Rickman-framed Kawaka T

[98tls]

Bugger me....http://www.ebay.com/itm/Other-Makes-RICKMAN-KAWASAKI-TURBO-/291526700131Came across this thing whilst searching info on Rickman etc etc

[98tls]

Right up there with a Bevel drive SS in the beautiful stakes, ie how did modern motorcycles get so fucking ugly...what went wrong?

[Katman]

Well you know what they say about beauty being in the eye of the beholder.

:shutup:

[AllanB]

Niceeeeeee

[smmudd83_1999]

Bugger me....http://www.ebay.com/itm/Other-Makes-RICKMAN-KAWASAKI-TURBO-/291526700131Came across this thing whilst searching info on Rickman etc etc

They're not exactly super duper rare. Rickman sold some kit versions, but you could actually buy a motorcycle registered as a new Rickman back in the day. At least back in the motherland. They were quite a popular (ish) mod, and weren't any rarer than Dresda, Drixton, Harris, Spondon, Seeley, P&M et al. And that's only in the UK. - Bakker, Egli, Segale, and the early days of Bimota were all European period frame makers of a similar niche.

It's unusual for eBay.com or ebay.co.uk to NOT feature a special framed big Jappa of the 70's at any given point in time.

[husaberg]

They're not exactly super duper rare. Rickman sold some kit versions, but you could actually buy a motorcycle registered as a new Rickman back in the day. At least back in the motherland. They were quite a popular (ish) mod, and weren't any rarer than Dresda, Drixton, Harris, Spondon, Seeley, P&M et al. And that's only in the UK. - Bakker, Egli, Segale, and the early days of Bimota were all European period frame makers of a similar niche.

It's unusual for eBay.com or ebay.co.uk to NOT feature a special framed big Jappa of the 70's at any given point in time.

Ya missed Moto Martin.

Rickman Bros made a few complete motorbikes Zunddaps 125's and 250 Montessa and the 700 Enfield twins. Pretty sure the rest were kits.
They started off doing Tribsa triumph engines in BSA frames for MX for them selves. They then branched out into complete chassis first MX and Road racing then road using a huge variety of engines from Aremachi to G50 and also Japanese engines.
There major point of difference was the beautifully welded Renolds 351 tubing and nickel plating.They also in the main part had excentric adjusters for chain adjusters built into the swingarm pivot.
They were one of the first to use disk brakes made they also made there own very light Magnesium brakes and large diameter for the time forks. 41mm.
The kits were originally known as Mettise (which means Mongrel in French)

Last I heard Pat French (MRD Mettise) in the UK still held the rights and had the original jigs and molds.
I have a 125 frame they are very very nice. The fibreglass is first class but the road and road race designs of tank and seat are ugly to my eyes.

They do however look great as an MX all the off road bikes pretty much looked like this.

[Grumph]

As an aside, a hell of a lot of the frames were bronze welded by Kiwis doing their OE - at least during the classic Rickman owned era.
I've met two who worked there welding and they told me there were others as well.

Eric Cheyney's place was full of Kiwis too

[98tls]

They're not exactly super duper rare. Rickman sold some kit versions, but you could actually buy a motorcycle registered as a new Rickman back in the day. At least back in the motherland. They were quite a popular (ish) mod, and weren't any rarer than Dresda, Drixton, Harris, Spondon, Seeley, P&M et al. And that's only in the UK. - Bakker, Egli, Segale, and the early days of Bimota were all European period frame makers of a similar niche.

It's unusual for eBay.com or ebay.co.uk to NOT feature a special framed big Jappa of the 70's at any given point in time.

:niceone:Yep all good ive just never seen a Turbo Kwaka in a Rickman frame before.Long lost the photo but when i was a younger fella there was a bloke that was working for the old man that had a beautiful 750/4 with Dunstall (spelling?) tank/seat unit etc.Always thought the Rickman framed pom powered stuff beautiful in the pics ive seen over the years but must confess to never coming across one in the flesh.Went surfing the net to see if frames were still available and at what :shit:cost.

[sidecar bob]

This is the view from my dining room table.
Metisse with '59 TR5 engine.

[Motu]

They also in the main part had excentric adjusters for chain adjusters built into the swingarm pivot.


The eccentric adjusters were 10 or 12 washers with offset holes...you flipped them over to go past centre. I was riding a Metisse on the road in the '70's - I had to carry these washers in a loop of wire incase I had to adjust the chain somewhere. I have a 125 frame too, I don't think it's a good looking frame, nowhere as good as the MkIII Metisse.

[sidecar bob]

The eccentric adjusters were 10 or 12 washers with offset holes...you flipped them over to go past centre. I was riding a Metisse on the road in the '70's - I had to carry these washers in a loop of wire incase I had to adjust the chain somewhere. I have a 125 frame too, I don't think it's a good looking frame, nowhere as good as the MkIII Metisse.

Yeah, there's a nifty little wire loop device that clips together that mine are on, I think it's a factory part & you can loop it onto a frame tube
If you have more that one Rickman, would you then say you have Rickmans or Rickmen :confused:

[husaberg]

The eccentric adjusters were 10 or 12 washers with offset holes...you flipped them over to go past centre. I was riding a Metisse on the road in the '70's - I had to carry these washers in a loop of wire incase I had to adjust the chain somewhere. I have a 125 frame too, I don't think it's a good looking frame, nowhere as good as the MkIII Metisse.


Yeah, there's a nifty little wire loop device that clips together that mine are on, I think it's a factory part & you can loop it onto a frame tube
If you have more that one Rickman, would you then say you have Rickmans or Rickmen :confused:

I say he is a Rickmanare.

I was meaning the workmanship, Although the 125 frame is certainly more pretty than the 250 Montessa.
Pretty sure the 125 frame is a bolt and nut device much like a bsa chain adjustor on the 125.
been awhile since I seen the frame, its buried in the olds shed


As an aside, a hell of a lot of the frames were bronze welded by Kiwis doing their OE - at least during the classic Rickman owned era.
I've met two who worked there welding and they told me there were others as well.
Eric Cheyney's place was full of Kiwis too
Clews probably had a few kiwis as well.
I remember a guy telling me a story about how the poms at a BMC factory who used to run the panel press and when they wanted an extra break they would put something in the press to create a blemish on the bonnet or whatever they were producing.
All hell would they break loose while the management tried to find the problem. but they got an extra smoko break. I think that describes why the poms went out of business and why the poms manufacturers would want to hire kiwis.

[Motu]

I didn't have 2 Rickmans to wonder that, but I had a Rickman and a Cheney, both with T100C engines. I'd be a very rich old fart if I still owned everything I've had over the years - I always sell before they become trendy.

[Motu]

I was meaning the workmanship the 125 frame is certainly more pretty than the 250 Montessa.
Pretty sure the 125 frame is a bolt and nut device much like a bsa chain adjustor on the 125.

Oh yeah, certainly much better than any mass produced frame. Mine is black not nickel - I could do the sand blast and clear, that's in vogue at the moment....nah,I'll wait until the new thing comes along then do it, I hate the bandwagon.

Yes, the BSA type, not the Fist Full of Washers like the bigger Rickmans.

[husaberg]

Oh yeah, certainly much better than any mass produced frame. Mine is black not nickel - I could do the sand blast and clear, that's in vogue at the moment....nah,I'll wait until the new thing comes along then do it, I hate the bandwagon.

Yes, the BSA type, not the Fist Full of Washers like the bigger Rickmans.

You have to wonder why they never used an snail cam.
So is it complete? The 125.

[98tls]

I didn't have 2 Rickmans to wonder that, but I had a Rickman and a Cheney, both with T100C engines. I'd be a very rich old fart if I still owned everything I've had over the years - I always sell before they become trendy.

Methinks most in this thread share that last sentiment.

[sidecar bob]

I didn't have 2 Rickmans to wonder that, but I had a Rickman and a Cheney, both with T100C engines. I'd be a very rich old fart if I still owned everything I've had over the years - I always sell before they become trendy.

What's trendy about a Rickman Metisse nowadays, most people wouldn't have a fuckin clue what one is.
It's just an old motorbike, not a bobbed SR400.
You'd be rich? Why, what are they worth now?

[husaberg]

What's trendy about a Rickman Metisse nowadays, most people wouldn't have a fuckin clue what one is.
It's just an old motorbike, not a bobbed SR400.
You'd be rich? Why, what are they worth now?

Fuck all, id take that one off your hands if that makes you feel better, swap you a KX65 and a KTM50

[sidecar bob]

Fuck all, id take that one off your hands if that makes you feel better, swap you a KX65 and a KTM50

I'd rather swap it for a Hyosung Aquila 250. I think they are going to be the next smart investment behind old recipie Milo.

[husaberg]

I'd rather swap it for a Hyosung Aquila 250. I think they are going to be the next smart investment behind old recipie Milo.

See that's why you have ended up with an old Pommy shitter. Plus mates like Scivvy. The old milo fetish will be a hard habbit to break, esp when the packet is left open.

[Motu]

What's trendy about a Rickman Metisse nowadays, most people wouldn't have a fuckin clue what one is.
It's just an old motorbike, not a bobbed SR400.
You'd be rich? Why, what are they worth now?

They know a lot more about them now (it's only a click away) than they did in the '70's. They were just worn out uncompetitive MX bikes, there was no classic racing, let alone VMX. I paid $400 for the Rickman and $500 for the Cheney, both without engines, it was hard getting anyone interested in them. I swapped them both for a nice '61 Norton 99, about $1500.

[sidecar bob]

They know a lot more about them now (it's only a click away) than they did in the '70's. They were just worn out uncompetitive MX bikes, there was no classic racing, let alone VMX. I paid $400 for the Rickman and $500 for the Cheney, both without engines, it was hard getting anyone interested in them. I swapped them both for a nice '61 Norton 99, about $1500.

The guy I got mine off also had a CZ400 bought very early 70's that had replaced the Rickman.
The big 2 strokes slaughtered the old 500 twin.
He also had enough other cool old shit to make your head cave in, not just bikes either.
Most of it looked like brand new.

[Motu]

I watched MX when the Rickman was king, magic stuff....a few years later I saw the one I would own coming last in every race. I made it into a road bike, a power to weight ratio not seen on most road bikes of the time, it was a lot of fun. Late '70's a mate of mine put some non operating lights on a CZ400 and used it as a road bike (we did that all the time, I rode my sidecar on the road like that too - Blackadder it was later called). I didn't like the Cheney, the Rickman was made for scramble in padocks, it was built to slide...the Cheney was shorter and made for MX tracks, point and squirt pivot turns, not my style.

[sidecar bob]

You owned Blackadder? The BSA twin big wheeler? That thing is still pounding the track, I know it well.

[Voltaire]

Rickman...wasn't he the keyboard player in Yes?

Now enough of that old Pommy shit, here's a proper cool bike that old codgers like Mootoo only dreamed of, y'know bikes that run.:innocent:
314626
You didn't get proper exhaust wrap like that back in the day from Hemplemans.

[Motu]

The W650 never had a chance to be unwanted, it went straight from new bike to collectable without passing through ''who the fuck would want one of those''. It was never available to the bottom feeders.

[Crasherfromwayback]

Bugger me....http://www.ebay.com/itm/Other-Makes-RICKMAN-KAWASAKI-TURBO-/291526700131Came across this thing whilst searching info on Rickman etc etc


Right up there with a Bevel drive SS in the beautiful stakes, ie how did modern motorcycles get so fucking ugly...what went wrong?

Should've gone to spec savers...

[Grumph]

You didn't get proper exhaust wrap like that back in the day from Hemplemans.

Yeah, you did....they came neatly wrapped in brown paper, carefully applied by a teenager somewhere in Birmingham...

[T.W.R]

:niceone:Yep all good ive just never seen a Turbo Kwaka in a Rickman frame before.

The original land speed record Rickman Turbo :yes:
And a Rickman article from June 1980

[T.W.R]

Couple of Moto Martin Z1000s

[BMWST?]

This is the view from my dining room table.
Metisse with '59 TR5 engine.
the forks look bigger than the swingarm !

[sidecar bob]

the forks look bigger than the swingarm !

Uuh. . .yeah, they are considerably.

[husaberg]

Couple of Moto Martin Z1000s

Pretty sure that 2nd Moto Martin was in Streetbike.
I have it somewhere.

[T.W.R]

Pretty sure that 2nd Moto Martin was in Streetbike.
I have it somewhere.

:yes: Both of them are out of Streetbike; the black one from reader's rides issue 32 and the other was featured in issue 31.
The Rickman was aswell, issue 13. Had 2 good fold out posters from early 80s mags a few yrs back....treasured them but were stolen :angry:
CBX6 powered Egli and a GPZ1100 powered Moko. Got a big article somewhere on FBI (Fast Bikes International) and their Egli kits featured a supercharged GPZ11 being put through its paces :woohoo:

[RichardB]

Just a spurious tale...was riding a K100 2 up in Switzerland in the 90s. Getting comfortable pushing the envelope on their engineered alpine roads - folding up the pegs, getting used to the kidney punches etc. Until I was passed by a gaggle of 70s vintage jappers - like I was taking tourist photos :( Kinda killed my happy mood until i caught up with them at a cafe later. Think there was 4 Egli frames, a Ken MacIntosh and a couple I didnt recognise. Every one of them were prime examples of functional artisans.
Who said art history lessons have to be in the classroom?

[roogazza]

Have a mate in Adelaide that had a bike called a Segale Kawasaki,if I have the name correct ?

Never got to ride it, but did borrow his Laverda Jota for two weeks,big booming triple.:rolleyes:

[husaberg]

Have a mate in Adelaide that had a bike called a Segale Kawasaki,if I have the name correct ?

Never got to ride it, but did borrow his Laverda Jota for two weeks,big booming triple.:rolleyes:

Yip he did frames for Fireblades as well, used to do kits to knock of about 50lb of flab off a Blade. lol. He was into round tubes never seen one in the flesh.