Britten

[John in Leeds]

Worth a look again just for the true inspiration

 

John Britten story

[GuzziMoto]

I met him at Daytona back in '94 I believe. We were racing in the AHRMA BOTT races together (he as an owner/creator, me as a racer). What impressed me the most was that while he was clearly brilliant and much smarter then I, he talked to me about his bike and what he had planned for the future with it in a manner that made you feel like an equal part of the conversation. He did not talk down to you as some smart people do. You felt like an equal, even though you knew you weren't.

Going through the tri-oval on my 750, Andrew Stroud came by on the Britten. I thought it was going to be cool to watch it go through the infield (since I was on the track at the same time most of the time, I did not get to see much of it in action that year), but by time I got through turn one it was gone.

Amazing.

[John in Leeds]

I met him at Daytona back in '94 I believe. We were racing in the AHRMA BOTT races together (he as an owner/creator, me as a racer). What impressed me the most was that while he was clearly brilliant and much smarter then I, he talked to me about his bike and what he had planned for the future with it in a manner that made you feel like an equal part of the conversation. He did not talk down to you as some smart people do. You felt like an equal, even though you knew you weren't.

Going through the tri-oval on my 750, Andrew Stroud came by on the Britten. I thought it was going to be cool to watch it go through the infield (since I was on the track at the same time most of the time, I did not get to see much of it in action that year), but by time I got through turn one it was gone.

Amazing.

 

A very special man leaving a memory to treasure, thanks for sharing.

[DeBenGuzzi]

I can't thank you enough for that link, I had never seen anything outside of blurbs about the man and his vision and now I know that he was not only 20 years ahead of his time he was at least 50 years ahead of his time, outside of small run hand built basically one off motorcycles they still don't build them like britten, there is maybe only one person on the whole planet that visonary each generation and he was cut down way before his time. I also can't help but laugh that he was cut down from his true cinderella story by two of the very few parts he didn't actually make. and he was drinking a budwesier, thats my man

[dabore84]

I also can't help but laugh that he was cut down from his true cinderella story by two of the very few parts he didn't actually make. and he was drinking a budwesier, thats my man

 

Can you believe the irony in that? Brilliant man. Also a funny part, when he was strain hardening a part of the engine he didn't have enough water. "going to the pool!"

[Dan M]

Worth a look again just for the true inspiration

 

Inspiration sure, what about hero worship?

 

Thanks John, great video.

[Steve G.]

I've got this video.

I was at the IOM TT in '94 when he brought 2 bikes. It was early in practice week when we were walking through Douglas, beer in hand, when a booming sound was getting closer. It was the rider, a helmetless Nick Jeffries, riding this beast down the middle of this pedestrian only street, with John running behind with a bike stand. they pulled up right beside us, they were setting the bike up at a promnotional demo for the afternoon [i think it was an Addiddas outlet]. We knew well about the bike, as it had been raced/tested for a year on the west coast of Canada, at the old Westwood track, by fellow Kiwi Gary Goodfellow, who lived in Vancouver at the time, and raced Canadian Superbike series. We knew the legend, the man, and we knew we were experiencing history. Even if the IOM turned into a tragedy with the loss of rider Mark Farmer the very next day, it was a fortnight I will never forget!!

Steve

[Orson]

Worth a look again just for the true inspiration

 

John Britten story

Thanks for the link.

 

I didn't know about the work he did on his house.

 

The guy accomplished more in his 40 some years than I will if I live to be 120.

[Skeeve]

Even if the IOM turned into a tragedy with the loss of rider Mark Farmer the very next day, it was a fortnight I will never forget!!

 

Too bad it was a preventable loss precipitated by Britten's refusal to build new, stiffer swingarms [which the team did eventually.]

 

*Every* motorcyclist should read the authorized Britten biography; it's really very even handed, bringing to light some of his flaws as well as his genius [which was not in the motorcycle design area as some might suspect. Team effort there...] A very good read.