Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 95, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 August 1901 — A Motor Bicycle. [ARTICLE]

A Motor Bicycle.

Something entirely new here in the way of bicycles and not very oommon any place, was a gasoline motor wheel, the rider of whioh put up at the Makeover House, Tues. night. The machine is muoh like any ordinary bicycle, only somewhat heavier and stronger, and is equipped with a gasoline motor. A small battery is also required as the gasoline ignites with an electric spark. The rider was M. H. Bentley and he started from Chicago that morning and was headed for Indianapolis. The entire machine weighs 130 pounds, and its ordinary speed is about 25 miles an hour on good smooth roads, but 40 miles can be attained- The weight of the machine and the hard pull on the driving wheel requires the tires to be pumped up very hard, and this again makes trouble, because it increases the tendency of the wheels to slip. And the slipping of the wheels is one of the great draw-backs. They slip badly on wet streets, and there is no use to carry a “sand-box” because they slip on sand, also. Wet roads did not trouble on this trip, it is unnecessary to say, but he did find sand to vex his soul in plenty* And though it may be a “soft job,” in one sense, to walk and push a 130 pound bike through a mile or two of sand, it is no snap. But after getting over Jordan’s “hard road to travel,” between here and Remington, he would have smooth sailing clear to Indianapolis. It is no trouble to start the machine ps all the rider has to do is to get aboard and strike out, and the machine does the rest