Félix Millet filed a patent in 1888 for a ‘petroleum bicycle’ named the Roue Soleil. It was powered by a 5-cylinder radial engine integral with the rear wheel which had wire springing as a form of rudimentary suspension.
A prototype appeared in 1892. The hollow axle of the rear wheel formed the crankshaft. On the solo motorcycles the rear guard formed the fuel tank and the surface carburettor was located between the wheels. Ignition was via a Bunsen cell and induction coil, and long before it became common practice it featured a handlebar-mounted twistgrip throttle control. The Millet is believed to have been the first motorcycle to be fitted with pneumatic tyres.
It’s estimated that the machine was capable of 35 km/h (28 mph) with the engine whirring along in excess of 180rpm.
Production rights were sold to Alexandre Darracq who produced the Millet from 1894 to 1895. Production halted following an unsuccessful entry in the Paris–Bordeaux–Paris race of 1895.
Darracq and Paul Aucoq were the founders of Compagnie des Cycles Gladiator which built bicycles, automobiles and motorcycles.
By 1904 Darracq & Cie was one of the largest producers of automobiles in France, and in 1906 Darracq founded Società Anonima Italiana Darracq in Milan, the company which became Alfa Romeo.