Starting in 1908, brothers Joe, Walter and John Michaelson opened a manufacturing operation in Minneapolis and manufactured Minneapolis motorcycles. The brothers later added the Michaelson motorcycle.
The brothers originally used a proprietary Aurora single engine. By 1911, though, the company was making its own motor and had engineered significant technological innovations. The company was the first in America to offer a countershaft-style two-speed transmission.
They also produced an early single-shock rear suspension years before any other company adopted the concept. Unlike most American motorcycles of the time, the Minneapolis displaced its valves and exhaust pipes on the left side of the engine.
The Minneapolis Motorcycle Company was one of many that were producing motorcycles in the Twin Cities of Minnesota at the time. Just across the river in St. Paul, Thiem, Wagner and Cyclone were also manufacturing motorcycles.
By the later part of the decade, the inexpensive production of automobiles began to compete directly with motorcycles. Very few of the early motorcycle manufacturing companies could compete with those automobiles, and ended up closing their doors.
This 1914 Minneapolis was actually the final year of production for the Michaelson brothers’ company. It is on loan to the museum for E.J. Cole of Pearland, Texas.
