WISCONSIN

The earliest documented motorcycle registration is in a Milwaukee city ordinance effective September 8, 1904, which required smaller motorcycle plates with 2-inch-tall numbers to be provided by owners.  An undated leather plate #60 is known, and a September 19, 1904, registration certificate survives for motorcycle #121.

The 1905 state law did not specifically mention motorcycles as being registered, nor did it exclude them by name either.  They apparently weren't included, because the amended 1909 law very clearly added them in numerous sections.  What's curious is that no city motorcycle registration ordinances or plates are known in the 1905-09 era either, so it's a mystery how or if they were regulated at all.

State-issued motorcycle plates began on July 1, 1909, with an undated silver-on-red single plate having a "W" suffix.  Motorcycle numbers issued by calendar year, and the totals in (), are listed in the following table:

         1909      1W -  498W     (498)

         1910    499W - 1310W     (812)

         1911   1311W - 2402W   (1,092)

The 1911 figures are as of July 31, 1911, the last date of issue.  The highest known 1909-11 motorcycle plate is #2047W.

Motorcycle dealers were also required to register, at the same fees and quantities of single plates as automobile dealers.  A period photo exists of another type of 1909-11 motorcycle plate on a motorcycle, #1W with an outlined diamond prefix, believed to be the first motorcycle dealer plate.

Annual state-issued motorcycle plates began on August 1, 1911, at the same time as passenger plates.  The 1911 plates were only issued to new registrants for just a 5-month period.  Although 277 motorcycles were registered, no 1911 examples are known today.  By contrast, 1912 motorcycle registrations totaled 4,060 and the highest 1912 motorcycle plate known is #3435W.  Additionally, a 1912 motorcycle dealer plate #*381W is known.