>>We have used bikes for many decades...
My dad, as a 'scout' had one one in the WWII european theater. They took those away, replaced them with Jeeps (which had a vertical post mounted forward of the hood to foil 'piano wire across the road' booby traps). then they took the Jeeps away and put the scouts in M8 6x6 light armored cars (rear engine, power to all axles). He liked those best, partly as they had radios strong enough that they could call in artillery directly and partly because they were both very quiet and could 'go places a Jeep would get stuck'.
Anyway, yep, motorcycles were used in WWII, which is indeed 'many decades' ago.