Late last year, we featured an article on a lady who’d built her own motorcycle. Time for a catch up…
Regular readers may remember my story from November 2018’s issue of The Classic MotorCycle about my Wasp-framed Rickman Metisse-style motorcycle build.
This account was, of course, only the beginning.
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One year on, I can report my motorcycle certainly has lived up to being my ‘Dream Machine.’
Looking back over the last year, I realise building this bike and dedicating myself to nine months of evenings and weekends in the workshop was truly the best decision I ever made.
I have begun to understand all those articles in magazines about committed enthusiasts who devote a large part of their lives to reviving wonderful, ageing machines.
The bike project has brought much more than just a fabulous bike into my life. With my dad’s guidance I have learnt lots and met so many like-minded passionate people.
Building this bike was just the beginning – since it burst into life (second kick) last June it’s been an unending education and there is surely more to come.
Those who know the Metisse story will appreciate what a revolutionary piece of kit it was as a competition bike.
This was because of its lightweight frame compared to the standard offerings from Triumph – something still relevant today.
In a world where bikes are getting bigger and heavier – comparing say the current Bonneville to the original, the 1960 Bonneville weighs 178kg, whilst its modern namesake weighs in at a hefty 224kg.
By comparison, my Metisse weighs just 135kg.
And if you are familiar with the benefits to handling and performance that light weight brings, it leaves you wondering, where has it all gone wrong?
Read more and view more images in the June 2019 issue of TCM – on sale now!
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