The Kneeslider

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Steve McQueen Métisse Desert Racer Replica

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Steve McQueen Metisse Desert Racer Replica
Steve McQueen Metisse Desert Racer Replica

Metisse MotorcyclesSteve McQueen was well known as a motorcyclist and, as anyone who has seen him in the film ‘On Any Sunday’ will know, a capable dirt bike racer too. What is perhaps less well known was that he had a great deal of personal input into the bikes he rode and raced. One such bike, and allegedly his favorite was a Métisse Mark III Desert Racer imported from the UK in kit form.

The Métisse brand, originally established by the Rickman brothers, Derek and Don who were famous for their road racing frames, is now owned by Gerry Lisi who has gained approval from McQueen’s son Chad to produce a limited edition run of replicas of the bike his father rode.

Just like the original McQueen Desert Racer, the new version uses a nickel plated chromoly frame, which carries the oil for the dry sump motor. The engines being used are rebuilt original Triumph TR6 650cc parallel twins, albeit updated with Boyer electronic ignition. These are matched to four-speed Triumph transmissions that run a one up and three down configuration.

Steve McQueen Metisse Desert Racer Replica
Steve McQueen Metisse Desert Racer Replica

Further period correct parts can be found at the front of the bike where BSA triple trees hold Ceriani 35mm fork legs. Suspension at the rear is via Hagon reproduction Girling shocks. Retaining the retro look goes as far as the use of 7in drum brakes front and rear; Triumph and BSA respectively.

The battle ship gray fiberglass bodywork, which matches the color of McQueen’s original, is manufactured for Matisse by Mitchenall Bros, just as it was when the bikes were first built in the ‘60s. The finishing touch is a facsimile of McQueen’s signature on each bike along side the serial number. The first bike off the production line #000 has already gone to Chad McQueen and orders for the rest of the 300 bikes that will be produced are now being taken.

Link: Metisse Motorcycles

Photo below:

Steve McQueen with his Desert Racer
Steve McQueen with his Desert Racer

Comments

  3. Very Very Nice! This is how a bike IMO should look, I wonder what the cost is? Bet this bike still looks good 50yrs from now. Now this is timeless design!

  4. Om nom nom! Very slick, another dream bike I will likely never see in my lifetime, but its enough to know that they exist

  6. Looks like a scrambler made from a Yam XS650, less reliable and practical, and much more expensive. Oh sorry, Steve put his bottom on a similar one, so it’s fancy then …
    😉

  7. Where did they get ahold of 300 (at least) 650 engines and other bits? They would have been better off replicating the parts. It sure is a nice bike for someone who needs to feel special. The “signature” is going a little too far though to allow someone to pretend they have Steve’s old bike. I wouldn’t mind having a Métisse done up the way I’d want it instead.

    -todd

  8. I had a Métisse with a red hot Montessa 250 2-stroke. That bike was brutally fast even by today’s standards though limited by the suspension. I was hard up for cash adn sold it for way too little and still regret that to this day.

  9. Nicholas,Sorry but the Yam650 looks like this bike NOT the other way around. The Yam imatation may have been a decent bike but it lacked the Trumps Power and Smoothness. The yams were popular because they were cheap, If you had “Steves” money what would you have bought?

  10. Sweet, sweet bike. Does not hurt that one of the coolest guys (and a real racer and rider) to ever live had one just like it. Wow.

  11. Who needs psychoanalysis? I dont: seeing this bike has revealed to me why I bought a Triumph Scrambler last week…….

  13. I had a Rickman Metisse dirt bike back when, with a 500 Triumph engine, the 19″ front wheel (and the painted super strong steel rims) and the huge diameter Rickman forks. It was a very nice ride. A bit shy of ground clearance with that front wheel, and maybe with any, but the dents in the frame didn’t result in any oil loss, so… Extremely stable. I was never a great dirt rider, but did have a few such bikes, including a BSA 441 Victor (lots of fun) and several CZs (pretty serious and very crisp feeling). The Rickman was definitely one of my favorite bikes.

  14. Tin Man, agreed that the Yam came after the Triumph, no questions about it.
    Just say that imho I’d feel snob to get a S.McQ. replica when a nice XS650 scrambler would do just as well. Just my 2 cents.

  17. Nicolas, if you just want to get something that will “do just as well” you wouldn’t get either of those bikes. You’d get something new. The older bikes just aren’t as good in many ways. But they are very nice if you like vintage and vintage-like bikes. And the Rickman is a very nice dirt bike, plus it’s unusual — always was really — and it works very well, given the caveat that this is old tech.

  19. Damn that’s a sweet looking ride. But for $23,000 (plus shipping) I guess I’ll have to settle for something more mundane.

  20. I have to agree about the price; that is a lot of money. But then I’m getting old, and remember buying mine for $700. Excuse me now, I just saw some kids going by and I have to to collar them and start going on about the price of candy bars and how far I walked to school. 🙂

  21. I wonder if I could buy just the tank decals for my Rickman and make a replica of the replica?