Hardcore Biker
Just procrastinating over uni stuff and read a little on John Britten - did anyone on here know him or even better, work with him? Seems like he knew a little bit about bikes and I've seen the Britten V1000 in Te Papa. Any stories? And how do the bikes today stand up to what he produced?
Go on, help me divert myself from being productive today....
Hardcore Biker
One of his bikes is on display in Te Papa.
I touched it and went all gooey inside.
I hope this helps.
Deus ex ukulele
The late John Britten has had at least two biographies written about him. Get these out of your library and read them.
"Standing on your mother's corpse you told me that you'd wait forever." [Bryan Adams: Summer of 69]
Forum whore
His folks had an account at my dads garage and he used to fill various old cars and bikes there on their account. Him and his crowd were a little older than us, but my older brother was a contempary and met him at perties etc before he became well known. So - I've handed him a fuel pump nozzle.... I didnt know what he was going to become...
Forum whore
One never does know what the folks you bump into will become. I wish I'd gotten Russ Le Roq's autograph but it's a bit naff to ask some bloke in a pub band for his handle.
If a man is alone in the woods and there isn't a woke Hollywood around to call him racist, is he still white?
"channellling the Pleideans"
walk into casbolts on any given day and there will be at least one Britten there.Originally Posted by McFatty1000
I thought elections were decided by angry posts on social media. - F5 Dave
parting of the sensory
My wife used to work across the road from the Britten workshop in Christchurch, where they would wheel the bikes out onto the verge on fine days, and I saw the Brittens finish 1, 2 and 4 at the NZ GP - does that count?
... and that's what I think.
Or summat.
Or maybe not...
Dunno really....
Hardcore Biker
Yep, that counts I think, more a curiosity than anything and I'm slowly reading up on things - strange to think people from the same place you live doing that sort of thing...
Hardcore Biker
Was parking my car sometime late '91 I think in the Noahs Car park in ChCh, on about the 5th floor to meet my girlfriend after work for a drink and a meal. JB parked next to me in his cream early '70s Mercedes coupe - SL280 ?. We walked to the lift and I mentioned I was sorry about the bad luck with his Bike at Daytona, Battle of the twins when it dnf'd due to some $1 part failure.
He started talking, flat out and in animated terms and drawing diagrams with his hands as we walked for a few minutes, about what went wrong and how he knows what went wrong and what he's going to do and should have done etc. Sadly we got to the next intersection and he was going left and I was going right so that was the end of that. What a buzz though, and a privelage. Never bothered to shake his hand dammit.
Often you'd see him cruising around ChCh in his Merc, he bought a TVR after that, wonder where those cars are now ?
Hardcore Biker
John came round to F&P with a bike and Loren Poole some years ago. Did a talk with question time and other bits and bobs. I got to ask a question of him. I can't actually remember what my question was though! Doh.
Best bit was the demo in the driveway! I thought 'what's he going to be able to do in this wee space?'. Came round the corner near vertical hanging off the side at what seemed like 100mph! Legendary.
Do us all a favour, by bringing yourself up to speed, before pulling onto the motorway.
Forum whore
They did a photo shot of the britten and the rail bike in the warehouse beside my place when I was in ChCh. I got to sit on the Britten but was to big to get in the rail bike. They offered to take a shot of the Britten and my FZR1000 genesis together. By then I was dribbling to much to get the words yes out. My FZR wasnt all that flash anyway.
Does that count?
I have evolved as a KB member.Now nothing I say should be taken seriously.
Hardcore Biker
Not long after he got his TVR John bought it out to Ruapuna ofr a bit of driver training. (The late) Jason Richards was doing some instructing at the time so John and Jace set off to do some laps with Jason driving.
Jason drives the thing at 11/10ths as he was wont to do and cooks the brakes. He has what HE described as 'a bit of a moment' (Translation - I very nearly stuffed it in the wall at Turn 1) John meantime is telling anyone who will listen what a brilliant driver the young fella is and what awesone car control hes got and what a bright future he'll have.
So he was right but for the wrong reason.
The guys used run the bikes out of the Crawford building to get out of the sun and wind in those pre pit garage days. Occasionally they'd leave the bike overnight and maybe even over a weekend on one occasion.
If I'm honest because they were right there and the guys were so down to earth we took it all a bit for granted. For sure it was a cool bike and we respected what they were attempting but we never realised how cool and how big the achievment.
Stroudy used to entertain us at the end of days play by pulling wheelies the length of the straight.
A fella I used to work with gave me an old photo the other day of me sitting on the Brittan beside the pit wall
I remember asking if I could and the guys were like 'Sure, whatever'
"I don't like it, and I'm sorry I ever had anything to do with it." -- Erwin Schrodinger talking about quantum mechanics.
PRS 27 User
You may be interested in some of the Utube video about John Britten which is available eg:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM_aNwaodd4
There was a NZ doco made about him - "One Man's Dream" I think.
Probably available through libraries still. cheers
Fairytales are the domain of infants ... Dreams are the stuff of progress.
Hardcore Biker
Here you go:
http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/35033...ten_Bike_Story
Geriatric hoon
I'm not sure that was actually bad luck - or a $1.00 part.
These days when a GP bike DNFs the PR people usually describe it as an electrical fault. This might actually mean that the piston had hit the spark plug.
It seems john was also aware of the possibilities of blaming an electrical component, one conveniently made by somebody else.
From memory his biography contains another explanation entirely for that DNF. Guess y'all will have to read the book
There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop
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