It isn’t every day you see 6 Britten motorcycles lined up together, in fact, you simply never see that, period. Well, maybe just this once. Last weekend was the 25th anniversary meeting of the Sound of Thunder – BEARS racing (British European American Racing Society) in New Zealand. Tim, one of our Kiwi readers, mentioned the gathering in a comment on another post and I asked him if he might have some photos of the event. He found these and sent them along. Here’s what he said in his comment:
Yep, I was out at Ruapuna on Sunday. It was the 25th anniversary meeting of the “Sound of Thunder.” BEARS racing (British European American Racing Society) was invented in Christchurch in New Zealand and their first meeting was in 1983. John Britten was one of the original people involved IIRC, and the the Estate had a display there to celebrate that. … There was a Ducati powered first attempt and the Denco powered second attempt, and three slightly different versions of the V1000.
John Britten is so well known for the design and development of his motorcycles and it is so often repeated, … what might he have built had he lived longer. Unfortunately, we’ll never know, but these bikes are a great example of his work.
Thanks, Tim, for the chance to see this!
More photos below:
Mayakovski says
Simply Beautiful.
Ushii san says
I had a opportunity to see these bikes run at Daytona. They were awsome!
Pete says
Pure genious. What a sad, sad loss that he passed away so early. I’ve watched the “VHS tape” One Man’s Dream at least 20 times. He is my hero.
Ride says
Love those bikes. Been a fan for many years of Britten’s work. Fantastic. So sad it had to end the way it did. He did manage to leave a mark in history, many of us will never get to that point. RIP John.
Tim says
Thanks Paul, and people for the comments.
I should just point out that these photos were taken by my friend Tania, who is much more adept than I am.
I’m not sure if the biography of John Britten was internationally released, but it is a very worthwhile read if you can get it (its still for sale here, perhaps not surprisingly).
Title is “John Britten” by Tim Hanna, published in 2003 by Craig Potton Publishing.
There are also Felicity Price’s books, called Dare To Dream and Britten Motorcycles, but I havent read those.
(Those books about John Britten are available here :kneeslider)
Sean says
Alright Tim, now I’m kicking myself I didn’t bother with the second day at Ruapuna! Tim Hanna’s biography is excellent, and really gives an indication of what it took to make the Britten. Definitely required reading for any motorcyclist.
Mike says
I have seen a couple of different bikes run at Ruapuna, Taupo, and Pukekohe when I lived in NZ in the late 90’s. The most classic day was at Pukekohe with Agostini and his MV’s. The MV500 running down the back staight ‘wide open’ and the Britten on 1 wheel pulling along side. Some of the best music ever made. One of the saddest days was when John passed, but a sadder day was when his estate (mostly spouse I am told) decided not to continue his motorcycle legacy with his VERY talented staff. RIP Britten!
OTTO MANN says
GREAT PHOTO,S OF A GREAT BIKE. REST IN PEACE, JOHN
guitargeek says
Cool!
Billy says
Seeing this has been the highlight of my day! I’m currently living in a city where motorcycles are banned (i still ride hehehe). the kneeslider is my only link to reality in this god forsaken place!
Cheers from china
Billy
Rich says
When I was a school boy growing up in Bathurst (Australia), I was much more interested in cars than bikes.
Until one day, when my dad said to me: “Mate, I was up at Mount Panorama this morning. Tomorrow I’ll take you. There’s something up there you MUST see”.
He was right. The sight of a Britten V-1000 flying out from under the Bridgestone bridge, on it’s rear wheel, every single lap, is something I will never forget.
I’ve been hooked on bikes ever since.
Thanks Dad, and thanks John Britten.
chris says
Wow do I feel bad for Billy…Banned motorcycles?!?! Time to pack the bags and move to another town. Johns style put a signature on creativity. Great looking rigs!
Eileen Yates says
Just a clarification on comment #7. After John died in 1995 Britten Motorcycle Company continued to make the 10 bikes John had planned until the last one was completed in 1998. For those 3 years (and longer) we were actively seeking a joint venture partner for the company to keep the marque going.To facilitate this we branched out into prototype work in an effort to keep an income coming in. In the early days after Johns death his wife, Kirsteen, was not prepared to give away a greater than 50% shareholding in the company – understandably as it was the legacy she and the family had been left by John and she wanted to have some control over what happened to the company. Not many investors are prepared to invest the amount of money required without having control of a company. Its a moot point anyway as no investor was found. I think most motorcycle companies have enough trouble keeping their own marque afloat without taking on an unknown quantity. Case in point – John and the team spent his last 18 months working with representatives of the Indian Motorcycle Company. They went into receivership around the same time that John Passed away and all that work was for nought (and they have been in and out of receivership ever since.) Its a shame he hadn’t been working with someone else who could have secured the companies future but there you have it! In 2006 we finally sold the Britten factory building and the plant and equipment and put all the moulds, patterns etc into storage – if there is an investor somewhere out there who would be prepared to invest a HUGE amount to go to the next step -either a production racebike or a road bike, I am sure it could all be dusted off!
And yes- I see the bikes all the time but it was awesome to see that line-up of six bikes at Ruapuna.
Eileen Yates, Britten Motorcycle Company
Chris Ratcliffe says
I am absolutely gutted i had no idea these 6 bikes would be at Sound of Thunder.I am hooked on the Britten myself and have a 7year old sons middle name after him.
Take a look at Perfomance Bikes Motorcycle Magazine July issue there is a screen saver Britten Photo in it,and also a Little Britten project,which i have just had painted.
Also i have built a road going Britten Replica myself based in Nelson.view on Trademe under Bros/Britten.
Owen Booth says
Yeah, a real shame. Peter Fenton, a great friend of John and Kirsten is cooking up something with regards to a road-going Britten. It’s still the sexiest bike ever to be made. I’m currently trialling prints of the Black and Yellow CR&S on New Zealands only Direct on glass digital printer. When I perfect it I hope to have a sample in our showroom at MetroGlassTech’s showroom on Halswell Junction road. I’d like to do one for Peter, and maybe sell a small run of them too to recover development costs but I suspect I need to seek permission to do this. Anyone know whom I might contact for this? Eileen can you help?