New owner sought for Métisse Motorcycles

ONE OF THE best-known names in bespoke British motorcycle manufacturing, Métisse, is on the market. Métisse Motorcycles were originally created and developed in the 1960s by Rickman. Gerry Lisi runs Métisse at his Carswell, Oxfordshire premises and is looking for a buyer as he develops a new Rickman/Métisse museum on the site. Work on the 20,000 sq ft museum and workshop complex is scheduled to start in the spring of 2019, with the Rickman brothers cutting the first sod. In the meantime, Gerry wishes to sell the Métisse brand and is looking for a willing buyer to continue production.

Any new owner would be required to provide a licence allowing the manufacture of a small number of Métisse machines at the new museum in a glass-fronted assembly display workshop. “The new owners wouldn’t have to relocate, it would be reasonably priced and in fact the display workshop would be a great way of attracting new buyers,” said Gerry.

Métisse have been producing motorcycle frame kits for British bike engines since 1982 when Pat French bought the tooling originally used by the Rickman brothers to produce lightweight, strong frames and rolling chassis for competitive motocross use. Pat produced frames for retro-scrambles until the mid-1990s when a partnership was formed with Gerry to continue manufacturing them.

The current company has a range of products including the MK3 Hammer and Steve McQueen Desert Racer using reconditioned OHV 650cc Triumph TR6 engines. The machines are hand-built in the Métisse workshop and delivered to enthusiasts and collectors all over the world. The sale also includes the rights to the recently developed new MK5 models in their café racer and scrambler format.

These machines use the in-house designed MK5 997cc twin cylinder engine that has been built and tested and they are ready to go into production. Are you well-heeled and interested in becoming a motorcycle manufacturer? Visit www.business-partnership.com and search for Métisse in the ‘manufacturing’ section of the website.