Ultimate test: Britten vs Ducati

**slowpoke** · 24th March 2009, 19:06

It's amazing that at the time the Britten was seen as an impossibly exotic creation that was incredibly fast, with a hand crafted price tag to match. To many the V1100 is still seen as the ultimate twin or even the ultimate motorcycle.

Fast forward 17 years and you can now buy a similar capacity twin that makes at least as much power straight off the shop floor complete with lights, starter motor, long service intervals etc and all the road niceties the Britten didn't have, for just a fraction of the price.

Hmmmm just imagine the track test to end all track tests: 1098S Ducati vs Britten V1100. (Hey Shaun, what are you doing on Saturday.....?)

Why am I thinking about this now? 10 years ago this month a Britten won the Daytona Sound of Thunder.

**piston broke** · 24th March 2009, 19:34

yep,
imagine if the britten had another 10 years development,it would be wicked.as if it wasn't,isn't.
rip brit.

ed

ops 17 years.time douth fly

**inorganic** · 24th March 2009, 20:05

Unfair contest really... Ducati is an industry with tens of thousands of fast reliable superbikes sold every year... Britten was one mans dream ... a fine dream .. but unreliable and overpriced has no future.. hang on ....that was Ducati for a quite a while

**wbks** · 24th March 2009, 20:33

Well besides the fact that it was a varying group of dedicated specialists against a billion dollar bike factory, the age difference is a little screwy... Rewind to an old enough IOM race bike and I bet my 250 could clean it up. Would have been cool to see another X years development on the britten and then compare it to a modern 1098.

I got told that ducati learned a thing or two of the britten and incorperated it into their bikes so it might not be so different but on the other hand, a guy who doesn't need to release a certain number of bikes to last for years at a limited price available to most people is more free in options for experimenting with bold ideas, with his income of money. Nothing compared to ducati's, but enough.

**JimO** · 24th March 2009, 20:49

why didnt the factory keep making bikes after John Britten Died

**inorganic** · 24th March 2009, 20:52

To produce a saleable workable reliable fixable Britten would have required $50 million... any takers?

**piston broke** · 24th March 2009, 20:55

Originally Posted by jimjim

why didnt the factory keep making bikes after John Britten Died

cause,it wasn't a factory.
just one man's dream that with help,it was turned into reality.jmo

to all involved

**JimO** · 24th March 2009, 20:59

well i think you will find towards the end they had a factory with a few guys working there

**piston broke** · 24th March 2009, 21:05

Originally Posted by jimjim

well i think you will find towards the end they had a factory with a few guys working there

compared to duc,or any of the others?

**JimO** · 24th March 2009, 21:17

Originally Posted by piston broke

compared to duc,or any of the others?

course not, but they still had and still have a factory, britten made the bikes used in the fastest indian movie

**piston broke** · 24th March 2009, 21:24

Originally Posted by jimjim

course not, but they still had and still have a factory, britten made the bikes used in the fastest indian movie

great stuff,
so are they still making a brit?
p.s i want one(tho gotta win looto first)

**Toot Toot** · 24th March 2009, 22:41

I dunno what you all are on about. The Britten clearly dominated the Ducatis on the day by wheelying past them at Daytona. End of story. No more what if's.. it was done and dusted.

Thankyou John Britten and Andrew Stroud.

**LBD** · 25th March 2009, 02:34

Be good to see a comparison today not a shoot out best bike , performance, handling comparison, because time and tide and commerce and technology have moved on.

But comparing charac..carach....personality, balls to ride, soul, feelin, the lasting impressions after the ride type comparison...

**jim.cox** · 25th March 2009, 08:27

Originally Posted by Toot Toot

I dunno what you all are on about. The Britten clearly dominated the Ducatis on the day by wheelying past them at Daytona. .

And at Manfield

As witnessed by a large and cheering WSB audience

**vifferman** · 25th March 2009, 09:13

Originally Posted by jimjim

well i think you will find towards the end they had a factory with a few guys working there

Yup, my wife worked across the road from it when we lived in Chch. On fine days, they'd wheel all the bikes out and sit them in front of the building.

There were some innovative things on the Britten, which have since become more commonplace, like EFI/ECU mappable via a laptop, use of CF for body parts, CF wheels, underseat radiator (Benelli), ram air induction, the front suspension (used before by ELF, but never really perfected) that prevented dive under braking (they actually had to adjust it to add some in), the shock under the engine (Buell), etc etc. To see SO many innovative things on a bike together, and working well in concert was amazing. Yes, the power-to-weight ratio is nothing special now, but then if Britten hadn't died, I'm sure more development would've gained some horsies.