This particular monowheel was built by the Italian M. Goventosa from Udine, in Northeast Italy, just before WWII. Maximum speed: 150 kilometers per hour (93 Mph). Source: Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository.
POWERED by steam from a compact boiler, this novel motor cycle is virtually silent in operation. The inventor, a Miami, Fla., filling-station man, claims that the odd cycle averages fifty miles on a gallon of fuel. Source: Motor Cycle Is Driven by Steam. Popular Science. May, 1936.
Prof. A. M. Low, rocket pioneer, and Alex Jackson, manager of the Wembley track, developed the rocket-boosted bike. The additional power is supplied by four rockets fixed over the rear wheel, two to the side. Kitchen was protected from the blast by a steel shield. Switches on the handle- bars controlled the rockets. The race rider said the “acceleration was absolutely terrific” when the rockets let go. Source: Rockets Soup Up British Bike. Popular Science. Feb, 1947.
Aéromotocyclette, made by Ernest Archdeacon, in 1906. 6 HP engine, 1.50 m propeller, 79 km/h. Source: Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository.
Aeromoto Volugrafo captured by British troops in Italy. This was Italian parachutist's bike. The construction of these motorcycles took place from 1942 to 1944. Source: Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera.
Homemade tracked snow-motorcycle from Russia. Source: www.fish.karelia.ru
