Iver Johnson immigrated to Worcester, Massachusetts from Norway in 1863 at the height of the American Civil War. In 1916 the market for weapons began to seriously outstrip the prospects for motorcycle sales, so the company turned its attention to firearms and tools. Final version of the twin were equipped with a planetary clutch, with either an Eclipse two-speed hub or a single speed. National Archives and Records Administration, 1900, June 6.
The name was resold and in 2006 Iver Johnson Arms opened, but does not have any parts or information relating to the pre-1993 company, and represents a continuation of it in name only. Iver Johnson bicycles are classic examples of early American bicycles, and during the bicycle boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the company had a very productive bicycle manufacturing and sales line of business. As a result of changes in ownership, the company had the first of two major relocations in 1971 when it moved to New Jersey. Reproduction Date: Iver Johnson was a U.S. firearms, bicycle, and motorcycle manufacturer from 1871 to 1993. In fact, amongst collectors and researchers such as Tank who have the benefit of hindsight, Iver-Johnsons of the day, such as the 1915 Model 15-7 are the finest period examples of motorcycle engineering of the day, along with a very select few others, such as Scotts. Though all vestiges of Iver Johnson as a going concern are now gone as of 1993, there is still a great deal of interest in the company and the collection of their products, although that interest is focused on their firearms business and not their motorcycle business. In 1871, Johnson joined Martin Bye to form the Johnson Bye & Company, merging his own and Martin Bye's gunsmithing operations. Even when they were new, I-J's were marketed and had a reputation for being very graceful looking, well built, and engineered for performance. In fact, amongst collectors and researchers such as Tank who have the benefit of hindsight, Iver-Johnsons of the day, such as the 1915 Model 15-7 are the finest period examples of motorcycle engineering of the day, along with a very select few others, such as Scotts. National Archives and Records Administration, 1918, September 12. http://www.m1carbinesinc.com/carbine_ijd.html, Firearm Manufacturers of the United States, Motorcycle Manufacturers of the United States, Privately Held Companies Based in Arkansas, Articles lacking in-text citations from September 2014, Articles needing cleanup from February 2011, Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from February 2011, WorldHeritage pages needing cleanup from February 2011, Commons category without a link on Wikidata, Firearm manufacturers of the United States, Motorcycle manufacturers of the United States, Privately held companies based in Arkansas, The Works of Edgar Allan Poe in Five Volumes Volume Five, First Model (1894–1895), single post latch system, Second Model (1896–1908), double post latch system, Third Model (1909–1941), double post latch system, adapted for, First Model (1895–1896), single post latch, Second Model (1897–1908), safety lever added to face of trigger. Tank's History of the Motorcycle, Iver Johnson advertised their machines as "Mechanical Perfection," a boast that was not entirely unbelievable given the number of advanced design features in especially their later models, such as dual crankshafts, nickel-alloy machined parts, chain drive, and a hand-operated three-speed gearbox. Ultimately, the arms division of the business was growing so rapidly to meet demand that management decided to focus on that market and as a result motorcycle operations closed in 1916 (varying sources claim the last year as being 1915, with 1916 seeing only the sales of remaining 1915 produced inventory), bringing to an end 33 years of total cycle operations (23 for bicycles, and another 10 for motorcycle and run-off bicycle business). Iver Johnson sponsored the career of bicycle racing champion Marshall Taylor beginning in 1900.
National Archives and Records Administration, 1872 October 30. Bye and Johnson filed jointly for and were awarded multiple patents together, mostly related to firearms designs, beginning in 1876. Presidential assassin Leon Czolgosz shot and wounded U.S. President William McKinley in Buffalo, New York on September 6, 1901 with an Iver Johnson .32 caliber Safety Automatic revolver (serial number 463344). google_ad_slot = "4852765988"; The company's name changed again to Iver Johnson's Arms & Cycle Works in 1891, when the company relocated to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, (sometimes incorrectly referred to as "Fitzburg") in order to have better and larger manufacturing facilities.