A John Britten Thread - Page 3

Monstaman · #41 (**permalink**) 05-02-2007, 10:32 PM

Carburator that needed to be turned on its side to make room so a billet 90 degree fuel bowl adapter was made to retain the fuel bowl and jetting.

Monstaman · #42 (**permalink**) 05-02-2007, 10:34 PM

Front oil sump close-up

ducxl · #43 (**permalink**) 05-02-2007, 11:46 PM

WOW,thanks for the engine pictures! I NEVER knew it was an aircooled engine.John(John?)was very resourceful.Too bad his candle burnt out

.

Of course there are much more advanced designs today,and i'll not detract from a truly great man.Also,didn't some of the early CF wheels fail? That technology has come a long way as well,he was a visionary...

Monstaman · #44 (**permalink**) 05-02-2007, 11:55 PM

Early forks, early wheels etc, Chris Haldane biffed due to the forks snapping and I think a broken collar bone was the result

Trial and error was a lot to do with a man pushing the boundaries to the max and beyond.

PSk · #45 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 12:08 AM

Okay I need a history lesson

, please.

What is the reference to Denco?

The Aero is not the V1000 is it? I assume thus there was a Britten bike before the V1000 then. TV shows never discussed that one.

The V1000 is water cooled, I have seen the engine castings in a bike show and most definitely water cooled, and in the #1 pics you can see the under seat radiator.

Pete
ps: Note John patented his way of laying carbon fibre, and also patented some new building wall structure ... very clever engineer!

ducxl · #46 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 12:15 AM

"The V1000 is water cooled, I have seen the engine castings in a bike show and most definitely water cooled"

Ahhh-haaa,i remember the smooth cylinders with the cast in "Britten" along the cylinder.So what's up with the bike Andi posted and how does it relate to the V-1000?

**thorsten** · #47 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 12:17 AM

I've always admired John Brittens works from the beginning .
And now , 10 years later I know what I admired .
Not the Bike itself .
But his thinking , which was not ordinary , and lead into a Bike like this.

Ducman851 · #48 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 12:49 AM

Heres a neat history on the Aero bikes.

Britten Motorcycle Company

sburns2421 · #49 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ducxl

WOW,thanks for the engine pictures! I NEVER knew it was an aircooled engine.John(John?)was very resourceful.Too bad his candle burnt out

.

Of course there are much more advanced designs today,and i'll not detract from a truly great man.Also,didn't some of the early CF wheels fail? That technology has come a long way as well,he was a visionary...

At the IOM (1995?) a rider was killed on a Britten when the CF rear wheel failed.

sburns2421 · #50 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 01:00 AM

Are there any pictures of the immediate predecessor to the V1000? It was profiled in 1991 in Cycle World and had conventional forks with a liquid-cooled engine.

http://www.britten.co.nz/photos/images/sot2003c.jpg

stk0308 · #51 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sburns2421

Actually I was was thinking that there must be engineering drawings for most of the hard parts for the bike's design. Imagine another builder teaming with the Britten family to produce a series of recreations. Making another 25 bikes, for example, wouldn't really diminish the real V1000's, but allow well-heeled enthusiasts a chance to get their hands on one.

My guess is that most of the current owners of the 10 bikes would also buy a recreation for track use, if for nothing but keeping the real bike out of harm's way.

While it would also probably never happen, imagine a manufacturer teaming up with Britten family to produce a bike inspired by the original bikes, only with fiberglass bodywork and aluminum wheels and suspension arms. Designing an engine which passes emissions would be expensive but not impossible to keep the overall design architecture of the bike.

Oh I agree, some regular runners would be awesome. I cringed when there was word years ago that the Britten engine was supposed to be slated for use in the reserection of Indian

I'm so glad that died quietly.

So much of what John did was one off that it's really hard to reproduce without the dedication he had to it. As I understand the family is VERY picky about who does anything with the existing bikes, I can't imagine how picky they are about continuations of John's work. I read once that they were sitting on drawings and a partial prototype of a new single he was working on when he died. Typical mad genius, he didn't leave enough notes behind to outline his intention, and it's beyond many who have looked at trying to finish it. Such was the mans work. That's why I love it, lol

Then again I'm one who just salivates at the ideas of an updated Norton 588 too

PSk · #52 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sburns2421

At the IOM (1995?) a rider was killed on a Britten when the CF rear wheel failed.

Not true I believe. I watched the TV special that was showed in New Zealand and John stated clearly that if it was caused by any part of his bike he would have immediately stopped!

The crash was caused by a rider mistake as he was trying to hang with a faster class bike. Sad yes but it is important that the rumour that the wheel failed is halted.

Pete

MHe225 · #53 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 01:50 AM

You are a lucky stinker, Andi. Thanks for sharing these pics

The Britten is one of my all-time favorites; too bad I missed it that year JohnB (?) raced in Assen

Did you get to hear the bike? Ducati's whisper in comparison

RonB

ryanr256 · #54 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 02:49 AM

Here are some pics of the Britten at Barber. They were taken during the 2006 Vintage Festival.

-Bob

ryanr256 · #55 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 02:49 AM

Final two:

-Bob

Ducman851 · #56 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sburns2421

At the IOM (1995?) a rider was killed on a Britten when the CF rear wheel failed.

Actually it was 1994 and the rider was Mark Farmer, happened in practice.

PSk · #57 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ducman851

Quote:

Originally Posted by sburns2421

At the IOM (1995?) a rider was killed on a Britten when the CF rear wheel failed.

Actually it was 1994 and the rider was Mark Farmer, happened in practice.

Again the TV footage that New Zealanders saw was recorded live. John was extremely upset and made the statement that if it was his bikes fault in any way that he would not make or campaign ever again.

While he was not happy it was confirmed to him (within minutes of the accident) that Mark had lost the bike and the wheel broke when the bike hit the curb AFTER Mark had unfortunately lost it.

It must have upset John considerably that all over the media, internet the rumours persisted that his bike broke and resulted in the death of a person, but they went back in 1996 I think.
Pete

soslow · #58 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 09:52 AM

I have some Aussie magazines from the 80s and 90s that have articles about the Brittens, but there must be some good info on the internet somewhere.

The British MV replicas are/were built by Dave Kay and his son Mark.

George Beale, in England somewhere I think, has built replicas of classic British racing singles, Benelli GP fours and at least one Honda GP multi-cylinder bike; extremely expensive.

Honda RC174 Six Motorcycyle - Motorcyclist Magazine

MVRC51 · #59 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 01:52 PM

Thanks for starting this thread, Andi!

The pics, are they taken in the BMC basement?

Vandal996 · #60 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 01:58 PM

I can't believe you sat on it. Lucky bastard! I hope none of your bad luck rubbed off on it. If it blows up and burns down half of the country we know who to blame!

Did you pull the trigger on that Guzzi?

Chris