Copeland steam bicycle

{{Infobox Motorcycle

|name = Copeland steam bicycle

|image = File:1884 Copeland Steam Cycle (replica) The Art of the Motorcycle - Memphis.jpg

|caption = A Copeland replica at the Art of the Motorcycle (Memphis) exhibition

|aka =

|manufacturer = Lucius Copeland

|parent_company =

|production = 1884

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|engine = Single steam cylinder

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|top_speed = c. {{convert|15|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}

|power = {{convert|4|hp|kW|abbr=on}} @ 2,600 RPM

|frame = American Star Bicycle steel frame

|torque =

|ignition =

|transmission = Single speed, belt drive

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The Copeland steam bicycle was a steam powered, two-wheeled motor vehicle made by Lucius Copeland in 1881 and is sometimes classed as an early motorcycle.

In 1881 Copeland designed an efficient small steam boiler which could drive the large rear wheel of a Columbia penny-farthing to a speed of {{convert|12|mph}}. Unlike typical penny-farthing bicycles, the Copeland had a small wheel at the front, which was turned by the handlebar for steering, and large wheel at the back.

In 1884 Copeland used an American Star bicycle, smaller steering wheel in front, to construct a new demonstration vehicle for the Maricopa County Fair that year. The "Star" was able to cover a mile in four minutes and to carry enough water to operate for an hour. Copeland set up the Northrop Manufacturing Co. in 1887 in Camden, New Jersey, to produce a three-wheeled version, the "Phaeton Moto-Cycle", which he demonstrated at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C in 1888.

The steam-powered engine produced 4 horsepower{{cite web |url=http://www.khulsey.com/motorcycles/early-steam-gas-motorcycle-history.html |title=Antique Motorcycles: Early Steam-Cycle History |year=2009 |publisher=KHI Inc. |accessdate=23 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100810002128/http://www.khulsey.com/motorcycles/early-steam-gas-motorcycle-history.html |archivedate=10 August 2010 }} at 2600 rpm with a {{convert|100|lbs|adj=on}} boiler around the steering column with the water heated by kerosene. A simple leather belt drove the large rear wheel, yielding a top speed of around {{convert|15|mph|km/h}}.{{cite web|url=http://patentpending.blogs.com/patent_pending_blog/2007/03/copeland_steam_.html|title=Copeland Steam Motorcycle|publisher=patentpendingblogs|date=11 March 2007|accessdate=23 September 2010}}

File:Steam Tricycle in Front of North Entrance to Smithsonian Institution Building 1888.jpg on his Phaeton Moto-Cycle at the Smithsonian Institution Building in 1888. Behind are his partner Sandford Northrop, and Smithsonian officials E. H. Hawley, W. H. Travis and J. Elfreth Watkins.]]