1972 Rickman Metisse 125 Enduro Motorcycle Road Test

Description: Yes we combine shipping for multiple purchases.Add multiple items to your cart and the combined shipping total will automatically be calculated. 1972 Rickman Metisse 125 Enduro Motorcycle Road Test - 6-Page Vintage Article Original, Vintage Magazine ArticlePage Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each pageCondition: Good RICKMAN-METISSE125 ENDURO■When it’s all cleaned up, the Rickman-Metisse 125 Enduro truly looks like ashow bike—too pretty to ride.On the morning xye picked up thesparkling new Rickman we gingerlyloaded it into the truck, being careful notto get an unsightly thumb print on thegleaming nickel-plated frame or theflawless deep blue fiberglass pans.Several hours later at Indian DunesCycle Park just north of Los Angeles, thebike was mud-caked and grimy aftermiles of riding through the trails, streamsand race tracks at Indian Dunes.The Rickman is an eye-dazzlingmotorcycle and out in the rough sheproves that her beauty is not superficial.The 125 Enduro is the newest additionto the ever-expanding Metisse line-upthat now includes machines from 100 to750cc in both dirt and street trim. Thebrand-new United States distributor forRickman-Metisse is the BirminghamSmall Arms Company,so the Rickmansare now stablemates of BSA andTriumph.Because of a totally enjoyable ex-perience with the Rickman 125Motocross model a few months ago, wewere eager to wring out the new RickmanEnduro to see how well the racer hadsurvived the conversion to an endurobike.Inevitably, something seems to havebeen lost in the translation.The Rickman has all the basicprerequisites for a serious contender inenduro competition. Generally, themachine is lightweight, rugged, reliableand controllable at speed.However, it is not without faults sowithout further fluff we will map out thehigh and low points of the motorcycle.As a preface to our evaluation weshould point out that the machine costsaround $850 and for that kind of money abuyer should expect near-perfection.Some of the faults we found could beignored on a less specialized piece ofequipment that was priced substantiallylower.When the Rickman distributorship wastaken over by the Birmingham SmallArms Company certain changes wereeffected in the way the machines wereequipped. When Rickmans were im-ported by Steen’s of Alhambra, Californiathe 125’s arrived without forks or rearsuspension. Steen’s was also the Cerianidistributor and the excellent Italian forksand coil-shock units were bolted on inthis country.Today, the little Rickmans are cratedup with Girling rear shocks and Englishforks built by Metal Profile. The newforks have the same travel as the Cerianisand they have to be considered good byanyone’s standards but they seem to lacksome of the refinement associated withCerianis.Although they worked fine over the bigwhoop-de-doos, the forks on our Rick-man Enduro seemed to top subtly whencrossing ripply spots. Also, one of thefork legs blew a seal and oil oozed pastthe rubber boot onto the outside of thealloy slider.A far greater handling complaint wasgenerated by the Girling rear shocks.Apparently, Girling makes several gradesof suspension units for dirt bikes and theones fitted to the Rickman are not thebest available. Pity.We noticed the problem only whenpushing the Rickman up to racing speedacross the stutter bumps on the IndianDunes motocross track. The rear wheelcouldn’t be made to stick to the groundand that firm twinseat kept paddling therider down the course.Now remember that we are speakinghere of handling characteristics thatoccurred over rough ground at speedswould be respectable for most race bikes,let alone a street-legal enduro machine.Is the seat too hard? Well, it’s a lotharder than the seat of the Rickmanmotocross bike which is generally usedfor less than an hour at a time instead ofall day.The well-finished fiberglass parts aregood-looking and make the bike veryattractive but function seems to havebeen sacrificed for style. The front fenderlooks like it came right off a Metisse roadracer and it clamps to the bottom forksliders. It is loo small and too close to thetire to be of much use on a dirt bike.By the end of our first day of test ridingthe fender had slipped down and it wasrubbing heavily on the tire. It gets packedwith sticky mud too easily and it doesn’tdo a good job of keeping goo off theengine and rider.The next point of criticism is the gastank. It looks great, and it looks plentylarge but most of the room under the tankis taken up by a myriad of wide-spacedframe tubes. Fuel is carried in two thinenvelopes that straddle the frame andthere is room for only 1.8 gallons. That ishardly enough mix for long enduros withinfrequent gas-checks.Other minor annoyances are the kickstand which is mounted on the right sideand the starter lever which binds againsta frame tab at the bottom of the stroke.On the bright side of the coin is theimpeccable Rickman frame which isunmatched for light weight and rigidity.The Rickman Enduro shares the sameframe with the motocross version and thehandling geometry is unexcelled.The Rickman frame is a minormasterpiece. It is constructed of alloysteel tubing with a rather small .875 inchoutside diameter. The tubes are arrangedin a twin loop design: two tubes go underthe gas tank and two tubues sweep downform a cradle under the engine. Thesteering head is braced by a third tubeunder the tank and the frame is cross-braced at four other points.Rickman Metisse handling is super; Ceriani forks are among the best in the business.Zundapp power is sufficient for steering with the throttle when you're in a slide... 15350

Price: 12.48 USD

Location: Kingsport, Tennessee

End Time: 2024-08-31T00:59:24.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5.95 USD