And I thought it was Joe Boyd who made the first MC.

[Bullgoose]

http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2011/08/0830daimler-first-true-motorcycle/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29

Looks like the first Ultimate seat.

[BigAl]

Roper was a interesting individual and is worth reading about.

He invented the first twist throttle and many other items.

He should be given more credit.

He died on his cycle doing a run as exhibition.

The story starts out he was not wearing a helmet.

Just kidding.

Roper reached the age of 73 in 1896. That June he showed up at a bicycle track near Harvard with a modified motorcycle. They clocked him at a remarkable forty miles an hour. Then the machine wobbled, and Roper fell off. He was dead when they found him. The autopsy showed he'd died, not from the fall, but of a heart attack

[Big IV]

what's not mentioned is that Daimler wasn't making a motorcycle or a vehicle of any kind. he was working on engine design and, realizing that he could not properly test his motors unless under load, he created a rolling test-bed which could accommodate any motor he wanted. it was a friend's idea to patent it as a vehicle.

I didn't snopes this to double check it, but it sounds plausible. Neat.