Hudson
Well-known member
Gerry decided that for Metisse to both succeed and move beyond a one-off builder, it needed to stake its own identity. His first project was the very successful replica of one of Steve McQueen's favorite bikes, a Rickman-Metisse-Triumph bike that he and Bud Ekins tweaked to do duty as a desert racer.
Gerry's produced more than half of the 300 limited edition versions, and orders keep trickling in. Each one is built to order.
We wander into the back, where various bikes are in state of build.
But I am here to see his new creation, which takes Metisse in a totally new direction. Gerry has designed his own engine, a fuel injected parallel twin of 1000cc, making 97 bhp and weighing less than 400 lbs. I see the prototype, a mule that has been set up to test the engine, but which contains many of the final styling cues for the Scrambler version. I overlook the turn signals, mirrors, test speedo/tach, and other bits tacked on to obtain temporary road certification, and key in on that engine and other cool cues, like the exhaust that exists through the rear fender.
Gerry fires up the Scrambler, lets it idle for a bit to bring up the temp, then looks over at me, smiles, and cracks the throttle open. The Metisse cackles and lets out an piercing shriek that rattles my ear drums. It sounds like a two cyclinder forumula one engine.
While the Scrambler idles, he takes me over to the real demon. The "Chase", a cafe racer aptly named for Steve's grandson, and fitted with a special 140 hp tweaked version of his stock engine. This one's also a mule, as he's still working on the nose, but one look at this version and I am totally entranced.
Gerry's produced more than half of the 300 limited edition versions, and orders keep trickling in. Each one is built to order.
We wander into the back, where various bikes are in state of build.
But I am here to see his new creation, which takes Metisse in a totally new direction. Gerry has designed his own engine, a fuel injected parallel twin of 1000cc, making 97 bhp and weighing less than 400 lbs. I see the prototype, a mule that has been set up to test the engine, but which contains many of the final styling cues for the Scrambler version. I overlook the turn signals, mirrors, test speedo/tach, and other bits tacked on to obtain temporary road certification, and key in on that engine and other cool cues, like the exhaust that exists through the rear fender.
Gerry fires up the Scrambler, lets it idle for a bit to bring up the temp, then looks over at me, smiles, and cracks the throttle open. The Metisse cackles and lets out an piercing shriek that rattles my ear drums. It sounds like a two cyclinder forumula one engine.
While the Scrambler idles, he takes me over to the real demon. The "Chase", a cafe racer aptly named for Steve's grandson, and fitted with a special 140 hp tweaked version of his stock engine. This one's also a mule, as he's still working on the nose, but one look at this version and I am totally entranced.
