Hildebrand and Wolfmuller

1894 machine on display at Prague National Technical Museum, 2018

1894 machine

The rear mudguard contains the cooling water supply. The rubber straps are missing from the connecting rods

Note the cranks (set at same angle), big end (ball bearing), brass cam and roller follower, method of attaching main bearing to frame. A rear wheel puncture would certainly spoil the rider's day!

1896. Hildebrand and Wolfmuller Motor Bicycle.

1906. Wolfmuller Motor Bicycle.

Hildebrand & Wolfmüller of Germany

In 1889, Heinrich and Wilhelm Hildebrand of Munich, made a prototype motorcycle using a small steam engine.

After their prototype steam motorcycle, the brothers joined with Alois Wolfmuller to manufacture a design patented by Wolfmuller and Hans Geisenhoff, in 1894.

1894 Heinrich Hildebrand of Munich produces a benzine driven motor cycle.

It is considered to be the first production motorcycle and it was made in both Germany and France until 1896. The engine was a twin-cylinder, water-cooled, four-stroke with 1,488cc. The pistons travelled together (firing alternately) with their connecting rods pushing cranks on the rear wheel, like a locomotive engine. The rear wheel acted like a flywheel and it used rubber bands to pull the pistons back up the cylinders.

There are examples of the Hildebrand and Wolfmuller Motorad in the Deutsches Zweirad-Museum, Neckarsulm, Germany, the Prague National Technical Museum, the London Science Museum, and the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, USA.

See Also

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Sources of Information

• Wikipedia