74 Rickman Montesa- Why?

[mx250]

I agree with you Mark about the seat and the appearances of the mk 3. Subtle but nicer. I would be tempted do make changes from the standard Rickman Monty.



The wrap around sidecover protecting the carb might have practicle merit but in the appearances stakes..... .

The Mk 3 and 4 tank badge is far more asthetically desireable then the Rickman Monty's. The British Racing Green, the low front gaurd and the Union Jack on the tank yell 'style' and 'Rickman'. I was thinking of making similar changes to a Rickman Monty, playing mix and match and thinking black - another black and shiney chrome beauty .  

Ya talking me into it. I've got an hour or so .

Mantra: Disclipine, disclipine, I must have self control, I must be strong.

(The photo of the Rickman Monty is a current Ebay offering.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330258565631&indexURL=1&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting

$500US - reserve not meet.)

[mx250]

Is this the neatest fuel tap/fuel line set up you have ever seen - in appearance and practicality.



Is that Rickman OEM? Anyone know?

[cappra]

Why is the head on backwards?   

[mx250]

Why is the head on backwards?   

I thought something was different . I thought the difference was that the carby was covered and with the void filled in it looked different . I'll make sure I don't make that mistake .

[mx250]

Sold $50US :'(

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350083951150&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:MOTORS:1123

I stayed strong . One of those occasional good ebay deal I would guess.

[mx250]

From the amount of time I have had riding a Rickman (I never raced one) 

Jared, do you remember what the brakes were like. They look nice, small and light, but I would guess pretty minimal when it comes to stopping.

[firko]

Rickman brakes are among the best Graeme. Jonesy has a Rickman Montesa front brake on Black Betty and she puts out over 60hp, is veeery fast and stops just fine. I'm using them on my Cheney, Metisse and already have 'em on the Ducati and Cotton. They look pretty too!

[VMX247]

A vmx friend said this morning that his Rickman Montesa weight 96 kilos,nice weight I reckon.

[cappra]

Brakes on the Rickman were good, no complaints...

[mx250]

A vmx friend said this morning that his Rickman Montesa weight 96 kilos,nice weight I reckon.

As reliable as claimed weight are, Montesa claimed 96.6kg (213lbs) for the Cappra. If either weights are accurate, wet weight or dry weight, who's to know; but probably indicative and interesting.

http://dirtbike.off-road.com/dirtbike/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=332625

[VMX247]

A vmx friend said this morning that his Rickman Montesa weight 96 kilos,nice weight I reckon.

As reliable as claimed weight are, Montesa claimed 96.6kg (213lbs) for the Cappra. If either weights are accurate, wet weight or dry weight, who's to know; but probably indicative and interesting.

http://dirtbike.off-road.com/dirtbike/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=332625

Would it not be lighter than most other pre 75 bikes  Alot easier for me  too lift up off the track,if need be 

[JC]

Yeh, I've always found that gap weird too. As I recall some of the micro-mettises didn't have it - & look better to my mind as a result.

MX, I'm pretty sure that tap is OEM. Look like typical/common british taps of the era. Look exactly the same as on Dad's Villiers pump engines! They were horrid. Relied on cork cylinder inside to seal, which it usually didn't for long. Cork swelled, jammed etc. You get the idea

Regards, weight. In Oct 72 Dirt Bike rolled all the common dirtbikes straight out of the showroom floor & weighed them on a calibrated scale then published them. They didn't say if any had any fuel in the tanks, but the 72 Rickman Montesa weighed 228lbs. That surprises me cos Monty frames are heavy (My V75 frame & swingarm weighs 20kg) & one would think a specialty frame would be lighter.

VR engine maybe slightly lighter than 72 63M engine, but probably only by a kilo or so.

[Maicojames]

With an earlier engine, the Rickman Monty can be raced in "Classic" class in AHRMA, maybe similar in some VMX classes in Oz as well.

I am with you, the VR is a beauty and the Ricky looks like crap.

[firko]

Even though I'm a Rickman fan I have to admit that the Rickman Brothers got it all wrong with the Rickman Montesa. Maybe it's because it's a single downtube frame that's different to the usual twintube or maybe it's the heavy and ugly steel tank which  gives the bike a bulky look or maybe it's a combination of everything. Compare the ugly Rickman Monty to the beautiful DT1 Metisse or Betty. You can see where they got it wrong. It's kind of like when Ford went from the Classic Mustang shape of 69-70 to the ugly '71 and worse '72. It's taking a good design one step too far past the original concept or 'one toke over the line' to coin a phrase.

The VR on the other hand is gorgeous and I rate it as one of the three best looking motocross bikes of all time.
Having said that and ugliness aside, the Rickman is a good bloody bike, more than equal to anything in its class in '74. Today they're a good cheap intro into the world of custom framed bikes and make a great basis for a hybrid. I've seen them with Husky, XL Honda, CZ and T100 Triumph engines over the years. They look a hell of a lot better when the fugly steel MK4 tank is replaced by either a glass version or rounder MK3 bodywork, similar to what I'm doing with my Zundapp Rickman/DT1 project.

[JC]

Yeh,

I think the VR is a great looking bike too, except for the black guards. Look better w white guards & even silver frame. Have seen one w yellow guards which looked nice to, esp if one of the stripes on the tank is yellow