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The Britten V1000
21
Nov
Nov
The story of this man and the motorcycle he made in his garage is inspiring to say the least. Watch the documentary below, time well spent.
The Britten V1000 is a handbuilt race motorcycle designed and built by John Britten and a group of friends in Christchurch, New Zealand during the early 1990s. The bike went on to win the Battle of the Twins in Daytona International Speedway’s Daytona Bike Week festivities in the United States and set a number of world speed records. The bike was designed from first principles and hosts a number of innovations including extensive use of carbon fibre, the radiator located under the seat, double wishbone front suspension, frameless chassis and engine data logging. A total of 10 Britten V1000s were produced by the Britten Motorcycle Company and now exist in collections and museums around the world. Renowned motorcycle journalist Alan Cathcart said of the bike: “It’s an easy bike to ride, in the sense it’s got a very wide power delivery, but to really get top performance, you have to ride it like a grand prix bike.” And having ridden all the superbike contenders in the world today, I can say that the Britten is the closest to a grand prix bike. It’s incredibly ironic that instead of Europe or Japan, the most sophisticated and technically advanced motorcycle in the world comes from New Zealand. ~ Via WIKIPEDIA