In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach built their ‘Reitwagen’, which most experts agree was the first motorcycle even though it actually had four wheels. Even the inventors didn’t think it was a practical vehicle; it was just a proof-of-concept, rolling on two ungainly wooden wagon wheels, with two outrigger ‘training wheels’ to keep it upright.
The 1886 “Benz Patent-Motorwagen” is generally considered the first automobile, but it had only three wheels.
Yet another pair of Germans, Hildebrand and Wolfmuller, produced the first commercially-viable motorcycle in 1894. They also coined the term ‘motorrad’ which means ‘motorcycle’ in German.