Oh, you didn't know about the third Wright brother? Let me fill you in on a little fantastic bit of history.
The famous Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur (whose parents were surely out to lunch with giving the brother those names) of course are credited with the invention of the airplane (and the phrase "It'll never fly Orville"). But not as well known was their little brother Michael (Mike or "Mikey") Wright.
When Orville and his big brother Wilbur (again, love those names) set up shop on the shores of the Atlantic there in Kitty Hawk their parents sent their teenage brother Mikey to spend some time with them during summer vacation. Young Mikey tagged along with his older brothers when they went out to the sand dunes to test their flying contraptions. He was much lighter than his portly, middle-aged brothers and they would often call upon him to strap in to their early attempts at flying machines. Young Mikey was generally a pretty good sport being the guinea pig in their experiments at flight, and as a thank you the older brothers would give their brother unlimited access to their scrap pile of mechanical pieces they kept on the premises.
One summer day when his brothers were out of town, young Mikey started tinkering with a small airplane engine bolted onto his bicycle. The experiment was successful beyond his wildest dreams and he went motoring about the shore of the North Carolina coast. Though it had yet to be written, the song "Born To Be Wild" was playing in the background as young Mikey tooled up one sand dune and down the next. He also, inexplicably, felt the need to take off his shirt and put on a pair of sunglasses, though those had yet to be invented either.
When Wilbur and Orville (I'll never get tired of typing those names) got back from their business trip young Mikey showed them his prototype for the motorcycle. They both were impressed with it and promised to give it their full attention and support once they had conquered the air.
What follows is well known history. The Wright brothers finally got one of their flying contraptions to stay aloft for a few minutes (with the younger and much lighter Mikey at the throttle and controls) and set the young century on its way to scientific discovery and invention.
Because of the hubbub of the airplane (the ticker-tape parades, the visit to the White House) the development of the motorcycle was delayed a bit, and when the time came to pay attention to it young Mikey wasn't so young any more. With a new family to care for Mikey sold the patent to his "motorized bicycle" to two sausage makers named John Harley and Steve Davidson. (Incidentally, this is why the term "hog" became synonymous with the motorcycle.) Mikey Wright went on to invent the mini-van and the Cuisinart in his later life.
Harley and Davidson made some critical improvements to the prototype (such as those streamers that you sometimes see coming from the handlebars and the loud tailpipe.)
Actually, the tailpipe was the critical defining moment of motorcycle development. On its first forays out into moving traffic the motorcycle was much too small and quiet to be noticed (despite Harley and Davidson's constant use of the "Motorcycles Are Everywhere" bumper stickers on the bumpers of their Model T's) and were constantly being knocked around by other vehicles.
It was a young intern at their shop in who tinkered with the exhaust system to get it to be ear-splittingly loud. He was rewarded with the chance to design his own cycle, and he promptly invented the "Chopper" which is, for you who are not up on such things, the motorcycle with the ridiculously long front tire set up and the high handlebars that require a seven foot arm span to operate.
The motorcycle is now firmly etched into the American myth (it helps to have a whole continent to drive across) and this year the Smithsonian Museum is dedicating an exhibit to Mikey Wright and his first "motorized bike' design.
Please make sure to park your motorcycle in appropriate marked spot in the museum's parking lot and be as quiet as you can when entering the exhibit.
And please, make sure to wear a shirt.
