Not so long ago, Incredible Mechanisms published material about an unusual unicycle: "Half motorcycle" from Ryno Motors is the future today. "But, if you look more closely, it is not such a new idea. Back in 1884, by an unknown author A similar design was proposed, and a drawing of this apparently unbuilt design, called a "unicycle", was published in the book "Inventions of the Victorian Era".
* Unicycle *, 1884, from the book * Victorian Inventions *.
Then, in different parts of the world, similar designs appeared - first on a "pedal" drive, then devices with different types of engines that rotated both the wheel itself and the propellers. There was even a construction of a mono-carriage, a one-wheeled structure into which a horse was harnessed. But today our story is about David Sislaghi and the Motoruota company he created.
David Sislaghi and his invention, 20s of the twentieth century.
Motoruota was founded by David Sislaghi, a retired electrician (and possibly a police officer in Milan, Italy) who built a prototype of a monowheel bike in 1923 and patented it in France in 1924. In the patent, Sislaghi laid the foundation for his tilt mechanism and defined the general mechanical layout he would use for about a decade: a steering wheel, three rollers for positioning the outer wheel, and a small, air-cooled single cylinder engine.
Sislaghi's companion was the Italian Giuseppe Govetos, at least in the French advertising of those years, both names appear side by side. Twice in the press: Roman in 1927 and Paris in 1932, there are notes about the sensational properties of this mono-motorcycle - apparently, advertising shows were held there (or Motoruota participated in exhibitions, there is no exact data).
From French advertisements.
Promotional video:
These notes include the following characteristics of the device: there were at least two or three versions of the device, all with the same basic layout, and one of the models had a diameter of one and a half meters and used a 175 cc motor and a three-speed gearbox. It is also mentioned that the device was the first of its kind to have steering control (turning provided the wheel tilt).
This is perhaps the most famous photograph of unicycle motorcycles (1931)
The 1931 photo shows a biker named Gerdes, who is most likely one of the few owners of the miracle device, and not one of the inventors, as is often thought.