Talk:motorcycle

Well, I think the term 'motor'cycle is incorrect, in that a "motor' is not used. The principle means of power generation is a 2-stroke (or, less frequently, 4-stroke) internal combustion engine.

A 'motor' is a device that converts electrical energy into mechanical motion, and I, for one, would be very glad if a true "motorcycle" did exist, since it would be much more quiet than what exists today.

No, this isn't true. An outboard motor, is an IC engine that can have either Day or Otto design.

So, 'ICEMobile', 'automobile', 'autocycle', etc. may be appropriate descriptions, but 'motorcycle' is not.

We are aiming to document the language as spoken, not the language as it should ideally be. Many words have dubious histories, but if a word is widely used to mean something, that's what it means. Equinox ◑ 23:40, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

The word motorcycle is variously attributed to E.J. Pennington of Cleveland, Ohio, a known charlatan and swindler, and to Charles H. Metz in the promotion of the first USA production motorcycle, the Orient, in 1898.

The most common engine for a motorcycle is the Otto engine. Honda, the world leader in production, produced 14 million otto engined motorcycles last year, most by wholly owned subsidiaries in India. Day and Clerk (two cycle) engines have been (mostly) banned in motorcycles of the Western World for decades due to their inability to meet pollution control standards.

The term motorcycle IS the most appropriate description for a motorized vehicle of 50cc displacement with 4.5hp or more that is built to travel. (This is a LEGAL definition for the USA State of Maryland). Some Police agencies of the United States typically refer to their motorcycles as just "motors".

Motorcycles most commonly feature Otto engines, but have also been made in Diesel, (HDT, Ural, Dnepr etc.) and Wankel (Hercules) engined machines. Electric motorcycles are still motorcycles too.

Technically, outside of English speaking nations, there are no motorcycles.Flatshooter 22:02, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

I don't if I'm missing your point, but words involving motor are used for this in most languages. For example, German Motorrad ("motor wheel"), French motocycle ("motor cycle"), Dutch motorfiets ("motor bike").