What was the name of Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach’s 1885 motorized two-wheeler?

Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach’s 1885 motorized two-wheeler was the Daimler Reitwagen.

Built in Germany, the Reitwagen used a small internal-combustion engine mounted in a wooden frame. Its engine was based on Daimler’s high-speed petrol design, and the machine had stabilizing wheels on either side, making it closer to a powered bicycle than to a modern motorcycle.

The Reitwagen is widely treated as the first true motorcycle because it was a two-wheeled vehicle powered by an internal-combustion engine. Steam-powered two-wheelers had appeared earlier, so the claim specifically concerns the petrol-engine motorcycle tradition.

The word Reitwagen is German for “riding car.” Daimler and Maybach’s work also influenced later motor vehicles, and Daimler’s engine was subsequently used in a four-wheeled motorcar in 1886.