| Author | Message | ||
     Johnnylunchbox |
Watch all 5 parts. Pretty impressive: http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/britten-backyard-v isionary-1993 | ||
| Rpm4x4 |
That was an amazing series. Thanks. | ||
| Court |
He was an amazing guy . . . a multi-millionaire by virtue of Britco Ltd. and an amazing artist. He had the luxury of doing the motorcycle thing as pretty much a hobby which is while I am always hesitant to entertain any Buell / Britten comparisons. Vickie and I had dinner with Kirsteen one night and she too is an amazing person, in addition to being a gorgeous gal. John over came handicaps, such as dyslexia, and did some amazing things in in life that was tragically short. A most fascinating fellow. | ||
| Court |
Curious . . . how many here have read the books about John Britten? I've got a couple on my desk and both, although quite different, are interesting. | ||
| Rpm4x4 |
and did some amazing things in in life that was tragically short Did I miss something? | ||
| Bads1 |
I have read and have the book John Britten written by Tim Hanna. | ||
| Svh |
I have not yet and I think now that I finished "Terror on Two Wheels" it is time to find the next motorcycle book. Thank you by the way Court for the recommendation of that book. Enjoyed it a lot. | ||
| Danger_dave |
I have a good friend that used to be the workshop roustabout. Ahhh the stories I could re-tell - but not in writing. Kenny is mentioned in Tim's book. | ||
| Lastcyclone |
Thanks. Absolutely an amazing man. Brilliant, determined and simple. Reminds a bit of another guy from Pennsylvania. | ||
| Danger_dave |
Another notable Kiwi - probably a worse tragedy - is Kim Newcombe. wiki him. I watched his bike go around with a Britten on Sunday. Some Britten sounds here too. | ||
| Moxnix |
The early Britten Aero had a nifty fairing that might give the RR1000 a run for slippery, 'cept the winglets in front of the handlebars had to be clipped off after they caused a bit of a proplem. | ||
| Texastechx1 |
heard about the brittan story when i was a kid (i'm a youngin) and it always has inspired me... thank you for posting that up, really made my week. RIP John | ||
| Panhead_dan |
That was fantastic! Thanks for posting. | ||
| Diablobrian |
Court, I've read a couple of the books on John Britten and I'm under no illusions about him being just Joe average working out of his garage, but I he still managed to do some really impressive things in his all too short life. Credit where credit is due though Erik and the elves have built many more bikes than Britten did, even during the time span where Britten was still alive and well, AND the vast majority of the Buells were/are street legal bikes within the economic reach of a large number of Joe Averages all over the world. And Erik was far from independently wealthy when he set his motorcycle company in motion. The story about Erik's daughter when he brought home lobster that was told at the last homecoming ("We're so poor we have to eat bugs!") illustrates the differences really well IMHO. Both men will go down in motorcycling history as major figures of our lifetimes and maybe of any lifetime. That remains to be seen, but my hat is off to both men. They are/were visionaries. | ||
| Firstbuell |
a nekkid foto -  | ||
| Diablobrian |
Yup, I saw one Britten at the Guggenheim art of the motorcycle (AoTM) display in Vegas, a different one at the AoTM display in Memphis, and a third one at the Barber Museum. I think that makes me one of a very few that have seen so many of these bikes up close and in person. They are indeed incredible pieces of engineering, much like the MotoGP prototypes, but they are also incredibly fragile bikes and while it is a shame that they have been retired, if they hadn't been there would be nothing left of them for us to admire. In particular I like the spaghetti-like blue exhaust (no, I don't eat blue spaghetti!) and the lack of a true frame, but I could have stood there and fogged up the Carbon fiber all day on any of the Brittens. | ||
| Wardan123 |
Dressed - at the Barber...  | ||
| Court |
>>>I have read and have the book John Britten written by Tim Hanna. I think most folks, after reading that, would agree with me that comparing John Britten and Erik Buell is like Karen Carpenter and Kiss. They were both into motorcycles but as people they were as different as day and night. I'm sure the some of Dave's story would reflect this. The book by Hanna is interesting and the one that the family commissioned Felicity (a cousin) to write after they read Tim's book is also interesting. My favorite memory of Britten is when they were in the hot pits at Daytona and the AMA guy refused to let them on the track. The bike, that had been on display, had the number 1 on the tail section. Apparently in order to go on the track you have to have YOUR assigned number on the bike. There were like 30 seconds left and the screaming and arguing were over . . . they were NOT going on the track. I was standing there with two other Buell guys (Scott Miller and Dan Lang) and a thought hit me. I reached in my left rear pocket, pulled out the roll of Scotch 33+ and tossed it to the Britten guy standing next to the bike. He quickly converted the 1 to a 7 and off they went. Very cool stuff. The Britten at the Guggeneheim in NYC belongs to a friend who arranged our dinner with Kirsteen in NYC. The Britten story is a legend and if all you know of John is his motorcycles be sure to read more. | ||
| Trac95ker |
In 1995 i was fortunate enough to go to bike week with AGV sports at the time. My roomate worked for the company. We took helmets and leathers to sell. We shared a garage with Nick Ienich (not sure of the spelling). I was able to walk the pits and check out all the extrordinary machinery. I talked with one of the Britton's mechanics while he was changing the carbon fiber chain guard that was riveted to the swingarm. I almost peed myself when he let me touch the swingarm! Of course the VR 1000 was there and another notable bike called the Daytona weapon. it was created by Sundance HD in Japan. I think they were a dealer, they may have been an aftermarket/fab shop. They built a one off sportbike with a sportster motor. It used a belt drive primary. It was a beautiful machine. The whole staff looked like they walked strait out of the fifties. Slicked back hair jeans, chain wallets and all! | ||
| 4cammer |
"and another notable bike called the Daytona weapon. it was created by Sundance HD in Japan." http://sundance.co.jp/gallery/daytona/daytona.html One of my all time favorite bikes. They seem to like Springsteen quite a bit.... | ||
| Diablobrian |
I saw the Daytona weapon 2 at Daytona 2 years ago. Sundance is still very much in the game. The majority of the team did not speak a lot of english but we were able to communicate well enough to convey how much we admired their racing effort. | ||
| Court |
The Britten was, in addition to being a motorcycle, a true art form. Simply put . . . the more you stare at it the more amazing it appears. | ||
| Slaughter |
Sundance Motorcycles - one of their mechanics is now Higbee's mechanic working at Bartels - his name is Mitsu. Mitsu tells the story of looking for work here in the states a couple years ago and when he was asked about his "English" - he asked what language the HD and Buells spoke. He got the job. (sorry about the minor hijack but Sundance does some cool stuff - though not as groundbreaking as Britten) (Message edited by slaughter on February 11, 2009) | ||
| Diablobrian |
The devil....and the dazzle, is in the details eh Court? | ||
| F_skinner |
That was great. Thanks for posting. | ||
| Dogdaze |
Thanks for the post JL. Skin cancer at 45!?#$%! | ||
| Patrickmitchell |
What an amazing guy! | ||
| Rex |
quite a shame that no company bought his engine design, frame, etc. I love the looks of the motor, and apparently it ran well. I know it is a race motor, but the design could have been taken over to the street version. REX | ||
| Court |
>>>quite a shame that no company bought his engine design, frame, etc. And why . . for the sake of speculation . .. do you think that is? | ||
| 12x9sl |
That is an amazing story. Just goes to show what can be done in demanding conditions by a very talented (understatement) individual. | ||
| Rex |
why no one bought it? -Not for Sale? -Not developed enough for street use? -Reliability issues? Too much more R and D on a past design. -Other companies not wanting to pick up anothers ideas, feeling their ideas are better? -It has been a while now, and technology is dated? -Hard to bring something back, go against what has been done already, trying to beat current expectations? -Too expensive? it is a beautiful bike. REX |
