Motu
4th February 2009, 21:07
It was a case of scratch my ear and find I've won the auction...whether I wanted it or not.I just put in the start bid to signify interest for a possible buy now...and now I own a Rickman Petite....or parts of one.
I never thought I'd ever own another Rickman,they are no longer just some ancient British dinosaur that 90% of the motorcycling is unaware of....they have been prized examples of the best Britain ever made for the last 20 years.I did have a chance of owning a Petite a couple of times,rode them,but never liked the bike.The Metisse had big singles and twins...even my MkIII with the T100C in Daytona tune was a pretty lazy ride.The back wheel just turned up and powered out a rooster tail,and the bike throttle steered wherever you turned your head.The Zundapp in the Petite was like most 2 strokes of the day - a light switch powerband in the top 10% of it's rev range.The bike had to be ridden 100% all the time - no problem for a motocrosser....but as a trail bike it was just too much hard work to enjoy.
I needed another bare frame project like I need another hernia - I cleaned out all my stuff to get down to just half a dozen projects.Still,it's an easy one to do - all I need is a donor farm bike for wheels,forks and engine.But it will be a bike that is less than the sum of it's parts.The perfect engine would be an XR200,but no way will this old vertical twinshocker be as good as a prolink XR200....it will always be a twinshock bike no mater how good it is.
Seeing as I have a shed full of Honda singles(TLR200,TL125,SL125,XL175,SL70) A Honda would be a good choice...but any aircooled dirt bike would do.DT175,ER185,maybe a TS250,DT250 if they would fit.
So pleased to have a Rickman in my possession again,but annoyed at more work to do,more money to spend,the endless list of stuff over my head.But the brain is ticking away on what I can do with it.
The blue bike is what it looked like new....it's fallen a long way from there....
I never thought I'd ever own another Rickman,they are no longer just some ancient British dinosaur that 90% of the motorcycling is unaware of....they have been prized examples of the best Britain ever made for the last 20 years.I did have a chance of owning a Petite a couple of times,rode them,but never liked the bike.The Metisse had big singles and twins...even my MkIII with the T100C in Daytona tune was a pretty lazy ride.The back wheel just turned up and powered out a rooster tail,and the bike throttle steered wherever you turned your head.The Zundapp in the Petite was like most 2 strokes of the day - a light switch powerband in the top 10% of it's rev range.The bike had to be ridden 100% all the time - no problem for a motocrosser....but as a trail bike it was just too much hard work to enjoy.
I needed another bare frame project like I need another hernia - I cleaned out all my stuff to get down to just half a dozen projects.Still,it's an easy one to do - all I need is a donor farm bike for wheels,forks and engine.But it will be a bike that is less than the sum of it's parts.The perfect engine would be an XR200,but no way will this old vertical twinshocker be as good as a prolink XR200....it will always be a twinshock bike no mater how good it is.
Seeing as I have a shed full of Honda singles(TLR200,TL125,SL125,XL175,SL70) A Honda would be a good choice...but any aircooled dirt bike would do.DT175,ER185,maybe a TS250,DT250 if they would fit.
So pleased to have a Rickman in my possession again,but annoyed at more work to do,more money to spend,the endless list of stuff over my head.But the brain is ticking away on what I can do with it.
The blue bike is what it looked like new....it's fallen a long way from there....