Britten motorcycle on Isle of Man TT

[maidenoz69]

I remember watching this bike run rings around the Ducatis at the Sound Of Thunder BEARS racing at Ruapuna back in the 90's.

[clocco7]

A Genius bike builder ... rest in peace... Rest in peace mark farmer who's riding the bike... He passed on that year on this bike... RIP to all who passed on racing the TT Course...

[josephmarks1]

this bike sounds great and it looks like a lot of fun to ride.

[2000bda]

No wonder so many died at this circuit, it would be bloody hard to memorise this track. Much like the Nurbergring I guess?

[liceface]

@2000bda Its almost 3 times longer than the nurburgring!

[frookymook]

@2000bda

except the nurbergrig is only 7.5 miles th TT is 37.5 mile and a bit harder to ride as it goes through towns and moorland. i have been a marshall at the TT for 10 years its more than a buzz to the riders ,its a way of life.

And everyone who goes never forgets its awsome presence and respect the track in a massive way.

[Darkermandeeper]

I once had the full version of this. Are you able to upload the rest?

[748916999]

Possibly the GREATEST bike ever made, pure passion and incredable engineering, made a joke out of the the BIG four and gave Ducati a bloody good run for their money! What a loss John Britten was to motorcycling............

[HaviusCorpus]

glorious sound

[SuperRooster1967]

Pure Genius.....what more can be said....RIP JB

[mindyzachbaubles]

awesome----true genius

[nomis777]

look how stable the cowling is

[pencon61]

Relax Anzac it is your head that someone had relations with . I was being sacrcastic . Of Course The Britten is a thousand times the bike. The Cub is a piece of shite for newbies. It remionds me of the minibike on Dumb and Dumber.

[piacono]

I watched the John Britten documentary last night. What a visionary engineer. He designed everything in his head, and then built things from this.

The same sort of genius that Mozart had, Mozart imagined every note of a symphony in his head before he wrote it down or played it, as he could hear what it would be like in his head. Another one is Tesla.

Just wish JB was alive today, can you imagine what he could have achieved with a large budget behind his team. RIP John GOD Bless!

[xzistpo]

amen

[piacono]

They say the good die young as God wants them closer to him.

Thats what I like to believe anyway, as I've only got about 4-5 years left.

[iankarunaratne]

can anyone tell me how the back suspensions worked, cuz it was placed at the front of the engine which was quite unusual.

[nomedeeps]

It's a front suspension system, double wishbones with girder that gives the front wheel a better movement without significant variation in the wheel base, rake and trail. It is also stiffer and has less lateral and longditudinal distortion under brakes and over bumps. I think it is a more complex, a more expensive and a slightly heavier system than telescopic forks given the same materials. It hasn't been adopted by mainstream manufacturers due to cost.

[pencon61]

Yeah but don't forget the 50 greatest bikes show declares the honda 90 cub as the superior machine

[anzac23]

@pencon61... yeah ok mate how would you feel owning or riding been seen on a britten? are you fucked in the head? yes you are stating the obvious honda 90 is for the masses,cheap bike you and your mother could ride & own. you probly have never seen a britten? go ride your scooter.

[roderm]

ok you ride the honda 90 & ill ride the Britten V1000 and lets see who the chicks line up behind haha

[patkawasaki]

An absolutely great post. Many thanks. the advantages of this bike are so obvious here, but I think it's market reluctance that means we'll have forks for the foreseeable future. But the way this thing floats (wheel motion verses the bike fairing) is eerie!

[criticalmass181]

It really makes you wonder where the direction of bikes would have gone, if he hadn't passed away. Ducati would be crapping their pants, these days, i'd say

!!!!!!!!. RIP JB

[agustajames]

Britten was in close contact with Ducati until his death..FYI

[criticalmass181]

@agustajames Thankyou....never knew that. I always thought that, being his own man, he was completely independant.

[pjmullen1]

two great men... one great bike.. one incredible dream....Rest In Peace

[cooleyballs]

what a wonderfully smooth rider.kudos.

[lrwpb]

could watch this all day

[crowdogr6]

I sat on the one at Barbers Museum, and then they kicked me out of the Museum but it was worth it...Sad to say i didnt have enough time to get a Picture:(

[joehunt1980]

@crowdogr6 I still have a pic of me sitting on one at the big boys toys expo in Auckland... back when i was a little punk! lol good times

[nr1drillah]

Is there a Video of the full lap of this anywhere?

RIP J. Britten and M. Farmer

[pork61]

Sounds like a proper bike,awesome

[clickthisway]

I worked there. I hope you never delete this video or your account. No such on board footage will likely ever be taken again at such speed, there are no spare parts for the 10 bikes! Its New Zealand's only vehicle produced that I know off.

[Ollie4t2]

Don't forget Bruce Mclaren without him great race cars wouldn't have been born

[AnssiMarkkanen]

Wanna have a go on that beast myself!

[ScooterZn]

We've all got to die sometime mate, I personally couldn't think of a better way than at full throttle on the Isle of Man track.

[LeeroyHamsterNo1]

Awesome! Full lap anywhere?

[trumpeteer955]

John Britten, a Kiwi legend

[SamEEE12]

Up there with Rutherford & Sir Ed for sure.

[fottofan]

The Britten video One Man's Dream video available from manxshopdotcom

[rebrgb500]

Absolutely awesome machine! Saw it at the tt in 93 with shaun harris riding it. Watching from quarry bends in practice you could hear it coming from before ballaugh bridge which is more than a mile away!! It was a tragedy that John Britten died so early in life and the full potential of his creations were never fully realised. R.I.P. John.

[SquALeD]

Bloody awesome things - saw them in 94-95 at the Island. They were faster than the works Hondas.

Good luck with that gordyboy18 ;)

[gordyboy18]

If my Lotto numbers come up, someone is going to sell me one of these.

[BuddyCorp]

Too fast. Too fast. Too, damn, fast.

[hearttobefelt]

too fast for where ?

and too fast for who ?

a scooter can kill at 25 km/hr in the wrong places.

personally i would never race at Isle Of Man , wouldnt matter what i rode

[hearttobefelt]

that was a reply to buddycorp below

[BuddyCorp]

Too fast for me, that's for sure. A bicycle can kill at five kilometres an hour in the wrong places.

[cjmkmm]

Go Kiwi Go!

[abanyai123]

Is this video sped-up at all, or enhanced somehow?! That bike is nasty!

[eddy2121]

It's low to the ground

[clickthisway]

Top speed 300kph standard fuel and body panels!

[gatogos]

lastima , de que muriera antes de crear la fabrica, yo quiero una :)). esto si que es una moto

[BuddyCorp]

Fantastic bike, fantastic sound, fantastic man. Inspirational doesn't even begin to describe him. That a basically home-made bike could have competed with the Ducati superbikes is incredible, and the way this thing flies around the Isle... Truly astounding.

[exupstreetfighter]

Best vid on youtube. Period.

The Tularis seems to be the most worhty spiritual sucessor to these amazing machines. granted they have an astronomical budget in comparison, but the "grass roots" passion for bikes is just as strong.

I remember John very fondly and think of him frequently. He is an inspiration and we all miss him greatly.

R.I.P.

[skyy72]

he was just a genius!

..only the best die young. rip

[888duke]

WOW what a bike.

Great sound.

Great Man,

What could he have done NEXT?

Bet it would have beaten them all?

Take it canny.

Sleep well.

[dimisuperman]

rest in peace!! . . . you're the best. . . just imagine what will happen to motor cycle engineering if he was still here. . . you're one of my idols john. . .

[441rider]

On this fathers day John Britten deserves a pint to be raised. The father of the most advanced Commenwealth motorcycle ever since the Vincent in my opinion. Triumph from Thailand come no where near the beauty of these machines. See the Sandia show vid,

[croistior]

excellent bike and excellent video

[brittenv1000]

oh how i miss them. guys the video was still available a year or so ago may still be able to get it.

[AvgasStew]

Fantastic bike even more impressive in the flesh. John may you rest in Peace

[griffspeed]

Ive just found all the BRITTEN videos on this site, I havent stopped crying yet..!!! What a truely great man and such a tradgic loss to motorcycling.. Rest in peace John, Can someone out there please make a film about this great man....???????

[AvgasStew]

There was about 2-3 documentaries about him on programs like '60 minutes' in NZ. I will ask around to see if anyone recorded them.

[griffspeed]

Cheers Mr AvgasStew, We get Bugger All like that in my country.!!! If he was a fat alchoholic womanising footballer it would be on our TVs all year.!!! And he'd have an airport named after him..!!!!  I remember reading about the BRITTEN Bikes when they dominated.. Nothing on earth comes close to those bikes.. They were made in a garden shed for christsakes..!!!!!

[powersliding]

christsakes and christchurch :P

[336Torana]

I have one of the doco's on DVD (captured from VHS). got if from the old man.. its got everything about the bike, and a cool as video showing it overtaking heaps of bikes on the Isle of man I just have to find it and figure out how to upload it.

[RickyJ46]

I believe Farmer's 1994 accident was aboard the CR&S Racing Britten, a black bike with yellow fenders.

[oab1000]

I'm from Christchurch, home of the Britten. There are a couple still in town here, one regulary turns up at bike events and the local Honda dealership. Most have been sold to collectors.

[336Torana]

I finally got the original documentary of this bike off my old man.. I would cry if I ever saw this bike in real life. let alone owned one.. hands down the most beautiful machine I have ever seen.. does anyone know if they are still around?

[vijil]

there is one in the NZ national museum in Wellington - effing beautiful machine. Might go have another look tommorow...

[bigbov]

it was shuan harris 1996.Iwas there.

[FM77]

lovely bike ...awesome clip..

[jodoe]

looks like it would give todays bikes a good run

[SkidFuckingRow]

Breathtaking...And the front system seems to be doing a great job.

[ProfessorIgor]

awesome vid.... not so awesome if this is Mark Farmer who got killed on the Britten at the IOM