The Jefferson motorcycle was the brainchild of Perry E. Mack, who débuted his new vertical-overhead-valve engine in 1910; one of the very earliest motorcycles to have valves 'upstairs'. Sold initially as an engine only under the Waverly name, the engine soon gained a reputation as an excellent racing device, undoubtedly due to the better breathing afforded by overhead valves.. The company reorganized in 1911 (the motorcycle industry was cutthroat at that time, and small manufacturers, even if legendary on the racetrack, came and went in a matter of years), and relocated to Jefferson, Wisconsin, and was re-named the 'P.E.M' to honor Perry Mack.
The name was changed again in 1913 to the Jefferson, after the town of it's manufacture, and a v-twin-cylinder machine was introduced, also overhead-valve, which also proved a fast, well-built, and reliable machine for road or racing (pictured above, racing legend Dudley Perkins aboard his track Jefferson). An interesting feature of the roadsters was the use of short-link suspension front and rear on the forks and rear frame; movement in each case was controlled by short bellcranks connected to leaf springs, providing perhaps 2" movement fore and aft to absorb bumps; another innovation from this plucky little company. Alas, innovation and race wins simply weren't enough to keep small manufacturers alive in those brutal early days of the American motorcycle industry, and in 1914 Jefferson ceased trading.
This machine is coming up for auction at the MidAmerica Aucation in Las Vegas Jan 7-9, 2010, and was previously housed in the Jefferson Motorcycle Museum. As far as I know, this is the FIRST TIME a Jefferson has been offered publicly for sale at auction. It's currently owned by Jeffery Haberman, whose uncle Albert Haberman was Managing Director of the company. Below is a bit of local press about Jeffery and the Jefferson
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