Rare Rickman

John Burton poses with his Velocette-engined RickmanMetisse scrambler,which, alas,wasn't the success it was hoped to be.

ohn ' Burly' Burton, son of pre-Second World War speedway ace Cyril 'Squib' Burton

(Squib himself being well over 6ft, he was no squib at all, but a childhood nickname stuck) started scrambling when a teenager in the early 1950s, success coming his way, generally on his much-loved BSA Gold Stars.

As a big man the Goldies suited him perfectly, and his manhandling them around the tracks of

Britain and Europe earned him a reputation as a ferocious competitor.

But come the early 1960s, BSAhad decided that the days of the big, hefty singles were over, and instead was concentrating on the lightweight, unit models, which weren't really John's cup of tea. So what to do?

Well, after he'd ridden a Rickman Triumph in New Zealand, the decision was taken to use one of Don and Derek's frames - and house a Velocette Venom engine in it, enabling Big John to stick with a big single.

Unfortunately it wasn't the success it was hoped it would be. John rode it at Leighton on a freezing cold day in 1964 in front of the TV cameras, and a couple more times, but ' really didn't get on with it' so switched to a Matchless-powered Metisse, more to his liking, then a Triumph twin engined one, which he enjoyed. Funny, that a man who'd made his name on torque big singles, revelled in the revvy Triumph twin's nature.

And what ofVelocette engines in Metisse frames? Well, there have been several, off-road, on-road and in road racing. In 1967, Velocette arch enthusiast and ex-TT racer Ralph Seymour housed his 1939 Mk.VIII KTT engine, and ex-works five-speed gearbox, in a Rickman frame.

This wonderful-looking device led to a call for replicas, which Seymour duly built, though now with 500cc Venom engines. They worked splendidly; Fred Walton finished 19th in the 1973 Senior TT at 89.56mph (and one place ahead of Nigel Rollason on the Tomkinson BSA, another pushrod two-valve single, this one based on the unit construction BS0) against a plethora of pukka, younger, often two-stroke racers. It wasn't a one-off either; Walton and the Velo Metisse recorded several good place finishes in the Isle of Man.

Ralph Seymour wasn't into ' going into production' and instead built a steady stream of his handsome specials, which, incidentally, received the blessing of Bertie and Peter Goodman ofVelocette, after they'd examined the finished product. It's reckoned less than 30, roadsters and racers, were all that was made.

'-A big man, large capacity singles suited Burton

perfectly, and his on-track manhandling of Goldies at home and abroad had earned him a

reputation as aferocious competitor."