The Britten V1000/1100 - What happened?

**R6_kid:Me** · 12th February 2011, 20:49

I'm sure everyone is familiar with the bike, the man, and the success that was gained in the time that John was alive. There is a lot of information out there about what happened while John was still alive but very little (if any) about what happened with the company and the bikes development afterwards.

I've read that there were plans to make it into a production road bike, plans for more racebikes and development, but all I can find currently is that they are selling memorabilia and that is the end of it.

Does anyone know definitively what happened, or if there is a reason any of the plans mentioned above didn't got ahead. It really seems a shame that all that hard work and forward thinking has been consigned to history rather than continuing the legacy and producing something amazing to compete in the modern era.

It would seem that now is the best time for a such a company/team to exist in NZ with both Moto2 and MotoGP opening up to privateer teams - even if the buy in is still rather high.

**ac3_snow** · 12th February 2011, 21:03

Am I correct in thinking that Britten came up with the idea of a horizontally mounted monoshock?

**Kickaha** · 12th February 2011, 21:18

Originally Posted by ac3_snow

Am I correct in thinking that Britten came up with the idea of a horizontally mounted monoshock?

The RZ500 had it in 1984 one year before the Aero Brittens were started,that's the first bike I can think of that had one, I'm sure there will be others

**StoneY** · 12th February 2011, 21:21

Originally Posted by Kickaha

The RZ500 had it in 1984 one year before the Aero Brittens were started,that's the first bike I can think of that had one, I'm sure there will be others

Pretty sure the Harley Davidson Softail series were the first production machines with this system, one of the few things I know about HD's.

1982
http://www.ehow.com/about_5365474_hi...n-softail.html

**Yow Ling** · 12th February 2011, 21:21

kr250 had one too, not much new under the sun

**BMWST?** · 12th February 2011, 21:52

the plastic fantastic has a horizontal rear shock

**StoneY** · 12th February 2011, 21:54

Originally Posted by BMWST?

the plastic fantastic has a horizontal rear shock

Not totally tho is it? Thought its a slight angle upward at the engine end?

**riffer** · 12th February 2011, 21:56

It did last time I saw it (about six months ago).

**trustme** · 13th February 2011, 06:54

If you want to know why the whole thing died read the Tim Hanna book. In a nut shell there were people wanting to carry on but the Family Trust & the way John set up his estate made that very difficult.
During a recent visit to the little museum the ladies said it could b4e started up if an equity partner could be found to plow in large quantities of cash. Not very likely

**bistard** · 13th February 2011, 10:18

Yess the Tim Hannah book goes into a lot of detail & is a good read,my understanding is that the Britten Company now makes prosthetic limbs
There were also rumors of some plans for a single cylinder dirt bike

**R6_kid:Me** · 13th February 2011, 14:18

I'm currently reading the Tim Hanna book but I've had to stop about half way through due to study and work commitments.

It really would be a shame if it was legal red tape and hurt feelings that prevented the bike from realising its full potential.

**fuknKIWI** · 13th February 2011, 15:36

If my memory is correct his company has produced prosthetic limbs, & made the (Pantah based) replica bike for the movie; The Worlds Fastest Indian.

**trustme** · 13th February 2011, 16:47

No red tape. Those with a controlling interest starved the company of funds. A 6 speed box & from memory a slipper clutch were the next step but the estate would not agree to the expenditure.
The bike company had to buy it's machinery from the estate as John personally owned the equipment. The real value was in the intellectual property, patents & licences all of which were in Johns name & transferred to the estate which also caused an amount of ill will . The company had no assets & was cash poor although they did get it trading profitably after John died while they worked towards finishing the 10 bikes. Once they were completed it was pretty much all down hill.

**GD66** · 13th February 2011, 18:50

It seemed the frenetic pace of designing, building and racing the bikes all at the one time sucked the optimism/enthusiasm out of those involved. This when coupled with the at-times questionable way Britten dealt with people both close and at arms length served to rule a line under any real probability of development continuing after he'd gone.
Make no mistake, in spite of the team image portrayed, the Britten race project only ever had a solitary figurehead with one focus.
Impressive though the bikes were, Tim's book reveals the cost the concept took in terms of personal dealings between Britten and his contemporaries.

**fuknKIWI** · 13th February 2011, 19:06

Originally Posted by GD66

It seemed the frenetic pace of designing, building and racing the bikes all at the one time sucked the optimism/enthusiasm out of those involved. This when coupled with the at-times questionable way Britten dealt with people both close and at arms length served to rule a line under any real probability of development continuing after he'd gone.
Make no mistake, in spite of the team image portrayed, the Britten race project only ever had a solitary figurehead with one focus.
Impressive though the bikes were, Tim's book reveals the cost the concept took in terms of personal dealings between Britten and his contemporaries.

Tactfully said Sir, & true too I believe.