Not many motorcycle manufacturers can claim to have an international champion in their ranks, but at Savic Motorcycles we’re extremely fortunate to have one of Australia’s most accomplished riders on our development team.
Since 2020, the C-Series suspension has been developed under the watchful eye of Jed Metcher, who was one of Australia’s most successful moto-exports in the early 2010s – famously taking out the European Superstock Championship at first go in 2011.
Today, the smooth handling, safe cornering, and confidence-building stability of the C-Series all owe a debt of gratitude to Jed, whose close supervision has helped us perfect the optimal suspension solution for our unique motorbike.
Melbourne-born Jed was always destined for a career in motorcycling. After learning to ride on the family farm, he progressed to MiniGP at the South Morang Go-Kart Track aged 10, and then on to 80cc 2-strokes at Broadford.
From 16, he spent three years racing a Honda RS125R in the Australian 125 Championship – rising from 8th place in 2006 to 3rd in 2008. He ended 2008 with a wildcard entry to the World 125s, finishing 20th in the Phillip Island MotoGP on a bike his father Mal built in his garage.
After a successful Queensland round of the 2009 Supersport Championship, Jed was approached by a German Superbike team with a proposal to ride a Honda CBR1000RR in the legendary IDM Championship. His first year in Superbikes was a tough one, but it brought Jed to the attention of the big end of town – and a wildcard race in the south of France.
Signed up by the Yamaha-supported team, Jed won his very first race in the Superstock 600 class at Magny-Cours in October 2010, and was signed up to race in the European Superstock Championship in 2011 – where he was an instant success, taking out the Championship at his first go with two wins and seven podium finishes.
The call of home
Over the next two years, Jed finished 14th in the 2012 Supersport World Championship on a Yamaha R6 and 4th in the 2013 IDM Championship on a Suzuki GSX-R600. But the call of home was growing louder, and in 2014 he returned to Melbourne to build his own Superbike team.
Back home, Jed helped to set up a company called Race Center, which as well as servicing racing bikes specialises in building world-class suspension systems – skills we’re now benefitting from at Savic Motorcycles.
Despite a major crash in 2014, Jed continued racing in the Australian Superbike Championship, taking a win in Race 2 as well as the Harvie Wiltshire Memorial Trophy at Phillip Island. In 2015, he briefly returned to the international circuit, but a series of crashes forced him to reconsider, and in 2016, he returned to Australia and Race Center – where he resumed race builds and suspension sales.
Soon after, Jed formed his own company, Metcher Motorsports, which specialises in racing suspensions, and also established his own Yamaha race team with Caleb Gilmore and Ty Lynch. The team had some early success in the Superbikes and Supersport competitions, although the COVID pandemic ultimately split them up.
In early 2020, Jed was introduced to Dennis by our assembly technician, Adam Wilson, and the rest – as they say – is history.
Jed says the Savic team has completely won him over with their commitment to designing a high-performance motorcycle that unequivocally prioritises stability and safety.
“If you really love something it totally engulfs you, and that’s what’s happened with these guys,” says Jed. “They all share Dennis’s dream to build a bike that everyone will want to ride, and they know that the suspension is one of the most important things to keep riders safe and comfortable.”
Since 2020, Jed has spent countless hours testing and tweaking the C-Series suspension, and says that when they came to the road tests on Yarra Boulevard, he knew they were winning the war.
“There are a lot of famous road bikes that don’t have the handling and stability of the C-Series,” he says. “I’m now confident that our suspension is going to be better than many of our competitors.”
For an in-depth look at Jed's pivotal role at Savic Motorcycles and his fascinating journey, explore our dedicated blog post: