The Britten V1000 motorbike... best gp bike ever?

[nthfinity]

im not sure if many of you are familiar with my favorite motorcycle of all time, it was surely quite advanced when it came to race, and one of the most successful bikes while it raced as well. quite amazing concidering the size of the team. a very facinating history, and story. anyway...

In 1986 John Britten decided to redesign his bevel drive Ducati race bike by creating all his own body work, but the motor and chassis proved hopelessly unreliable. John then turned to a New Zealand made Denco motor in a home built frame. This motor also proved to be a weak link. So after much fiddling and rebuilding he decided to wipe the slate clean and start again creating a new race bike, motor and all.

here's some pictures of it...check out the front wishbone suspension(no front fork), and Carbon fiber work way before it was popular

http://www.britten.co.nz/photos/images/sot2003b.jpg
http://www.britten.co.nz/photos/images/sot2003a.jpg




absolutely amazing race finishes from such a small team that built thier own bikes almost entirely from scratch... save, perhaps the ECU
http://www.britten.co.nz/history/racehist.html


http://www.britten.co.nz/history/johnbritten.html

[vexor]

dam that bike looks stripped, I take it it's the 911 GT3 RS of the Motorcycle world. Right? (don't know that much aboutt bikes)

[nthfinity]

dam that bike looks stripped, I take it it's the 911 GT3 RS of the Motorcycle world. Right? (don't know that much aboutt bikes)

well, imagine a GT3 RS being designed, machined, caste, and built by a few guys in a garage, rather then by Porsche.

[Toronto]

looks like a dirt bike in this pic
http://www.britten.co.nz/photos/images/sot2003a.jpg

but i would still rather have a modern ducati or that ferrari made bike,

still no match for an f1 car

[nthfinity]

but i would still rather have a modern ducati or that ferrari made bike, still no match for an f1 car

when this bike was made, it was running much more power then the other gp bikes, still has less unsprung mass then modern gp bikes, and was more aerodynamically efficiant. back in the early 90's when it was first made, 170 hp was quite a feat for a reliable and home cast, and built motor.

the first time the bike was run competitively @ daytona, they purposely ran the bike easy; yet were able to be side by side with the Ducatti in 1rst in the banked turn... just to show off, the rider gave the bike some throttle @ 160mph, and wheelied it into first. in the last few laps, the ecu failed. but quite a strong start for such a small team.

the funny thing to me is that modern bikes are just catching up to this demon

[m3mys3lf4ndi]

Damn - looks nice - how much it cost ??