For after becoming commercially successful via their Métisse off-road frame kits into which either they or their customers the world over installed a plethora of different engines, the Rickmans built their first tarmac Métisse frame in March 1966, the first of exactly 999 such chassis they made altogether for twins and singles. The first complete road legal Rickman Street Métisse was then created in November 1966, built with a Triumph T120 motor for delivery to their Austrian importer. But these were essentially all one-off creations constructed to order, not series production models built to attract customers by adorning the showroom floors of appointed dealers.
Despite this, the Rickmans’ US importer John Steen based in Alhambra, California, was continually ramping up his orders, as the American appetite for recreational motorcycles – meaning primarily for off-road use – intensified during the late ‘60s. However, Steen’s location meant that he focused on selling Métisse bikes in his home state, leaving the rest of the huge country open for European manufacturers like Maico, CZ and especially Husqvarna to profit from the swelling demand for off-road bikes. Both brothers visited America several times in the 1960s to try to persuade Steen to expand his operation, as a result of which it was decided that Derek and Don would transform the Rickman business into a series production manufacturer, with an assembly line producing bikes in bulk. Marketplace research indicated there’d be sufficient demand for them to sell as many as 4,000 bikes a year, and that these should ideally be 125cc and 250cc two-stroke singles, with both Enduro and Scrambler variations. The Rickmans had never addressed the two-stroke market before, apart from a small series of one hundred bright yellow 250cc Bultaco-powered Petite Métisse Scrambles models unveiled in 1965. These
