Peugeot made motorcycles before Harley-Davidson: the forgotten story
Par ThomasYes, Peugeot was already building motorcycles before Harley-Davidson was even born. As early as 1898, the French brand presented its first motorised machine, and by 1901 it was producing 200 of them in its factory, as Thomas recalls in his short video. Harley-Davidson only assembled its first motorcycle in 1903, in Milwaukee. France is not just a nation of bikers: it is the industrial birthplace of the motorcycle, and this story deserves to be told.
The essentials
- Peugeot presented its first motorcycle in 1898, powered by a 1.5 horsepower engine (figures quoted by Thomas in the video).
- By 1901, 200 units were leaving Peugeot's factories, two years before Harley-Davidson was founded in 1903.
- The French De Dion-Bouton engine was so far ahead of its time that manufacturers around the world copied it for ten years, according to Thomas.
- More than a thousand motorcycle brands were born on French soil, before that memory faded away.
Did Peugeot really build motorcycles before Harley-Davidson?
Yes, and with a five-year head start: the first Peugeot motorcycle dates back to 1898, while Harley-Davidson was only founded in 1903 according to the American brand's official history. This is not a piece of trivia, it completely overturns the collective imagination. Ask bikers which motorcycle brand is the oldest, and the answer that comes up most often is Harley. And it is wrong.
To put events back in the right order, here is the timeline Thomas walks through in his video, set against the well-known dates from the other side of the Atlantic:
| Year | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1898 | Peugeot presents its first motorcycle, powered by a 1.5 horsepower engine | Recalled by Thomas in the video |
| 1901 | 200 units produced in Peugeot's factory | Recalled by Thomas in the video |
| 1903 | Harley-Davidson founded in Milwaukee | The brand's official history |
| 1900s | The De Dion-Bouton engine is copied by manufacturers worldwide for a decade | Recalled by Thomas in the video |
In other words, while the Davidson brothers and William Harley were tinkering with their first prototype, Peugeot had already been mass-producing motorcycles for two years.
What was that first Peugeot motorcycle of 1898 worth?
On paper it was a modest machine, with its small 1.5 horsepower engine, but in practice it was revolutionary: almost nobody was producing motorised two-wheelers at the time. Back then, the motorcycle was not yet an object of passion, it was an engineers' experiment. You took a frame inspired by the bicycle, grafted a fledgling engine onto it, and discovered on the road what this invention could become.
The real turning point came in 1901. Producing 200 units in one go, in a factory, changed everything: this was no longer a workshop prototype but an industry getting started. According to Thomas in the video, it is precisely this move to series production that makes Peugeot a global pioneer of the motorised two-wheeler, long before the big American or Japanese names entered the scene.
Why did the De Dion-Bouton engine conquer the world?
Quite simply because it was ahead of its time: according to Thomas, manufacturers around the world copied it for ten years. Behind this somewhat forgotten name lies a French company that developed a small, light and reliable engine, exactly what was needed to motorise a two-wheeler at a time when most engines were heavy, temperamental and bulky.
This engine powered the first Peugeot machines, and it served as the model, officially or not, for an entire generation of manufacturers in Europe and America alike. The technology that launched the motorcycle worldwide spoke with a French accent. We rarely realise how much this detail changes the perspective: the pioneers of Milwaukee learned, like everyone else, by watching what was being done in France.
Is France really the birthplace of the motorcycle?
Yes, and not only thanks to Peugeot: Thomas points out that more than a thousand motorcycle brands were born on French soil. A thousand brands means workshops in almost every region, engineers, racers, records, a whole industrial culture that shaped the motorcycle as we know it.
"We invented the thing, we dominated the technology, and today we have forgotten it all." (Thomas, GeoRide founder)
Yet living traces of it remain. Our legendary roads, mountain passes and circuits tell this story in their own way: if you feel like riding through these founding lands, take a look at the motorcycle routes in every region of France or treat yourself to a ride through the heart of Burgundy's vineyards. France's motorcycle heritage is not something you visit in a museum, it is something you ride.
Why did we forget that the motorcycle was born here?
Because the motorcycle culture that has dominated our screens for decades is American, and a well-told legend ends up replacing the facts. Films, music and marketing established Harley-Davidson as the founding figure of motorcycling, to the point where even French enthusiasts spontaneously place the birth of the motorcycle in the United States. The industrial reality says the opposite, but it did not have Hollywood to tell its story.
The good news is that nothing forces us to let this memory die out. Understanding where the motorcycle comes from also helps you understand where it is going: you can follow that thread through the evolution of motorcycle technology over the last ten years, where France, as it happens, still plays its part. And to turn that curiosity into kilometres, nothing beats a motorcycle road book across France, on the very roads where it all began.
Where GeoRide comes in
This story naturally speaks to us: GeoRide is a French brand, and our trackers are made in France, in the direct line of this two-wheeler expertise born in 1898. Cutting-edge motorcycle technology never left the country, it simply changed shape: if the subject intrigues you, discover our GPS tracker designed and made in France.
Frequently asked questions
What is the oldest motorcycle brand still in business?
Peugeot presents itself as the oldest manufacturer of motorised two-wheelers still in business, with a first motorcycle in 1898. Harley-Davidson, often wrongly cited as the oldest, was only founded in 1903 according to its own official history.
When did Harley-Davidson produce its first motorcycle?
Harley-Davidson was founded in 1903 in Milwaukee, according to the brand's official history. By that date, Peugeot had already been mass-producing motorcycles for two years, with 200 units leaving the factory as early as 1901, according to the figures recalled by Thomas in the video.
What is the De Dion-Bouton engine?
It is a French engine from the late 19th century, light and reliable, which powered the first Peugeot motorcycles. According to Thomas, it was so far ahead of its time that manufacturers around the world copied it for around ten years, making it one of the founding engines of motorcycling worldwide.
How many motorcycle brands were born in France?
More than a thousand motorcycle brands were born on French soil, according to Thomas in the video. Most of them disappeared over the course of the 20th century, but they bear witness to an era when France dominated both the invention and the industry of the motorised two-wheeler.
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