popes O.H.V.

[jurassic]

hey cory,i am glad you brought up the merkel jefferson of maldwyns. that bike is an awesome machine ,and although i dont think any parts of it still exist ,a replica is in the works.i found a lower end in sweden.that late merkel single engine is extremly rare.i only know of 3.as for the jeff head i had a mold made and totally reproduced the entire head,just for this project.a good friend of mine chris cutler now has the project and is making alot of progress.it'll probably surface some time next year.

[jurassic]

hi dick,as for the jefferson rigid fork ,it was made in jefferson wis. by jeff haberman,as was the sprung fork and handlebars. as to the photos i use imageshack photo hosting,but i hope soon that this site will host photos like it use to.as for the original paint jefferson tank,is it the only original tank to exist or just the only original paint tank? i did not know that so few jeffersons were produced.as for the blue bike i dont know whether or not it has the buttons in the heads ,i never looked inside.

[c.o.]

I'm looking forward to seeing pics of the finished project jurassic! Hearing it run up close would be even better! I think it's great that some of these historic machines can be seen again for what they were. It's too bad the scrap drives took so much of it from us. But then again, some of it still has to be out there waiting to surface.

Here's a shot of Maldwyn after he lost the 1913 Savannah 300 (courtesy of Jerry Hatfield from the Summer '85 club mag). He actually won the race fair and square, but was counted as second on account of a scoring mistake by the judges. We can all be thankful that at least the pictures still exist (that's a good one by the way Chris!)....... Still I wonder if any of Maldwyns race bikes survived. He rode enough of them...........

[jurassic]

maldwyn's last racer

[jurassic]

cory,i have pictures of the motor and the frame of this excelsior that was specially made for maldwyn by the factory. they still exist today in perfect condition.i cant say anymore about it,but as far as i know they are the only one of maldwyn's racers left.although some have said that the one original paint flying merkel racer that milby discovered may have been ridden by maldwyn.

[c.o.]

Very interesting......... although curious, I won't badger you for any more details.... Excuse my ignorance, but is Milby's machine a single or twin? Here's a similar machine if not the first Merkel that Maldwyn tore the track up with.......... Great pics by the way, they're definitely more upscale than what I post........

[pem]

As far as I know that is the only original paint Jefferson tank known. There is a P.E.M. fuel tank on a restored bike but I had absolutely no cooperation from the owner when I contacted him for information and I tried many times. Unfortunately he passed away and I
have been unable to find out if there was an original fuel tank when he found that P.E.M. basket case. I have a feeling there are more Waverley motors that we don't know of. At least I hper there is.

Dick

[exeric]

Jurassic, I had a friend in south Florida that had most of what he believed was Paul Anderson's "M" cylinder Excelsior single. The frame was a mix of Excelsior and H-D parts and the whole bike had a very "backyard built" look to it. One part of intrest to me was the gas tank. It was a '18-'19 Henderson tank that had been squished in the back like a tube of toothpaste and crudely soldered. I had another friend in Texas that had a fair chunk of an "M" single racer as well. It seems like they were falling out of the sky back then. Personally, I veiwed both bikes with some skepticisim but there were parts on both bikes that were hard to dispute.

[jurassic]

hi eric,the one excelsior i have seen photos of is in texas, i think. it is a blue frame with the rear fender attached,and the engine.do you know who owns it?? i have no info on the bike,other than the pics i have.but would love to talk to the current owner.do you know him?let me know. cory ,as for the merkel that milby jones had ,it is a twin factory racer.i'll get some pics of it tomorrow.the early single you posted a pic of has been replicated by john at antique cycle northwest.its gray and is very nice.

[c.o.]

So I gather eric, that it should have looked like this, but was "slightly modified" along the way? Pretty cool bike. Not certain, but I gather that there were three motors and two frames available to Anderson and Jones for the 1922 season. Anderson rode this machine to the first 60 second mile on a half mile track.

Looking forward to seeing that original paint twin Lonnie....

[c.o.]

Oh, and interesting that there's a replica of the early Merkel in the Pacific Northwest. I think maybe I'll have to head down to Seattle the next time I go to the coast.

[c.o.]

Another variation of the Jefferson OHV Merkel on a twin bottom end............ I like how he put an oil tank in place of the rear cylinder and had a direct oil feed.

[jurassic]

unrestored merkel

[c.o.]

Wow!! That bike is awesome! Is it in running order? I bet it sounds sweet!!! Thanks! I'll have to look through the pictures later and see if it compares with anything that Maldwyn was sitting on!

[jurassic]

i think this picture of the merkel racer was taken at davenport just after milby rode it around the track.people are always telling me ,"hey i rode that merkel". apparently he let anyone who wanted to ride it take it out.its interesting to note that there is a mark on the frame under the tank ,that indicates that at one time there was a single engine in this frame. you can still see the mark from the top motor mount.but these chassis' were very interchangable as were the street bike merkels.they may have put a single in it to compete in different classes.