicle could be used for testing the engine.
This resulted in the world’s first motorcycle, patented as ‘Reitwagen’. Incidentally, the exhaust was designed to be under the rider’s saddle – a less-than-ideal solution. This resulted in a hot seat whatever the weather!
Check out the stabilisers? makes getting your 'knee down' a bit difficult! From a technical point of view having 'Four' wheels made it a car not a bike, but why let the truth get in the way of a good story? Source: mercedes-benz