Before electric bikes, motorbikes and bicycles with internal combustion engine, the first motorized bike was powered by a steam engine produced by coal combustion chamber and a water tank located in the saddle of a bicycle.

Soon after the emergence of the modern type of bicycle - with two equal-sized wheels driven by pedals and a chain that transmits the movement to the rear wheel appeared and the first motorized bicycle.

But it was not electric, nor was with internal combustion engine because it happened in 1867, when the internal combustion engine was still only in the experimental stage of development, and the rechargeable battery is still exotic and rarely used creation. Instead, the first motorized bike was powered by a steam engine.

Sylvester Roper creates a bike with a frame made of wrought iron, which features a lightweight steam engine located behind the saddle - between the two wheels. The wheels themselves were wooden with metal plating and as you can imagine the vehicle was not very comfortable to drive.

The steam engine used by Roper was twо-cylinder steam engine, rear wheel drive. The combustion chamber, charged with coal heated the boiler which provided the steam needed to run the engine. The water tank represented the base of the saddle.

Although today this seems an unusual and strange creation, the motorized bicycle of Roper is actually a harbinger of some used in today's motors and motorized bicycle technology and tricks, such as the handlebar grip used for ''pressing down the accelerator''.

The bicycle with steam engine of Roper may not be very practical, but sets the beginning of motorisation in bicycle and can even be said that it was the first motorcycle.

We can be thankful for Roper's progressive thinking and creativity that now we appreciate, but which have brought him a lot of trouble. Roper was not liked by his neighbors, as well as virtually all road users, when he released his steam bicycle for a ride, because the machine issued any intolerable noise and powerful fuming.

In one of the first cycling Roper was even arrested, but after it was not discovered a legitimate reason to be arrested, was eventually released.

Here are some pictures and even video of modern replicas of the iconic steam bicycle of Roper: