Autoped

Autoped

Autoped

Motorised scooter

The Autoped was an early motor scooter or motorized scooter manufactured by the Autoped Company of Long Island City, New York[2] from 1915 to 1922.[3][4]

Quick Facts Manufacturer, Also called ...

The driver stood on a platform with 10-inch tires and operated the machine using only the handlebars and steering column, pushing them forward to engage the clutch, using a lever on the handlebar to control the throttle, and pulling the handlebars and column back to disengage the clutch and apply the brake.[1][2][3][4] After riding, the steering column would be folded onto the platform to store the scooter more easily. The engine was an air-cooled, 4-stroke, 155 cc engine over the front wheel.[2][3] The bike came with a headlamp and tail lamp, a Klaxon horn, and a toolbox. It was quite efficient, but was not widely distributed.[2]

A patent for the Autoped as a "self-propelled vehicle" was applied for in July 1913 and granted in July 1916.[5][6] An early description of the Autoped described it as having a hollow steering column that acted as the fuel tank.[7] However, the production version had a fuel tank above the front mudguard.[3]

The Autoped went out of production in the United States in 1921, but was manufactured by Krupp in Germany from 1919 to 1922.[3][8]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Partridge 1976, p. 70.
  2. [2]
    Johnston.
  3. [3]
    Wilson 1995, p. 22.
  4. [4]
    Jacquet.
  5. [5]
    Gibson 1916.
  6. [6]
    U.S. patent 1,192,514
  7. [7]
    Windsor 1914, p. 163.
  8. [8]
    Wilson 1995, p. 243.

Bibliography

  • Jacquet, Florian (ed.). "ScooterManiac – Autoped". ScooterManiac. Florian JACQUET, webmaster. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
  • Johnston, Paul F. (ed.). "America On The Move – Pope, Cleveland, Autoped, and Simplex". America On The Move. Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
  • Partridge, Michael (1976). "1916 13⁄4 hp Autoped Scooter". Motorcycle Pioneers: The Men, the Machines, the Events 1860–1930. David & Charles (Publishers). pp. 70–71. ISBN 0 7153 7 209 2.
  • US patent 1192514, Gibson, Arthur Hugo Cecil, "SELF-PROPELLED VEHICLE", issued 1916-07-25, assigned to Auto-Ped Company of America
  • Wilson, Hugo (1995). The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle. London: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0-7513-0206-6.
  • Windsor, H. H., ed. (August 1914). "New Power Vehicle Built on Unique Lines". Popular Mechanics. 22 (2). Hearst Magazines: 163. ISSN 0032-4558. The engine, 21⁄2 hp., is built in the front wheel, and the steering pillar is hollow, serving also as the gasoline-supply tank.
  • "Autoped Scooter by Imperial Motors".


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