Vintage Two-Wheeled Vehicles

A collection of vintage bicycles and motorized bikes, featuring historical figures and moments from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The images evoke a sense of innovation and nostalgia.

illustration showing a 'Penny Farthing' Bicycle 1884
illustration showing a 'Penny Farthing' Bicycle 1884
Jean Beraud (1849-1935) French surwheelist artist   Illustration showing a 'Schumacher' Bicycle from 'Punch' 1869illustration showing a 'Penny Farthing' Bicycle 1884illustration showing a 'Penny Farthing' Bicycle 1884A. von Wedell's Kaiserrad bike of 1889, historical illustration, wood engraving, about 1888Sitzrad motorcycle with a daimler engine, historical illustration, wood engraving, about 1888Cylinder cooling in the Hirschmann bicycle with a petrol engine. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1899Advertisement showing the Coventry Rotary Tandem, built by D. Rudge & Co. of Coventry, 1885.  An example of this machine, it was claimed, had travelled over 230 miles on roads with 2 inches of mud, in only 24 hours.     Date: 1885A typical Birmingham messenger. Location: Birmingham, Alabama. 1914Man riding penny-farthing, 19th century illustrationPickering's crank-pedal driven bicycle. 'America' From Edward H. Knight The Practical Dictionary of Mechanics, 1880Man with a bowler hat on a bicycle. .Inventor Hiram Percy Maxim seated on his Motor Tricycle, Hyde Park Massachusetts, USA, circa 1895 Velocipede, bicycle, 19th century and earlier, Manuped, 1880, woodcut, Germany, EuropeDurey motorcycle with a petrol engine. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1899Illustration showing the Quadrant tricycle using a chain drive mechanism 1884Bicycle for track training. Albert Boyer motorcycle with a petrol engine. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1899Kangaroo Wheel c. 1884, England, digitally restored reproduction of an original 19th-century modelThanh Thai (ruled 1889-1907). Emperor of Annam (Central Vietnam). Nguyen dynasty. The Emperor of Annam on a bicycle. Engraving. La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana, 1898. bicycle with Michelin tyres. London 1897illustration showing a 'Penny Farthing' Bicycle 1896Cyclist with High Wheeled Bicycle , Cyclists, Bicycles & tricyclesHistorical illustration of a velocipede, bicycle, translated penny-farthing, 19th century and earlier, digitally restored reproduction of an original 19th century artworkillustration showing a 'Penny Farthing' Bicycle 1896Velocipede, bicycle, 19th century and earlier, penny-farthing, high wheel, high wheeler and ordinary, 1880, woodcut, Germany, EuropeAn engraving depicting the King of Clubs model of the penny-farthing. Dated 19th centuryRudge-Whitworth Cycles. Bike female model Whitworth, England. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1893An engraving depicting a man riding a penny-farthing. Dated 19th centurySteam velocipede powered by a Serpollet boiler. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1888High wheel ca. 1905, exact place unknown, Germany, EuropeVelociped / bicycle. High wheel from Hochrad and Holz, 1880s.Cyclist with High Wheeled Bicycle , Cyclists, Bicycles & tricyclesAn engraving depicting the Petrolette Omega motorcycle with a petrol engine. Dated 19th centuryPetrolette Omega motorcycle with a gasoline engine. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1899Cartoon depicting a coffee grinding bike. Illustrated by Edward Linley Sambourne (1844-1910) an English cartoonist and illustrator. Dated 19th centuryillustration showing the velocipede Bicycle, with rear brakes; 1869illustration showing the velocipede Bicycle, with rear brakes; 1869Bike. No. 16.Couret Boudin tandem motorcycle with a petrol engine. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1899Bicycle taxi, German-occupied Paris, 1940-1944. Artist: UnknownSweden, Gästrikland, Gävleborg (depicted, place) Sverige, Gästrikland, Gävleborg (Avbildad, ort)Welch version of Otto Bycicle 1890Henry Ford, (1863-1947), American Industrialist and Autombile ManufacturerVelocipedia. View of a spring car built in 1775. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1897An engraving depicting Ridel's motorcycle capable of 20 to 25 mph. Dated 19th centuryVelocipede from 1868, historical engraving, 1880Tricycle / Tandem Bicycle From 1886. Made of Von Mariott & Cooper, London.Man cycling on a tricycle. .'Sawyer's Velocipede', 1939. Artist: Unknown.Felix millet motorcycle. 1893. 'Boneshaker' bicycle, c1870. Artist: UnknownCabinet photo. Enliogt donor aunt The first cyclist in Bollnäs, cyclist costume, at its safety machine. The cycle, especially the frame, resembles "Herkules" from Per From in Stockholm, but has a rack stolen for the height of the saddle bracket above the ground, probably an English model from the end of the 1880s. The man in the picture is Hjalmar Fogelmarck, 1894.An engraving depicting a quadricycle with room for two persons to sit side by side. Its width made it an inconvenient vehicle. Dated 19th centuryThe Pedersen bicycle, also called the Dursley Pedersen bicycle, developed by Danish inventor Mikael Pedersen and produced in the English town of Dursley 1904An engraving depicting a tricycle driven by a crank operating on the front wheel. The rider's feet rested in stirrups attached to cords leading to the rear wheels, and the machine steered in this manner. Dated 19th centuryAn engraving depicting Giradot's motorcycle with a petrol engine. Dated 19th centuryScooter of wood.Velocipedia. View of a spring car built in 1775. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1897Historische Illustration eines Velozipeds, Fahrrad, Hochrad, 19. Jahrhundert und früher, digital restaurierte Reproduktion einer Originalvorlage aus d...Tony Pizzo - digital file from original | Library of CongressTriplet model Rudge-Whitworth Cycles. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1893Unicycle. 19th century. Engraving.Historical illustration of a velocipede, bicycle, tricycle, 19th century and earlier, digitally restored reproduction of an original 19th century artworkMan and motorized bicycle , Bicycles & tricycles.  Leon Abdalian CollectionNetherlands, Weissenbruch, Isaac, Man with a bowler hat on a bicycle, print, prints, height 59 mm, width 47 mm, Dutch, 1826-08-27 - 1912-11-13, print maker, printmaker, 1836 - 1912, paper, papier, houtgravureAnefo photo collection. Minister Smit Kroes opens two-wheeler RAI'84; Minister Smit Kroes biking (on ordinary bicycle). March 2, 1984. Amsterdam, Noord-HollandWestcott Jewell Bike racks for train travel. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1899An engraving depicting an ice velocipede with a toothed wheel. Dated 19th centuryThe Benz three-wheeler made in 1885 was the first practical automobile to use an internal combustion engine. LC-USZ62-48300_DUPE'Coventry Rotary Tricycle', 1939. Artist: Unknown.Pickering's crank-pedal driven bicycle, an American design. Wood engraving c1880. Three policemen on a tricycle  introduced to the New York  police force.       Date: 1900A Sydvensk cyclist or "wheel-rider" in 1889 in Malmö. Server veterinarian Oscar stone.Illustration showing an English lady's Tricycle 1819General Motors Instead of carsEurope, Switzerland, Lucerne. Bicycle display, Swiss Transport Museum (Large format sizes available)A police sergeant fully equipped for running to earth motorists who exceed the speed limit.  Under law introduced in 1904, all motor vehicles were compelled to be registered and to show their registered number plainly.  The policeman's own number can be seen plainly in front of his lamp.     Date: 1904Illustration showing the Cripper tricycle with chain drive, made by Humber & Co; Nottingham, England. 1887Elliott quadricycle, 19th century illustrationAn engraving depicting Couret-Boudin tandem motorcycle with a petrol engine. Dated 19th century19th-century illustration showing Michaux-Perreaux's, steam velocipede; a steam-powered velocipede made in France sometime from 1867 to 1871, when a small Louis-Guillaume Perreaux commercial steam engine was attached to a Pierre Michaux manufactured iron framed pedal bicycleElectric Tricycle, C.H. Barrows, Illustration, circa 1895Track champion Gunnar Björsson on inspection trip with his folding bicycle dress, sometime in the 1930s.Ader's Velocipede. 1865Man with a top hat on a bike, Isaac Weissenbruch, c. 1869 print Man with a top hat on a bike (Vélocipède). Netherlands paper  adult man. antique types of bicyclesVelociped / bicycle. Miss Jean Parker (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Actress) found this old high wheel in the studio's storage and tried to learn cycling in his free time. She did a little research and found that the wheel was called extraordinary and manufactured by Singer in 1879.A tandem. From Edward H. Knight The Practical Dictionary of Mechanics, 1880 'Cyclists - beware tramlines.'         Date: 1934Sveacykel, renovated in 1968. Owner: Stig Mårtensson, Stockholm.One of the first curved dash, 1-cylinder Oldsmobiles being tested for its power to climb a hill, Lansing, MI, 1901. (Photo by National Archives and Records Administration/GG Vintage Images/UIG)'Lawson's Bicyclette, 1939. Artist: Unknown.Norway bicycle yard sepia illustration background. Norway bicycle yard sepia illustration background hdPortrait of a man on a motorcycle, Anonymous, 1895 - 1920 photograph This photo is loose in an album.  photographic support. cardboard gelatin silver print historical persons. adult man. motor-cycles and other two-wheeled motor-vehiclesA French gentleman on his Tricycle.         Date: circa 1890An engraving depicting a tricycle for transporting an invalid. Dated 19th centuryDRAISIENNE  Or the pedestrian's  accelerator, invented by  Baron Von Drais      Date: 1819Dreirrant loading wheel on Hamburg's streets. .Ridel Motorcycle with a petrol engine. Old 19th century engraved illustration from La Nature 1899The Cripper tricycle introduced in 1887. Engraving 1887.