1972 Rickman Metisse 125 Enduro Motorcycle Road Test - 6-Page Vintage Article

Description

1972 Rickman Metisse 125 Enduro Motorcycle Road Test - 6-Page Vintage Article
Original, Vintage Magazine Article
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
RICKMAN-METISSE
125 ENDURO
■When it’s all cleaned up, the Rickman-
Metisse 125 Enduro truly looks like a
show bike—too pretty to ride.
On the morning xye picked up the
sparkling new Rickman we gingerly
loaded it into the truck, being careful not
to get an unsightly thumb print on the
gleaming nickel-plated frame or the
flawless deep blue fiberglass pans.
Several hours later at Indian Dunes
Cycle Park just north of Los Angeles, the
bike was mud-caked and grimy after
miles of riding through the trails, streams
and race tracks at Indian Dunes.
The Rickman is an eye-dazzling
motorcycle and out in the rough she
proves that her beauty is not superficial.
The 125 Enduro is the newest addition
to the ever-expanding Metisse line-up
that now includes machines from 100 to
750cc in both dirt and street trim. The
brand-new United States distributor for
Rickman-Metisse is the Birmingham
Small Arms Company,so the Rickmans
are now stablemates of BSA and
Triumph.
Because of a totally enjoyable ex-
perience with the Rickman 125
Motocross model a few months ago, we
were eager to wring out the new Rickman
Enduro to see how well the racer had
survived the conversion to an enduro
bike.
Inevitably, something seems to have
been lost in the translation.
The Rickman has all the basic
prerequisites for a serious contender in
enduro competition. Generally, the
machine is lightweight, rugged, reliable
and controllable at speed.
However, it is not without faults so
without further fluff we will map out the
high and low points of the motorcycle.
As a preface to our evaluation we
should point out that the machine costs
around 0 and for that kind of money a
buyer should expect near-perfection.
Some of the faults we found could be
ignored on a less specialized piece of
equipment that was priced substantially
lower.
When the Rickman distributorship was
taken over by the Birmingham Small
Arms Company certain changes were
effected in the way the machines were
equipped. When Rickmans were im-
ported by Steen’s of Alhambra, California
the 125’s arrived without forks or rear
suspension. Steen’s was also the Ceriani
distributor and the excellent Italian forks
and coil-shock units were bolted on in
this country.
Today, the little Rickmans are crated
up with Girling rear shocks and English
forks built by Metal Profile. The new
forks have the same travel as the Cerianis
and they have to be considered good by
anyone’s standards but they seem to lack
some of the refinement associated with
Cerianis.
Although they worked fine over the big
whoop-de-doos, the forks on our Rick-
man Enduro seemed to top subtly when
crossing ripply spots. Also, one of the
fork legs blew a seal and oil oozed past
the rubber boot onto the outside of the
alloy slider.
A far greater handling complaint was
generated by the Girling rear shocks.
Apparently, Girling makes several grades
of suspension units for dirt bikes and the
ones fitted to the Rickman are not the
best available. Pity.
We noticed the problem only when
pushing the Rickman up to racing speed
across the stutter bumps on the Indian
Dunes motocross track. The rear wheel
couldn’t be made to stick to the ground
and that firm twinseat kept paddling the
rider down the course.
Now remember that we are speaking
here of handling characteristics that
occurred over rough ground at speeds
would be respectable for most race bikes,
let alone a street-legal enduro machine.
Is the seat too hard? Well, it’s a lot
harder than the seat of the Rickman
motocross bike which is generally used
for less than an hour at a time instead of
all day.
The well-finished fiberglass parts are
good-looking and make the bike very
attractive but function seems to have
been sacrificed for style. The front fender
looks like it came right off a Metisse road
racer and it clamps to the bottom fork
sliders. It is loo small and too close to the
tire to be of much use on a dirt bike.
By the end of our first day of test riding
the fender had slipped down and it was
rubbing heavily on the tire. It gets packed
with sticky mud too easily and it doesn’t
do a good job of keeping goo off the
engine and rider.
The next point of criticism is the gas
tank. It looks great, and it looks plenty
large but most of the room under the tank
is taken up by a myriad of wide-spaced
frame tubes. Fuel is carried in two thin
envelopes that straddle the frame and
there is room for only 1.8 gallons. That is
hardly enough mix for long enduros with
infrequent gas-checks.
Other minor annoyances are the kick
stand which is mounted on the right side
and the starter lever which binds against
a frame tab at the bottom of the stroke.
On the bright side of the coin is the
impeccable Rickman frame which is
unmatched for light weight and rigidity.
The Rickman Enduro shares the same
frame with the motocross version and the
handling geometry is unexcelled.
The Rickman frame is a minor
masterpiece. It is constructed of alloy
steel tubing with a rather small .875 inch
outside diameter. The tubes are arranged
in a twin loop design: two tubes go under
the gas tank and two tubues sweep down
form a cradle under the engine. The
steering head is braced by a third tube
under 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
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