Where is John Brittens Ducati

[lozz900]

Who knows the whereabouts of John Brittens pre Aero ducati racebike ?. Tim Hannas book makes several mentions of it, yet I can find no recent photos or information..
Is this it ?

[lozz900]

This unrestored collection of parts has stayed together over the course of time because legend has it contains what remains of John Brittens ducati race bike, as mentioned on a number of occasions in Tim Hannas book about John.
It was raced at club level concurrent with the triumph tiger, the later part of that period, but pre Aero.
The paint is original and almost as expected considering how strongly reds and blues featured on Johns later bikes., The headers and muffler look to be an early evolution. It has the remains of a monoshock rear suspension experiment, no surprise there either as the aero bikes were underslung and the lesson had already been learned. The tank is a masterclass in fiberglassing, The MHR tailpiece shape bears resemblance to the later Aero tailpiece. To look at, I see what could be the beginning of the Britten evolution.
Does anyone have any pictures or information that could clarify the whereabouts or identity of John's Brittens pre Aero ducati racebike? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[husaberg]

This unrestored collection of parts has stayed together over the course of time because legend has it contains what remains of John Brittens ducati race bike, as mentioned on a number of occasions in Tim Hannas book about John.
It was raced at club level concurrent with the triumph tiger, the later part of that period, but pre Aero.
The paint is original and almost as expected considering how strongly reds and blues featured on Johns later bikes., The headers and muffler look to be an early evolution. It has the remains of a monoshock rear suspension experiment, no surprise there either as the aero bikes were underslung and the lesson had already been learned. The tank is a masterclass in fiberglassing, The MHR tailpiece shape bears resemblance to the later Aero tailpiece. To look at, I see what could be the beginning of the Britten evolution.
Does anyone have any pictures or information that could clarify the whereabouts or identity of John's Brittens pre Aero ducati racebike? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
pretty sure i have some pics.

or here is a video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJIKTaB25mE

but in the comments is a comment from John Ladbrook who says he has the bike?

https://www.facebook.com/pg/John-Ladbrook-Snr-Motorcycle-Racing-546196785411562/about/?ref=page_internal

here is a smuggy pic of John on the original bike
349052

According to the Felicity Price book in between 1980 and 1983 John had three Ducatis
before they built the aero's
i would track down Tony Friel and Mike Bronson who had Ducatis with John in that period.
Mike of course was the other half of Britten motorcycles.
i have a photo of All three on the road Duatis they imported from Aus. but they are std road Ducatis so its a waste of time posting the photo.

[lozz900]

pretty sure i have some pics.

or here is a video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJIKTaB25mE

but in the comments is a comment from John Ladbrook who says he has the bike?

https://www.facebook.com/pg/John-Ladbrook-Snr-Motorcycle-Racing-546196785411562/about/?ref=page_internal

here is a smuggy pic of John on the original bike
349052

According to the Felicity Price book in between 1980 and 1983 John had three Ducatis
before they built the aero's
i would track down Tony Friel and Mike Bronson who had Ducatis with John in that period.
Mike of course was the other half of Britten motorcycles.
i have a photo of All three on the road Duatis they imported from Aus. but they are std road Ducatis so its a waste of time posting the photo.

Yes there is talk of 3 ducatis, one got onsold reasonably quickly,
I dont know if the streetbike and the race bike were the same bike or if the ownership overlapped on any of them.
The pic could be sd, gts or ss framed, you can't see on that pic.

[husaberg]

Yes there is talk of 3 ducatis, one got onsold reasonably quickly,
I dont know if the streetbike and the race bike were the same bike or if the ownership overlapped on any of them.
The pic could be sd, gts or ss framed, you can't see on that pic.

i will post the pic i have of the imported three bikes, they started with but good luck.
The story goes they imported them from OZ but undervalued them to avoid the duty and got caught and had to pay the duty plus a fine.

edit its was rolland logan who had the third Ducati imported in the blurb but tony friel had one also.
Tony pictured midle and mike right, john left
349076

[lozz900]

i will post the pic i have of the imported three bikes, they started with but good luck.
The story goes they imported them brand new from OZ to avoid the duty and got caught and had to pay the duty plus a fine.
The story with this one is that it it remained in Christchurch for a few years, then 20 years in Australia then back in nz for the last 7-8 , I'm specifically talking about the frame, swingarm, bodywork,exhaust and maybe the rear wheel/brake assembly.
The front end, motor and rear end support I chucked on to make it stand up and look like a bike.
Do you know what models he had ?
My understanding was there was more than one round of importing, the last one was the one they got busted on.

[Grumph]

Mike Brosnan is still around ChCh. Rob Selby or Alan Wylie at Auto Restorations in ChCh could probably supply contact details.

Until you speak to the guys who were actually there at the time, it's pure speculation.

I can supply a story about one of the three red Darmah's though. A mate and i decided to head out to the track with a couple of bikes on his trailer.
Greg Atkinson said he'd come too and loaded a borrowed Darmah on...We all had a ride on it at the track and it went quite well.
On the way home taking a shortcut through Bromley, a tiedown holding it on broke followed by others....i caught a glimpse of it somersaulting off the road.
Anyway, it took Greg A about 18months to get it straight again. Not a problem as i understand the owner was overseas. Probably, looking at the dates, it was
owned by Colin Dodge at the time.

[lozz900]

Until you speak to the guys who were actually there at the time, it's pure speculation..

Your absolutely right, I'm hoping to turn up something on here to convince myself if its worth bothering these guys.
I brought it to part out but thought I'd better check off the story first.

[husaberg]

Your absolutely right, I'm hoping to turn up something on here to convince myself if its worth bothering these guys.
I brought it to part out but thought I'd better check off the story first.
i would send a picture to Lindsay Williamson and Mike Brosnan.
the pisc are the only ones i have sorry.
349077349078

I only know whats on the net or in the books i was still at primary school.
the other obvious person is john Ladbrook
looking at the pics the john bike has closed spoke wheels the middle one has thesame as the race bike and your bike and the one on the right has wire spoked wheels

[lozz900]

i would send a picture to Lindsay Williamson and Mike Brosnan.
the pisc are the only ones i have sorry.
349077349078
Thanking you good sir .

[Grumph]

Your absolutely right, I'm hoping to turn up something on here to convince myself if its worth bothering these guys.
I brought it to part out but thought I'd better check off the story first.

You won't get confirmation one way or t'other on here. None of the guys concerned come here.
A couple of days spent in ChCh armed with photos would sort it.

[lozz900]

You won't get confirmation one way or t'other on here. None of the guys concerned come here.
A couple of days spent in ChCh armed with photos would sort it. Agree, If there's any truth to the story then then it hasn't been seen publicly for 30 years . Theres some wisdom on here though, Is it worth pursuing do you think? Is there any glaring holes in the theory ? To me it has a few interesting points about it.

[Grumph]

I still think it's a generic BEARS Ducati. One of the guys named - or Graham Harris - should recognise it.

[lozz900]

I still think it's a generic BEARS Ducati. One of the guys named - or Graham Harris - should recognise it. yea, you could be well right. Were there many circulating in the day ? There might be more than I thought, The Christchurch clan imported quite a number it seems