1964 Rickman Matchless Metisse, 500cc. Not Registered with t...

Estimate

£4,000 - £5,000

1964 Rickman Matchless Metisse, 500cc.
Not Registered with the DVLA. Frame Number 305, Engine Number SU4935.
Metisse motorcycles were the product of Derek and Don Rickman, two of Britain’s leading Motocross stars of the 1950s and ‘60s.
Successful racers who were also technically gifted, they started building their own frames to resolve the perceived shortcomings of the offroad bikes then available from British firms like Triumph, Matchless and BSA, which then dominated the global off-road market.
Named Metisse, the French word for a female mongrel, denoting the combination of a proprietary engine in a Rickman frame, their machines earned a worldwide reputation for excellence, with the 2,000 Métisse frames built in the 1960s winning countless off-road races and titles worldwide.
The bikes were famous for their elegant fibreglass bodywork and bright-plated frames, and were available both factory built, and as a kit for the builder to add their own mechanical components.
The Metisse legend continues under the custodianship of Ian Moss, current owner of Rickman Motorcycles.
Frame number 305 was supplied fully built in 1964 from the Rickman Brothers works in New Milton with one of the batch of G80CS "Norton Oil Pump" engines supplied direct from AMC. There is correspondence on file from Rickman Motorcycles, who confirmed this information.
Our vendor states that full restoration has been carried out, and updates to the machine include B50 Conical rear hub, Marzocchi Forks, Husqvarna front hub, along with Stainless Steel exhaust, rims and spokes.