The Orient tricycle was an early motorized tricycle (classified as a motorcycle under some definitions). It was manufactured by Charles H. Metz's Waltham Manufacturing Company in Waltham, Massachusetts and advertised in 1899 as a "motor cycle", the first use of the term in a published catalog.[1]

Orient tricycle

Orient tricycle with a trailer
Manufacturer	Waltham Manufacturing Company
Production	1899–c. 1901
Class	Motorized tricycle
Engine	20 cu in (330 cm3) water-cooled de Dion-Bouton gasoline or naptha fuel single
Bore / stroke	2+15⁄16 in × 3 in (75 mm × 76 mm)
Top speed	50 mph (80 km/h)
Power	2.75 hp (2.05 kW)
Related	De Dion-Bouton tricycle

Orient advertised that the single-person tricycle could be converted to a two-person four wheeled "autogo" in five minutes.[2] A 1900 Orient appeared in The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition at Guggenheim Museum in New York.[3]

Specifications

Specifications in infobox to the right are from Garson,[1] and from Krens.[3]

Notes and references

Notes

References

• Garson, G.P. (January 12, 2011), Motorcycle History: Part 1, Milestones: the genesis of the motorcycle, Motorcycle.com, retrieved 2014-06-16
• Orient (1901), "Autogo advertisement", The Automotive Manufacturer, Trade News Publishing Company, 42
• Krens, Thomas; Drutt, Matthew, eds. (2001) [1998], The Art of the Motorcycle, Harry N. Abrams, ISBN 0-89207-207-5

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Orient motorcycles.

• Waltham Automobiles, Waltham Museum, archived from the original on 2014-02-08, retrieved 2014-06-16 — with some information on serial numbers

See also

• List of motorized trikes
• Safety bicycle
• List of motorcycles of the 1890s

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