Métisse Motorcycles is a motorcycle

Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

 manufacturer based in Carswell near Faringdon

Faringdon

Faringdon is a market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. It is on the edge of the Thames Valley, between the River Thames and the Ridgeway...

, Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

, England. It has produced motorcycle frame

Motorcycle frame

A motorcycle frame includes the head tube that holds the front fork and allows it to pivot. Some motorcycles include the engine as a load-bearing, stressed member. The rear suspension is an integral component in the design. Traditionally frames have been steel, but titanium, aluminium, magnesium,...

 kits for British and American bike engine

Engine

An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert energy into useful mechanical motion. Heat engines, including internal combustion engines and external combustion engines burn a fuel to create heat which is then used to create motion...

s for over 40 years. Originally started by the Rickman

Rickman Motorcycles

Rickman Motorcycles was established by Derek and Don Rickman and manufactured motorcycles from 1960 through to 1975.Initially the frame designs were for scrambles, and then for road racing. Later, in 1966, road bikes were produced as well. The first street legal bike used a Triumph Bonneville engine...

 brothers to offer lightweight, strong frames and rolling chassis for competitive motocross

Motocross

Motocross is a form of motorcycle sport or all-terrain vehicle racing held on enclosed off road circuits. It evolved from trials, and was called scrambles, and later motocross, combining the French moto with cross-country...

 use.

Métisse are manufacturing a limited edition of 300 complete motorcycles, to be called the Steve McQueen Métisse Desert Racer, which are replicas of a motorcycle raced by actor Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen

Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...

 in 1966 and 1967.
McQueen's bike, which used a Métisse frame, was built by the actor and his friend, stuntman Bud Ekins

Bud Ekins

Bud Ekins was one of the foremost stuntmen of his generation. Born James Sherwin Ekins in Hollywood, California, he is known to most as the actor who jumped the fence on a disguised Triumph TR6 Trophy 650cc motorcycle in The Great Escape, and who drove the Ford Mustang 390 GT in Bullitt...

.

External links

• Métisse official site