These early bikes were steam powered, using charcoal and/or hardwood for pre-heating. In 1868, an American called Sylvester Roper of Massachusetts USA, developed a twin-cylinder steam velocipede cycle, with a coal-fired boiler between the wheels. Roper’s contribution to motorcycle development ended suddenly when he later died demonstrating one of his machines in Cambridge, Massachusetts on June 1st, 1896.
On that day, 73-year-old Roper rode his latest creation, a Pope Manufacturing Company Columbia bicycle, modified with a steam engine, at a track near Harvard Bridge in Massachusetts. He reportedly performed well with it, reaching speeds of up to 40 mph (64 km/h) and even outpaced professional cyclists.
During the ride, however, witnesses saw him become unstable and then fall off the cycle. He suffered a head injury and was found dead on the track. An autopsy later revealed the cause of death to be a heart attack. Not the very first fatality on powered cycles though, and certainly not the last.
Credits: Vojtěch Hušek, WildlyFunny.