Round Up

ROUND UP

JOE PARKHURST

RICKMAN REVISIT

Anglo-American relations were cemented even more firmly a while back when my friends, the Rickman Brothers, builders of the Rickman Metisses in England, again were on the West Coast. They raced a little, at the Dirt Diggers Grand Prix and a couple of desert events, and generally showed motorcyclists in southern California what nice guys they are. Steen’s, distributor of Rickman products in this country, staged a press day at Saddleback Park, combined with a Metisse Owners Club meeting. Most important, they showed their newest creation around. It’s a Mark Four Metisse, fitted with Rickman fork, Rickman wheels and hubs, and with the BSA Victor conversion kit, designed at Weslake Engineering and made for the Rickmans.

To add spice to the story, the almost immortal Chuck “Feets” Minert brought his fabulous Victor out, and a little racing and comparing was done by all. I had a crack at both bikes, thoroughly enjoying both the super-sophisticated BSA Métissés, and the silk purse Victor built at Aub LeBard’s BSA dealership in La Habra. Feets has been riding for LeBard for more years than I can remember, and lately has been one of the few Americans in the Inter-Am series to make even a dent in the European rider domination of the American motocross series (fully reported elsewhere in this issue). Feets' incredible riding has more than made up for the fact that the BSA is fairly close

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to the stock version sold by BSA as an enduro and street machine. Obviously there are a lot of special things about the bike, such as the forks and rear swing arm, and, of course, extensive engine modifications. It has a tremendous power range, most of it at the upper end of the scale. The Rickmans contended, while comparing Feets’ BSA with the latest Rickman machine, that the power should be down lower in the rpm range. Feets, on the other hand, has no trouble riding it in the American style motocrosses. The Rickman/Weslake engine develops its power far down on the rpm range, with a wide, low torque band. The latter is best for soft surfaces, like deep sand and loam or mud, whereas the higher revving engine seems to work well on Saddleback’s hard-packed surface.

Naturally, the Rickman chassis is a device that displays superior handling qualities. After all, it was built from scratch as a motocross bike, not as a compromised street machine. It is lighter and stronger, and is a racing bike from the start. It is a supreme compliment to Feets and the guys who built his bike that it has done so well in racing. I had difficulty with Feets’ bike, nothing fit me. The controls are set for a man over a foot taller than I, so everything was out of reach. I liked it anyway. On the other hand, Derek and

Don Rickman are not much larger than I, so the Mark Four’s controls fit fine. In part, this made my ride a little easier.

Steen’s will stock full supplies of the BSA conversions soon. Basically it is a full 500-cc engine, with the special head design closely akin to that which so successfully put Ford and Dan Gurney’s Eagles into the limelight. The same design soon will be applied to a conversion for a large displacement Twin; I’m told the change is almost miraculous. The two BSA Métissés were left in Steen’s stable, and will be raced extensively in this country, one of them by Steen’s newest import, Swede Per-Olof Piersson, a motocross rider of no slight ability.

The Rickmans proved something most enthusiasts have known for some time: Professional motorcycle racers, from any country, can do just about anything experts in the other fields of motorcycle endeavor can do. Both Rickman Brothers, and Piersson, took the Rickman BSAs over the top of the Matterhorn. We’ve had to add three names to the honor roll at the top of the hill. To say that they made it easily is not quite the truth, but they made it over the top after only a try or two.

The Rickmans still have a few secret weapons left in their arsenal, and the first customer standing in line for each of them always seems to be me. [O]