Sylvester Howard Roper was an American inventor born in 1823. Some of his notable inventions include an early steam-powered automobile in 1863, and what is considered the first motorcycle, the Roper steam velocipede, built between 1867-1869. He also invented the shotgun choke and revolving shotgun. Roper displayed mechanical talent from a young age, building models of engines without ever seeing the real things. He worked as a machinist in several cities before settling in Boston in 1854. Roper's steam velocipede built in the 1860s is recognized as a pioneering early motorcycle.

1. Profile of an inventor
Sylvester Howard Roper

2. Table of Content
 Introduction
 Acknowledgment
 Early life
 First Invention
 impact on motorcycle on society
 experiments and inventions

3. Introduction
Sylvester H. Roper (Frances town, New Hampshire 24 November 1823
– 1 June 1896 Cambridge, Massachusetts) was an inventor from
Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, and a pioneering builder of early
automobiles and motorcycles. In 1863 he built a steam carriage, one
of the earliest automobiles. The Roper steam velocipede of 1867–
1869 may have been the first motorcycle for which he was inducted
into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2002. He is also the inventor of
the shotgun choke and a revolver repeating shotgun

4. Acknowledgement
I shavaun salmon was inspired to research on the inventor Sylvester
Howard Roper because the inventions he completed are being used
from when he created it until now.
I will now say thanks to my teacher Mrs. Simpson who helped me to
complete my assignment by giving me and my fellow classmate’s
suffient time and resources.

5. EarlyLife
Sylvester H. Roper's father, Merrick, was a cabinetmaker, born 1792
in Sterling, Massachusetts. Merrick came to Frances town, New
Hampshire in 1807 and married Sylvester's mother Susan Fairbanks in
1817. Sylvester had an older brother who was a housepainter, two
younger sisters, and a younger brother who became a machinist at
the Singer Sewing Machine Manufactory in Boston, then later a
jeweler. Sylvester Roper was born on 24 November 1823. From an
early age he displayed mechanical talent. At age 12 he made a
stationary steam engine, even though he had never seen one before
in person; this invention was kept on display in the laboratory of the
Frances town Academy. At age 14, he built a locomotive engine, and
only afterward saw such an engine for the first time in Nashua. Roper
left Frances town at a young age and worked as a machinist, first in
Nashua, then in Manchester, New York, and Worcester. He married
Almira D. Hill on 20 April 1845 in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1854
he moved to Boston.

6. First Invention
Motorcycle
A motorcycle (also called a motorbike, bike, Moto or cycle) is a
two or three wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycle design varies greatly
to suit a range of different purposes: long distance travel, commuting,
cruising, sport including racing, and off-road riding. Motorcycling is
riding a motorcycle and related social activity such as joining a
motorcycle club and attending motorcycle rallies.
In 1894, Hildebrand & Wolfmüller became the first series production
motorcycle, and the first to be called a motorcycle. In 2012, the three
top motorcycle producers globally by volume were Honda (from
Japan), Bajaj Auto, and Hero Monocarps (both from India).
Motorcycles are mainly a luxury good in the developed world, where
they are used mostly for recreation, as a lifestyle accessory or a
symbol of personal identity. In developing countries, motorcycles are
overwhelmingly utilitarian due to lower prices and greater fuel
economy. Of all the motorcycles in the world, 58% are in the Asia
Pacific and Southern and Eastern Asia regions, excluding car-centric
Japan.
According to the United States Department of Transportation the
number of fatalities per vehicle mile traveled was 37 times higher for
motorcycles than for cars.

7. Impact of the motorcycle on society
Dolman Law Group out in sunny Florida has this to say: With the state
of the current economy, it is not surprise that motorcycles have
become grown in popularity as the primary source of transportation.
While a motorcycle can be cost underlying factors to consider before
purchase a bike and your decision on opting to wear a helmet. A
motorcycle offers no protection in an accident and is a leading cause
of disability and death, especially from head injuries. Survivors of
head injuries often suffer from a traumatic brain injury, which can
result in permanent loss of cognitive function, which can result in
tremendous financial hardship to the victim’s family. These injuries
may decrease a person’s ability to earn a living and may require a
lifetime of personal care. At Dolman Law Group we have dealt with a
number of motorcycle accidents that resulted in a traumatic brain
injury.
A motorcycle lacks the crash-worthiness and features of an
automobile such as airbags and seatbelts. A motorcycle itself provides
absolutely no head injury protection. When a motorcycle comes to a
sudden stop, ejection is the general injury causing result as its rider
forcibly strikes objects in its path as well as the ground. The kinetic
forces caused by the rider’s head halting instantaneously when
striking another object travels directly to the brain, where the shock
wave wreaks havoc on the soft matter within. Research by The
National Highway Transportation Safety Administration shows the
simple act of wearing a motorcycle helmet can reduce the occurrence
of a traumatic brain injury by 68%.
Helmets may reduce the risk of death in an accident by up to 29
percent and may reduce the severity of other injuries such as injuries
to eyes, ears and face. Helmets certified by the Federal Department of
Transportation reduce injuries in two stages: first, spreading the force
of an impact over and across its exterior, which is constructed of a
rigid thermoplastic or composite fiberglass shell. Second, a

8. polystyrene foam liner absorbs any remaining kinetic energy,
preventing it from reaching the motorcyclist’s brain, where it can
cause damage.
Orthopedic surgeons, the medical specialists often relied on to treat
motorcycle injuries; believe a significant reduction in fatalities and
head injuries could be effectuated through the implementation of laws
mandating the use of helmets by all motorcyclists. The American
Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) endorses laws mandating
the use of helmets by motorcycle drivers and passengers, as well as
bicyclists.
The AAOS believe that issues of personal freedom should be seen in
the perspective that the public incurs a major portion of the cost for
injuries to motorcycle riders. Studies have examined the impact of
safety helmets or helmet laws and found that helmet use reduced the
fatality rate, the probability and severity of head injuries, the cost of
medical treatment, the length of hospital stay, the necessity for
special medical treatments and rehabilitation, and the probability of
long-term disability. The government through Medicaid pays a
majority of medical costs for individuals who lack health insurance.
The elimination of helmet laws in many states was based on issues
involving a large number of motorcyclists claiming that the
government infringes on their right to personal freedom. While it can
be argued that the states’ laws requiring that motorcyclists be
licensed to operate the vehicle are a similar invasion, the more
important issue is the cost borne by the public when a motorcyclist is
injured in an accident.
Society must evaluate the claim of infringement on freedom versus
the funding of these costs. The AAOS believes that the current
diversity of state helmet laws provides too little protection for
motorcycle riders and for society at large.

9. Even with the best prevention efforts, crashes will occur. During a
crash, the most important factor in reducing injury is personal
protection for the motorcyclist. Leather jackets, gloves, trousers,
proper footwear, eye protection, and helmets provide additional
protection. Helmets are by far the motorcycle riders most important
and simplest safety equipment because they protect against injuries
to the head and brain. As Tampa Bay motorcycle injury attorneys,
driver safety is a message we preach to our clients every day. Safe
and cautious driving would prevent many easily avoidable accidents.

10. Experimentation and invention
Butler's Patent Velocycle
The first commercial design for a self-propelled cycle was a three-wheel design called
the Butler Petrol Cycle, conceived of Edward Butler in England in 1884. He exhibited his
plans for the vehicle at the Stanley Cycle Show in London in 1884. The vehicle was built
by the Merry weather Fire Engine company in Greenwich, in 1888.
The Butler Petrol Cycle was a three-wheeled vehicle, with the rear wheel directly driven
by a 5
/8hp (466W) 600 cc (40 in3
; 2¼×5-inch {57×127-mm}) flat twin four stroke
engine (with magneto ignition replaced by coil and battery) equipped with rotary valves
and a float-fed carburettor (five years before Maybach) and Ackermann steering, all of
which were state of the art at the time. Starting was by compressed air. The engine
was liquid-cooled, with a radiator over the rear driving wheel. Speed was controlled by
means of a throttle valve lever. No braking system was fitted; the vehicle was stopped
by rising and lowering the rear driving wheel using a foot-operated lever; the weight of
the machine was then borne by two small castor wheels. The driver was seated
between the front wheels. It wasn't, however, a success, as Butler failed to find
sufficient financial backing.

11. Replica of the Daimler-Maybach Reitwagen.
Another early internal combustion, petroleum fueled motorcycle was
the Daimler Reitwagen. It was designed and built by the German
inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Bad Constant,
Germany in 1885. This vehicle was unlike either the safety bicycles or
the boneshaker bicycles of the era in that it had zero degrees of
steering axis angle and no fork offset, and thus did not use the
principles of bicycle and motorcycle dynamics developed nearly 70
years earlier. Instead, it relied on two outrigger wheels to remain
upright while turning. The inventors called their invention the
Reitwagen ("riding car"). It was designed as an expedient test bed for
their new engine, rather than a true prototype vehicle.
Many authorities have excluded steam powered, electric motorcycles
or diesel-powered two-wheelers from the definition of a 'motorcycle',
and credit the Daimler Reitwagen as the world's first motorcycle.
Given the rapid rise in use of electric motorcycles worldwide, defining
only internal-combustion powered two-wheelers as 'motorcycles' is
increasingly problematic.

12. If a two-wheeled vehicle with steam propulsion is considered a
motorcycle, then the first motorcycles built seem to be the French
Michaux-Perreaux steam velocipede which patent application was
filled in December 1868, constructed around the same time as the
American Roper steam velocipede, built by Sylvester H. Roper
Roxbury, Massachusetts, who demonstrated his machine at fairs and
circuses in the eastern U.S. in 1867, and built a total of 10 examples.