John Britten was a revolutionary motorcycle designer whose home-brewed machine won international praise with its stunning design and performance. The 300+ km/h blur of speed, the smell of burning rubber and the distinctive roar of the Britten V1000 motorcycle linger over the tarmac of kiwi myth and the world of motorcycle design. The prototype engine was baked in a backyard kiln and the shell modelled with No. 8 fencing wire and a glue gun.
As a child Britten built go-carts out of disused packing. Mucking around with old engines Britten and his mate Bruce Garrick stripped them apart, reassembled them, trying to figure out their internal mechanics: what made them tick. After attending St Andrew’s College, Christchurch, Britten completed a four-year mechanical engineering course and was employed as a cadet draughtsman at ICI. He then took his OE, travelling to the United Kingdom and Europe; he returned to New Zealand to take up a position as design engineer for Rowe Engineering.
In his late twenties he had begun to race motorcycles in local Christchurch competitions, and in 1986, unhappy with the performance of the bikes he was riding, Britten decided to re-design his Ducati racing bike by creating his own body-work. From here Britten became determined to design a prototype racing bike from scratch. Free from pressures to conform, Britten’s first drive was to exploit New Zealand’s geographical distance from the rest of the world. He was following in the footsteps of fellow visionary Richard Pearse who, almost a century earlier, conjured up one of the first flying machines from farm scraps in his shed down the road in Temuka.
Unlike the established manufacturers, who were obliged to match huge investment dollars, Britten could persevere on a trial-and-error basis until his vision was transformed to machine. ‘Not possible’ was a foreign concept to Britten. He and his team of many willing helpers (left) conceived and built everything themselves, doing their own drawings, making their own patterns and designing their own engine.
By 1990 Britten's efforts were making racing history and in the Britten V1000's international racing debut at the USA Battle of Twins in Daytona, Florida, it finished third. In 1992 he set about completely redesigning the bike. In the same year he set up Britten Motorcycle Company, which was initially located in the garage/workshop at his family home (later moving to its current premises in central Christchurch). The redesigned bike won its first race on the international circuit in the International Twins at Assen in the Netherlands. Then Britten took the new model back to the prestigious Daytona race. Hopes were high.
Ridden by Aucklander Andrew Stroud, the new V1000 dominated the 1992 Daytona Supertwins race. Right from the starting grid it exploded to the front. But in the second to last lap an electrical fault (a cross-wired battery) forced Stroud to pull out. After the race, the designer of the bike that was almost entirely self-designed and built was heard to wryly remark: "[it] serves me right for using a Ducati part". Britten recognised his New Zealand roots, as he urged in an interview with NZ Business: “There is a niche market for Kiwis to exploit at the high quality, low volume end of manufacturing. It has to be top shelf.”
In 1995 the Britten bike, ridden by Andrew Stroud, stormed the international circuit, taking 1st place in the BEARS World Championship. Earlier the Britten team had claimed the New Zealand Superbike Championship and the New Zealand Grand Prix as well as the New Zealand Battle of the Streets.
At a time when Britten’s prodigious creativity had only just begun to make its mark, tragedy struck. Britten died aged 45, on September 5, 1995 shortly after being diagnosed with melanomic cancer. He is survived by Kirsteen and three children, Sam, Isabelle and Jessica.
How did John Britten's upbringing contribute to his interest in bikes?
As a child he built go-karts with disused packing. He mucked around with old engines with his friend, srtiping them apart, reassembled them, trying to figure out their internal mechanics: what made them tick.
In what ways did Britain's methods involve “Throwing away the rulebook?”
He could persevere on a trial-and-error basis,
.
What do you think Britten means by, “A niche market for kiwis?
I think he is meaning that some companies will get low quality things out faster were as he will get high quality things? I don’t know.
