Rickman Metisse G85 Motorcycle 1965

Description:

1965 Matchless Metisse ex Norman Barrow. Built by the Rickman Brothers in late 1965 as an AMC unit (Frame No 652) and sold to Eric Housley Motorcycles High Street Clay Cross where it was acquired by Norman Barrow. Norman Barrow was a stalwart of the British & World Championship scene for many years. He started his career in 1963 on Greeve Machines and rose to prominence in the Northern centre winning the regional championship several times on his trusty Greeve Griffon 380cc. He then switched to this Metisse. Norman returned to Greeve as a semi works rider before going to the CCM works team in 1976.
The records for this bike are not complete; however it appears to have been built with a matchless G85 engine. The bike has suffered from Norman’s hard riding style and carries the scars of a broken primary chain or perhaps two. The G85 engine had also suffered, breaking the crank pin and destroying the crankcases. The GP carb was removed early on in its life as it was too finicky in the scrambler environment. It was replaced initially with a Monoblock and finally with a Concentric instrument. The crankcases have no engine number as they must have been replaced with new ones after the blow-up. The engine is believed to be the original with parts replaced as they broke. It has a 12:1 compression ratio with very narrow light steel flywheels. This means that it is very lively and revs freely.
The bike was in a very sorry state having resided in a leaky shed for a number of years. The spirit of the refurbishment was to refresh the machine rather than carry out a concours restoration. It was last raced under the number 80 and whilst no attempt has been made to return it to factory delivered condition the nickel plating on the frame has been renewed, where necessary the original fibreglass tank and seat has been repaired. The paintwork has been resprayed and new transfers/decals have been applied. The tank has been coated internally to accept modern fuel.