The Britten V1000 is a handbuilt race

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

designed and built by

John Britten John Kenton Britten (1 August 1950 – 5 September 1995) was a New Zealand mechanical engineer who designed a world-record-setting motorcycle with innovative features and materials. Biography John Britten was born to Bruce and Ruvae Britten in ...

and a group of friends in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand, during the early 1990s. The bike went on to win the Battle of the Twins in

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

Daytona Bike Week Daytona Beach Bike Week, also called Daytona Bike Week, is a motorcycle event and motorcycle rally, rally held annually in Daytona Beach, Florida. Events occur throughout Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County, including thDeLand Bike Rallyin Dow ...

festivities in the United States and set several world speed records. The bike was designed from first principles and hosts a number of innovations including extensive use of

carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

, the

radiator A radiator is a heat exchanger used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

located under the seat,

double wishbone Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

front suspension, frameless chassis, and engine data logging. A total of 10 Britten V1000s were produced by the

Britten Motorcycle Company Britten Motorcycle Company is a Christchurch, New Zealand motorcycle manufacturer created by John Britten in 1992. The company produced the Britten V1000 motorcycles, which were unusual for their heavy use of carbon fibre for the fairing, whe ...

and now exist in collections and museums around the world. Motorcycle journalist Alan Cathcart wrote in 2008: "It's an easy bike to ride, in the sense it's got a very wide power delivery, but to really get top performance, you have to ride it like a grand prix bike...And having ridden all the superbike contenders in the world today, I can say that the Britten is the closest to a grand prix bike...It's incredibly ironic that instead of Europe or Japan, the most sophisticated and technically advanced motorcycle in the world comes from New Zealand".

Specifications

*Wheelbase 1420 mm *Weight 138 kg *Fuel Tank Capacity 24 litres *166 HP @ 11,800 rpm *Maximum safe engine speed 12,500 rpm *Maximum speed 303 km/h

Engine

*Water-cooled 999 cc 60 deg V-Twin quad-cam 4-stroke *4 valves per cylinder, belt driven *Compression ratio 11.3 : 1 *Bore x stroke 98.9 mm x 65 mm *Piston, flat-top slipper *Titanium conrods with oil feed to little end *Titanium valves Inlet Ø40 mm Exhaust Ø33 mm *Wet cast-iron cylinder sleeves / opt silicon carbide–coated alloy sleeves *Composite head gaskets *Back torque dry clutch *Wet sump. Oil feeds to bigends, gudgeon pins, camshaft lobes & gearbox shafts *Programmable engine management computer with history facility *Fuel injection - sequential, 2 injectors per cylinder

Transmission

*Gearbox, 5-speed constant-mesh,

sequential manual transmission A sequential manual transmission, also known as a sequential gearbox or sequential transmission, is a type of Non-synchronous transmission, non-synchronous manual transmission used mostly in motorcycles and Auto racing, racing cars. It produces ...

chain-drive Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles. It is also used in a wide variety of machines besides vehicles. ...

/ opt. 6-speed *Primary ratio 1.97 *Gear ratios 1st 2.5, 2nd 1.77, 3rd 1.38, 4th 1.125, 5th 0.961

Chassis

*Fully stressed engine with ducted under-seat radiator. Top chassis, girder & swing arm all constructed in carbon/kevlar composites *Front Suspension: double wishbones, Hossack suspension. *Rear Suspension: swing arm with adjustable three-bar linkage *Shock Absorbers: Öhlins *Rake: adjustable *Trail: adjustable *Front Wheel: 3.5" x 17" in-house carbon composite *Rear Wheel: 6.0" x 17" in-house carbon composite *Front Brakes: Twin 320 mm cast-iron rotors with opposed 4-piston Brembo callipers *Rear Brakes: 210 mm rotor with opposed-piston Brembo calliper

Racing Achievements

1991

*2nd and 3rd Battle of the Twins, Daytona, USA

1992

*1st Battle of the Twins,

Assen Assen () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in ...

, Netherlands *2nd Pro Twins,

Laguna Seca Raceway Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 ...

, USA *DNF Battle of the Twins, Daytona, USA

1993

*Fastest Top Speed at the

Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...

*1st (BEARS) 2nd (Formula 1) Australian TT Bathurst *3rd Battle of the Twins, Assen, Netherlands *NZ Grand Prix title * FIM Flying Mile World Record (4 December 1993) *Jon White set the world flying mile record for motorcycles under 1000cc in 1993, reaching 188.092 mph (302.705 km/h) on a Britten V1000. This official world record remains unbroken 31 years later. White also held the NZ Open Flying 1/4 Mile record at 187.96 mph on a Britten V1000 until 2000 when J. Hepburn surpassed it in Southland. White also held the NZ 1050cc Flying 1/4 Mile record at 188.092 mph for 28 years until W. Rands-Trevor broke it in 2021 in Reporoa. In 2022, Rands-Trevor claimed the NZ Open Flying 1/4 Mile record from Hepburn. *MNZ National Speed Records Flying kilometer (4 December 1993) Jon White set the NZ 1050cc Flying Kilometer and NZ Open Flying Kilometer records at 188.092 mph on December 4, 1993, in Christchurch New Zealand. Both records remain unbroken. *World standing start -mile (400 m) record (1000 cc and under) *134.617 mph *World standing start mile record (1000 cc and under) *213.512 mph *World standing start kilometre record (1000 cc and under) *186.245 mph

1994

*1st Battle of the Twins, Daytona, USA *1st and 2nd New Zealand National Superbike Championship''One Man's Dream - The Britten Bike Story'' (video), 1995, Ruffell Films

1995

*1st World BEARs, rider, Andrew Stroud

References

{{reflist Motorcycles of New Zealand Motorcycles introduced in 1991 Sport bikes New Zealand design