The Original Superbike
(https://writingpromptsthoughtsideas.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/800px-glenn_curtiss_on_his_v-8_motorcycle_ormond_beach_florida_1907.jpg)
As motos têm mudado imenso de década para década...seja na área dos materiais aplicados, nas tecnologias, no design, nos gadgets, sistemas de segurança ou soluções técnicas.
Pois se de uma década para outra já existe muito a referir no desenvolvimento e lado high-tech de um motociclo....imaginem então + de 100 anos!!
A moto que vos convido a ler um pouco da sua história é a Curtiss V8, projetada e construída por um pioneiro da aviação e motociclismo (Glenn Curtiss), e de que aposto já viram alguma vez uma imagem da mesma na web...
Pois foi àquela mesma que o website Californiano Cyclenews.com deu recentemente destaque e intitulou o seu artigo como "The original Superbike".
A história garanto que vale a pena conhecer (ver link no final).
Um excerto:
"(....)The Curtiss V-8 was simply the most incredible motorcycle of the first decade of the sport and arguably of all time. A true Superbike worthy of the name, the 4000cc V-8-powered machine clocked an unbelievable 136 miles per hour on Ormond Beach in Florida, with builder Glenn Curtiss at the controls. It was perhaps the biggest news in all of motorcycling in first decade of the 20th century.(....)
(....)The overall weight of the machine was a surprisingly lean 275 pounds (são cerca de 125Kg). Because of the size of the engine, the seat was mounted rearward. This in turn necessitated extra-long handle bars, which made steering awkward. It used an automobile rear wheel and a motorcycle front wheel. The tires were specially made by B.F. Goodrich.
The Curtiss V-8 engine was air-cooled, producing approximately 40 horsepower at 1,800 rpm. The motorcycle used shaft drive because a conventional chain-and-belt transmission could not handle the power of the massive V-8. (....)"
https://www.cyclenews.com/2018/09/article/archives-the-original-superbike/
(https://www.cyclenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Curtiss-V-8-display.jpg)