Guy Martin on the Britten at Manfeild - 23rd Dec 2014 

Mechanical Art! Exquiste!

@@scottyskydog Frankly, even if it weren't a functioning motorcycle (ie. a balsa wood mock-up), it would still qualify as art because of it's sheer beauty. The fact that it goes as good as it looks was never a consideration in my assessment...

.......if God had an engineering dept.......

iWonaMathDebate .. Yes Mate and you should be proud, you probably live in the best country in the world with all those amazing riders, when the late Great Robert Holden with Dave & Neville Hiscock raced in Oz you couldn't have haven't met nicer blokes or harder riders & the upshot these days is you guys don't have to leave what with your economy & the world comes to you. Pains me me a bit to say it but it's true

I'm even more biased Manfield is in the town where I was born 😃

Chur Bro

I just read about this ride in Martin's 2nd book.. He was very impressed.. he even said if he ever had a kid, he wouldn't let it ride anything on 2 wheels that had telescopic forks.. he said he'd build mountain bikes with the front end design of the Britten for it! Reason being any experienced rider can't get the most out of the strange feeling it gives but someone hat had only ever ridden this style of front end would be massively faster.. cos science!

I saw the one on that podium in the Wellington Museum! It is beautiful....

Shit why have I never heard of him or this bike. I better learn and do the man some justice. Honestly I thought this was a small manufacturer modern bike, it sounds so refined and the build quality looks great. I was expecting this to be along the lines of something like Suter where they're making a few track only bikes, I'm amazed that this thing has been around longer than I have.

No frame!

@@ihateeverything3972 Learn more about John, and you probably won't have to hate everything anymore :-)

@@shaftdrive7567 Motor == Frame.

@@ihateeverything3972 this bike is old enough to be my dad

Takes some doing :-)

He did, the "Recipe" for this, nothing like it before, nothing like it since. what a tragic loss of both man & machine.

He didn't build the entire thing by himself. Don't forget the team of volunteers and engineers behind the scenes working tirelessly to fulfil Joh's vision.

Same lol

I was fortunate enough to witness Andrew Stroud doing wheel stands down the straight at Ruapuna race track. Impressive to say the least. It has also appeared in the Isle of Man. Found that out today.

I was at Jurby too. It made those two Ducatis 851 and the 888 sound very limp wristed.

@@FITNESSOVER45 NO

Thank you!

My thoughts, exactly, Nate :-)

I was at Daytona too when it ran.

Totally agree. All handmade in a garage. Thid bike is worth 1million now.

You are most welcome. Glad you enjoyed the clip.

MrCpolzin Thanks!

TT Kiwis Mate,thank you.It was so nice to see the Britten bike again.Will or can it ever be reproduced ? I mean the bike is so awesome if made available for customers it could and probably would change the way all bikes are designed if not built.The thing is ridiculous.Its way more than just another bike.Is it possible without John ? There has to be a way doesn't there ? Cheers bro.

MrCpolzin Anything is possible, but since there are intellectual rights involved, it's not as simple as just copying (or reproducing commercially) the bike. Also, to compound issues, many of the original molds/drawings for the bike parts (bodywork and the like) were lost in the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011. As for other manufacturers using the ideas on the Britten, Ducati did (apparently) use some of the rear suspension ideas from the bike in some of their machines (this is only what I have been told - I am no expert in this area). It's kind of cool that the Britten stays unique, I think.

Bloody hell.What a story and turn of events.It's almost as if the universe ensured this bike's fate to stand alone,totally unique,so far ahead of all other bikes produced.You're right,that is really cool.The bike industry has so much catching up to do.I guess it's one of those things.It is what it is... Mate thank you for your response.The name Britten will always curl my smile a little and once again it is so lovely to see her in use.Warm wishes for you my brother.Col.

To be fair ,my old Yam XV1000 TR1-Roadster steering-head , bolts to the front-cylinder ...and Yamaha 'Borrowed' that (amongst other things ) directly from the Vincent . Not knocking his overall-genius though , his bike is living-proof of that : Art on Wheels . Dave NZ

This bike was created and handbuilt in a garage. Its worth 1million today.

Nice!

Wonderful to hear the interfacing between them after his ride. Great stuff.

Did not know of this bike so did a quick google around. Brilliant man whose life was so cruelly cut short. I wanted to get this book "Britten Motorcycles: The John Britten Sto", but sheesh, so very spendy. goo.gl/EZKjqG

Speed Triple & R1200GS Try this for an education my friend : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-m9N1gfLQ--k.html

Woot... found the documentary: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-s2yzOCM_KSM.html

Andrew is still very much pushing this bike at demonstrations

i’m a big fan of Stroudy but that’s not my recollection. Won? Yes! Flogged ‘em? No.

@@davidburne9477 - it was a genuine flogging

Brands Hatch might be the best illustration of what this bike was really about. Most will rave about the engine - and with good reason because John Britten built it himself in his garage - but Brands is as much a chassis circuit as anything else. You can’t just go there and win because you’ve got a strong motor. The Britten’s chassis was totally unique and Stroud’s descriptions from the era make it clear the chassis was every bit as special as the engine. There are pictures of him passing bikes at Paddock Hill Bend, FFS! Who passes _there?_ You can only do that if you have an exceptional machine.

Wynkin de Worde Having had the privilege of hanging around the Britten a little bit, I can tell you that the wheels are often a topic of discussion with riders and enthusiasts alike. Apparently the construction of the wheels is not as it would appear. The 'spokes' on the wheels are just 'covers' for the real load-bearing structure underneath (which I have not yet seen). At least that is what the owner and mechanic say..... But the whole thing is a real work of art.

Interesting.....

Just like I went to see my 2 hero's in '87, while he was at the top of his game in the US. Don't know if you've heard of him... BOB GLIDDEN and Oh, he won, and so did the red head... BILL ELLIOTT !!

The first time the Britten raced Daytona they had everything set except for a muffler. One of the mechanics went out and bought a can of beans. Opened the can presumably eating the beans, then poked a bunch of holes on the bottom and clamped it on the end of the exhaust pipe. It was said the tech judges might have felt sorry for them and let it pass tech anyway! Little did they know they were looking at genius pure genius! Not just John Britten but the whole lot of his friends that helped all along the way!

@@dk2614 I forgot to mention the LH means.... Left Hand.... q8) I mad a modification on my mates race bike mid race-day... He had a VFR400 and was hitting his foot on the ground cornering... His footpegs were 3 botl triangke mount so I think I moved them up to 2, rotating them... then flipped the gear leaver upside down so he had one up the rest down... Apparently it worked a treat... Same guy, different bike on a ride 200k away from home broke his throttle cable... It was a CBR250rr so had a return throttle cable... We disassembled the bike on the side of the road, swapped the cables over (of course they didn't fit) so... a piece of fence wire, duct tape and one of those half heart necklaces later... we reversed the throttle and he rode 200k home with a push-to-accelerate throttle. I was an IT tech back then, now a maintenance engineer.. go figure.

Thanks. It's amazing to me that a bike that was built in the early '90s still looks futuristic today.

TT Kiwis Yep, it's still got it and will have it for a lot longer to come, I reckon.

From what I've read his next motorsport project was a 6 valve supermono

+75IFFY Thanks, we're glad you enjoyed it.

I don’t know how you didn’t know about it. But better late than never. The front end lifting as it passed the Ducati at Donington is still just a chilling victorious sight.

He lives-on in modern-bikes, the Big Bike Manufacturers were 'All-Over' that bike with it's innovative-engineering . He definitely impacted bikes of Today. Dave NZ

he still alive ang kicking

@Ed Kemper ohh okay

@@Jmememomo He means John Britten, the maker of this bike. He died of cancer a few years after making it.