In 1881 Copeland designed an efficient small steam boiler which could drive the large rear wheel of a Columbia penny-farthing to a speed of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h).

[1][2] In 1884 Copeland used an American Star bicycle, smaller steering wheel in front, to construct a new demonstration vehicle for the Maricopa County Fair that year.

Copeland set up the Northrop Manufacturing Co. in 1887 in Camden, New Jersey, to produce a three-wheeled version, the "Phaeton Moto-Cycle", which he demonstrated at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C in 1888.

[4] Peter Gagan, a former president of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America, was able to trace an 1884 "Star" bicycle with an original Copeland steam engine to the Phoenix Museum of History.

Gagan took sufficiently detailed measurements to create a full-scale, working replica, which was hurriedly assembled to feature at the Guggenheim's 'The Art of the Motorcycle' Exhibition when it opened on The Las Vegas Strip in October 2001.