# Iver Johnson Jam in December!



## DonChristie (Oct 24, 2014)

Okay Frank, challenge accepted! 
Whos in for the December Cyclone Coaster Iver Johnson Jam? Since there are only 12 mos in a year, i figured a month should be for the best bike made! I know of about 5 ivers in So. Cal! I want to see them in December on the Cyclone ride! Are there more Ivers out there? Post a pic of your Iver and lets see! I will post a pic of mine later, no pic on my cel. Whos in?


----------



## fordmike65 (Oct 24, 2014)

*I'm down...*

Now who has a bike I can ride?


----------



## DonChristie (Oct 24, 2014)

fordmike65 said:


> Now who has a bike I can ride?



Sell one of those cheapo Colsons and get a real bike! Lol


----------



## fordmike65 (Oct 24, 2014)

schwinndoggy said:


> Sell one of those cheapo Colsons and get a real bike! Lol




Wish this forum had a "Thumbs Down" too


----------



## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Oct 24, 2014)

fordmike65 said:


> Wish this forum had a "Thumbs Down" too



I'd ride a Colson. ...


----------



## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Oct 24, 2014)




----------



## Iverider (Oct 24, 2014)

Wish I could be there for that! May be an off chance I'm in San Francisco at that time...VERY off chance.


----------



## fordmike65 (Oct 24, 2014)

Krautwaggen said:


> Wish I could be there for that! May be an off chance I'm in San Francisco at that time...VERY off chance.




Then ride on down...with another Iver in tow for me!


----------



## Iverider (Oct 24, 2014)

That would be quite a ride! Would be a lot of fun. I was considering riding to the Wheelmen meet next year. Only 680 miles


----------



## DonChristie (Oct 24, 2014)

I got a couch for you if you make it! Only one iver, sorry mike.


----------



## fordmike65 (Oct 24, 2014)

schwinndoggy said:


> I got a couch for you if you make it! Only one iver, sorry mike.




Problem solved:


----------



## DonChristie (Oct 25, 2014)

I dont think that seat is engineered for a big kid like you!

Heres my ride!


----------



## DonChristie (Oct 28, 2014)

Here is some light reading about Iver Johnson. Stolen from Wiki...

Iver Johnson was born in Nordfjord in the year 1841,in Nordfjord, Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway and later emigrated from Norway to the United States. He was educated as a gunsmith in Bergen in 1857 and had a gun store in Oslo. He married Mary Elizabeth Speirs on April 9, 1868, in Worcester, with whom he had 3 sons (Frederick Iver, John Lovell, and Walter Olof) and 2 daughters (Mary Louise and Nellie).

Iver Johnson immigrated to Worcester, Massachusetts from Norway in 1863 at the height of the American Civil War. Johnson was a gunsmith by trade at the time, but also worked as an inventor in his spare time, which would come in handy later on as he sought new and creative uses for his partially idle manufacturing equipment, a thought process which would eventually lead him and his heirs to diversify the corporation's businesses. His early work involved not only gunsmithing locally in Worcester, MA, but it also included providing designs and work to other firearms companies, notably Allen & Wheelock for whom he made so-called "pepperbox" pistols.

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. The Iver Johnson Complex, as it is known today, resembles other abandoned Industrial Revolution-era properties in New England. As has been the trend, the complex is often a target for real estate developers who intend to exploit its buildings' industrial brick aesthetics and open floor plans to create retail, residential, or other types of usable space.

Iver Johnson died of tuberculosis in 1895, and his sons took over the business. Frederick Iver, (born 10/2/1871) John Lovell (born 6/26/1876), and Walter Olof (born August 1878), each had vastly different levels of involvement in the company ranging from executive leadership to barely any involvement at all. They shepherded the company through a phase of expansion, as bicycle operations grew, then converted to motorcycle manufacturing and sales. They also saw the growth of the firearms business and the eventual restructuring of the company to focus on firearms and related business as they divested non-firearms concerns, such as the motorcycle business, in the face of growing firearms demand, World War I's armaments industry expansion, and other factors. As family ownership waned and outside investment via publicly traded stock and mergers/acquisitions/partnerships took hold, the company changed ownership and moved several times during its operation.

The company eventually dropped "Cycle Works" from its moniker when that part of the business was shut down. The business successfully weathered the Great Depression (in part thanks to higher rates of armed robbery, which helped maintain demand for personal firearms) and was buoyed by the dramatic increase in the market for arms leading up to and during World War II. As a result of changes in ownership, the company had the first of two major relocations in 1971 when it moved to New Jersey. It moved again to Jacksonville, Arkansas, and was jointly owned by Lynn Lloyd and Lou Imperato, who also owned the Henry brand name, before it finally ceased trading under its own name in 1993, at which time it was owned by American Military Arms Corporation. 

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. Today, Iver Johnsons are considered to be "classics" by vintage bicycle collectors, and are considered to be especially pleasing from an aesthetic point of view. O.F. Mossberg worked in the bicycle plant and then started his own firearms factory.

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. Iver Johnson sponsored the career of bicycle racing champion Marshall Taylor beginning in 1900. The most noted I-J model was the truss-bridge frame which featured a curved tube under the top tube to strengthen the frame for use on the rough roads of the early twentieth century. Bicycle production ceased in 1940 with the buildup of arms production prior to World War II.

Today, Iver Johnson bicycles are highly collectible and are no more rare than most other major manufacturer's products from that time. The name Iver Johnson is well known amongst vintage firearm collectors, but aside from that, bicycles would be the brand's next most popularly associated product. There is even an Iver Johnson bicycle on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in the America on the Move exhibit.

After closing, the name was resold and in 2006 Iver Johnson Arms opened in Rockledge, Florida selling shotguns and M1911 pistols. However, the new Iver Johnson company does not have any parts, guns or information relating to the pre-1993 company.
http://iverjohnsonarms.com/

IJ Trivia-Sirhan Sirhan shot and killed Presidential candidate United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy in Los Angeles, California on 5 June 1968 with an eight-shot Iver Johnson .22 caliber Cadet 55-A revolver.


----------



## okozzy (Oct 28, 2014)

*Will this one count?*

Schwinndoggy, what ya think?, the ride is only a few miles long, right?


----------



## DonChristie (Oct 28, 2014)

Oh shes sweet! Bring it to keep mine company! I have rode mine before!


----------



## DonChristie (Oct 28, 2014)

To coincide with the Iver Johnson Jam, I am selling shirts! The Shirt is a stand alone with no reference to the Jam. This way, anybody can wear it proudly! 
These are a BLACK SHIRT WITH WHITE ARTWORK ON FRONT! Sorry, PDF prints it this way (opposite).
$20 shipped! I will sell for a week or so, then place shirt order. 
Paypal is abcdchristie@yahoo.com 
Please include size and shipping address in Paypal. 
It is also listed in the For Sale section. http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?64776-Iver-Johnson-Mobicycle-shirts&p=391769#post391769
Thank you, Don


----------



## fordmike65 (Oct 28, 2014)

I'll pick one of these up after payday. Nice  Where's the Colson Imperial? Commander?


----------



## DonChristie (Nov 3, 2014)

Not that there was much interest but, gonna have to cancel the johnson jam. I was informed, or reminded that i will be out of town that weekend. Of course, if the other three iver owners wanna do it, by all means go for it. Otherwise, some other month. Sorry!


----------



## Joe Buffardi (Nov 3, 2014)

*Iver*

Damn.


----------

