The AMAZING BRITTEN V1000 motorcycle CONQUERED the world!

[@TheMickvee]

I was lucky enough to meet and talk to John Britten at the TT in the early 90s. He was a top bloke, and I cherish the tee shirt and badge that I bought off him.

[@TomStratis]

For over 40 years l loved reading Kevin and later reading Cycle and Cycle world. Now that I get to listen to you and also Kevin in discussion I that's amplified! I actually met Kevin long ago in Daytona ( I've lived here for 50 years) though he certainly wouldn't remember. Just listening to how his mind works and how he translates this into language a common mind like mine can understand is very satisfying. Keep it up guys!

[@sburns2421]

I still have that issue of Cycle World from 1992 (and the 1991 issue of the previous Britten with conventional forks). And I am looking at the Art of the Motorcycle poster of the Britten above my computer monitor as I type this. Thanks for the episode.

[@daniels.2720]

All Hail Mr. Britton !! The M/C Industry would be so different if he was still amongst us. Thanks for revisiting this sparkle in engineering.

[@markjones1672]

Thought I knew The Britten Story....thanks Kevin for filling in the gaps. I was the 94 TT when Farmer died on the 2nd Britten. Britten himself was understandably broken by that & died himself not long after...very sad all round. Jeffries on the 2nd bike bravely carri3d on but was sensibly cautious on it. Perhaps it was undeveloped for the TT - there's a reason the RC30 ruled there for so long! The heart dropped out of the attempt after that - I have a picture of me sitting on Jeffries bike in a bike clothing shop in Douglas - there wasn’t a long queue. Can we have more of Kevin's near Buddhist musings on why we devote our efforts to things other than trying to change the world (spot on).

[@Tal5258]

Without a doubt he looked at the Vincent HRD 1000 V twin as the concept and modernised it in his own way

[@mikecrump5461]

Yes , and his Ducati experience.

[@markmcintosh7095]

This is a great discussion. I'm a big big fan of His bike and saw it race on a couple of races. Thanks

[@jiyushugi1085]

Yamaha Japan arranged for a journalist and photog to visit John at his home in New Zealand, and they asked me to interpret for them. When we get there his wife, a former model, is mowing the lawn with their baby strapped to her back. When we commented on his incredible house he says, "Yeah, I built it from a barn and we had made a makeshift lathe to turn these sandstone pillars that hold up the roof. I also invested some construction blocks for it, and the articulated chair? Yeah, I made that too. Oh, the bike, it's over here." There followed an account of the trials and tribulations involved in creating it. The poor Japanese guys were completely overwhelmed at the man's intellect, creativity and energy, as was I. Such a tragedy that he left us all so soon.

[@1998TDM]

I really enjoyed this, thank you. NZ shedineering is still very strong.

[@kevinfurness1741]

I just finished listening to the Britten discussion! I have a lump in my throat and damp cheeks! Thank you for the rational but truly human observations and significant recollections! My personal favourite 'on bike video' from the Isle of Man is the one done on the Britten! Live long and prosper!

[@diavuno3835]

Let's hear about erik Buell and his innovations. Another big twin sport bike with so many firsts

[@ericalger5003]

I spent 14 years in H-D's engineering department at their full vehicle research and development facility and have extensive experience with Erik Buell and Buell Motorcycles. Erik signed a deal with the Devil when he allowed Harley-Davidson to take a controlling interest in Buell Motorcycles. Harley had the money Erik needed, but that money came with the fact that Buell Motorcycles would NEVER be powered by competitive powertrains. Erik royally pissed off Harley senior management when he absolutely REFUSED to have anything to do with using the V-Rod powertrain. Erik rightfully refused to use it because the V-Rod powertrain was simply TOO BIG, TOO HEAVY and woefully underpowered to ever be considered for a powertrain in a sportbike. Erik was able to write a check to Rotax for the 1125 engines but those engines had very real reliability issues. It's very sad that Erik was not able to get enough financing to develop a genuinely great powertrain.

[@Errol.C-nz]

If you do a program about Steve Roberts .. & Denco Engineering you'll open the back door (barn door) to the Britton bike.. I tip my hat to JB BUT.. a LOT of "his" innovations were truly inspired by other brilliant minds

[@marcjorgensen]

Britton needs a movie! Love the pod!

[@terryboehler5752]

My last airplane project I built around an augmentor exhaust system. Every exhaust puff sucked cooling air into the cowling. The results were so satisfying. It took seven years to realize the results but that only made it sweeter. I first built a model out of thin poster board. The model would fit into my hand. Then all I had to do was enlarge it.

[@whammerjammer1562]

I just love these storytelling episodes!

[@shawnryan5347]

Thanks Mark & Kevin for doing this podcast. John Britten and his V1000 always reminds me of Smokey Yunick's Indy capsule car and the 1968 Nascar Chevelle. Both very innovative, focused, outside the box thinkers with a work ethic that most normal people do not have.

[@RedBud315]

I saw it race at Laguna in 92 and that bike was pretty darn exciting to watch. It did wheelie out of every slow corner and even some fast ones. Sounded like no other bike out there.

[@billstuart8481]

I've seen many stopies around the International Horseshoe, but thoes wheelies were extraordinary. This was another great episode, Thanks.

[@UncleWally3]

Kevin Cameron consistently reminds me about how little I know about what makes my motorcycle work. I’m not sure if there’s anything already out there, but I would love to hear him speak about how the evolution of metallurgy has impacted motorcycle production.

[@brianmcchesney475]

At 14 (now 67) riding a District 37 Enduro in the Trail Bike Class having to push my underpowered bike up a long, steep sand hill... and being plain tuckered out... I knew I 'whiskered' the plug when the engine just quit. So exhausted was I that when I removed the plug and looked for the whisker what I saw was a brilliant royal blue spark plug (like the 'comment' button). Shook my head and it returned to it's normal tan coloring. Gotta' love those races in the desert heat! Knocked off the whisker and away I went.

[@monteiro5306]

Fantastic Kevin. Greetings from Brazil.

[@ericjakobssonjr]

I’ve been watch all if your podcasts recently. I happen to have been following you two and the bikes you talk about from the begging. I’m from the early nineties WERA days. From the Britten to the Yamaha two stokes. It’s always a great listen and inspiring. I’m missing the absolute submersion I used to have in total dedication to bikes every time I hear two.

[@bazbirman6044]

John borrowed a van to transport the Britten to Invercargill,Teratonga Racetrack,they blew a gear box near the track.John was still in Christchurch. We found a spare gearbox and John was to take it SOUTH and the boot of his mid 6O,S Mercedes Coupe.We wrapped it in cardboard into the shape of a Gemini Space Capsule We then painted it up ,added the appropriate nomenclature such that Gemini 7 was sitting on the side of the road when he arrived to pick it up. He had a very quizzical look on his face as we helped load it in his boot. He drove away with the same look on his face

[@dwaynecorrea9775]

TOPICAL PHOTOS WOULD BE APPRECIATED IN YOUR OTHERWISE EXCELLENT PRESENTATIONS. THANK YOU ANYWAY.❤

[@cptomes]

I still have those issues with the Britten. Got suckered into racing my old vf500f after its days had passed, still have it. Met Tuluie at Blackhawk Farms the first day the Tul-aris showed up and damn near broke the outright lap record, they did it the next time. Thanks for this interview, brings back the joy of finding moto religion.

[@robert-wr6md]

"motorised parade float" brilliant. Thanks guys very interesting.

[@arispappas9553]

Hallo from Thessaloniki Greece, i love the Britten v1000 ,a genuine prototype machine. I would love a video about the 1982 NS500 Honda, a completely unorthodox machine....

[@DavidFinlay-y8e]

Very much enjoying your podcasts which continually reminds me how little i know.

[@bradyoung1052]

I'm really digging the podcast. Keep up the good work.

[@seanmccarthy7760]

good shit ! like KC said he was an innovater (w/ first principals ! )

[@BMWHP2]

Yes, this sounds a lot like Erik Buell. They are/were like minds on many fields.

[@josephreisinger33]

I do know the whisker plug song very well. Thank you Gentlemen 4 a nother great show. And I miss all 4 of my RD350'S and my CS5.

[@magnograil6825]

According to Tim Hanna's book on the Britten, Hans Weekers did most of the port development. From what I heard from someone who worked there, C.R. Axtell did port development also.

[@robertvincent-y8y]

Have i learned LOT , THE Answer is yes and you have shown me that engineering of all kinds both mechanical and electronic are pared to produce power from the IC engine . As a life long engineer i thank you for the enrichment and entertainment you have given me .

[@Larpy1933]

The Whiskered Plug Podcast. Bring it on. Take Ockham’s Razor to the best, most succinct philosophy of the meaning of life - and THERE you have Kevin Cameron. Thanks. In ways I’m not able to articulate.

[@scotfield3950]

Outstanding!

[@dandreger5616]

I was at Mid Ohio in the late nineties for the superbike race.If memory serves me someone did a few laps on a Britten.

[@Scott-sb1xi]

My 05 Bennelli had an under seat radiator with extraction fans in the rear that would kick on sitting at a light. Coolest bike I ever owned but so uncomfortable, and the seat was too tall for my 30 inch inseam.

[@scotfield3950]

Thank you so much! I have a signed poster in my home

[@RandallSoong-pp7ih]

Thanks fellas!!

[@basilwatson1]

My first job was with Gary at motovation next to christchurch city motorcycles never met or knew him but my boss gary would often help him ! Denso performance did all his machining and you are bang on with the engineering it wasnt all that good sometimes

[@michaeltrivette1728]

There’s a guy that has one of these like 5 miles up the road from where I live.

[@GreggBennett-j3p]

I remember when that magazine arrived in my mailbox (parent’s mailbox, actually).

[@hermankaiser8662]

I have also seen mazing inventor with a homebuilt bike from Burt Munro absolute stunning. What you think?

[@christophercurry7410]

I couldn’t find any hats for sale in the store, only shirts

[@markbrown-us4xe]

Like to see you guys talk with Allen Milayard..

[@pashakdescilly7517]

Now that is a good idea

[@KenAustin-i4x]

how about an episode about the wonders of Wiseco pistons ?

[@KenAustin-i4x]

I'm just kidding. there were none that I could see.

[@mjo4981]

As a long time motorcyclist and environmental engineer, I believe if motorcycles disappear it will be due to politics, not energy efficiency requirements. Considering the various energy inefficiencies I am not convinced the electric vehicles are superior to, say, natural gas or even gasoline powered vehicles. With efficiency losses of 5 to 50% at each step, all electric vehicles do is move the tailpipe down the street to the powerplant. Removing excess weight and unneeded payload capacity is where the game really starts. And this venue is where motorcycles really shine. Let cars be light-weight putt-putts with 400cc engines, and let the DRZ-400 be king of the road.

[@HAL9000-su1mz]

In my mind, it was - and is - too radical to be immediately "beautiful." Like driftwood with wheels, it was shockingly organic in appearance. Only in function was the beauty fully appreciated. It seems that visionaries can be a double-edged sword. One builds a revolutionary motorcycle. Another gives the world the Chrysler K-car. For all of its brilliance, look at the grief the ancient Raceco Guzzi gave it at Brands Hatch in 1995. Yet, Dr. John Wittner was only slightly less a visionary, laboring under the deficit of captivity to that which already existed.

[@Scott-sb1xi]

Didn't Robin Tulue work for Polaris when Victory started.

[@jakecoye738]

Yes

[@EnlightenedSavage]

Rob did, he went on to much bigger engineering projects including F1 chassis for Renault. They starting winning with it. Glad people remember him. He was a friend and I had worked with his team for a short time.

[@kostaachin4428]

Read Tim Hanna's biography John Britten to obtain a realistic impression of Britten. You'll see a controversial figure who did not make the motorcycle by himself. He was in many ways a selfish person and didn't give credit to folks who made this bike possible. According to the book, he did not have his workers use the proper safety procedures when using a toxic resin when laying up the composite parts and so they become ill, he insisted on using a front fork that didn't work well just to be different. Once you finish reading the book, you might not admire John Britten, but you will admire the people who loved motorcycles and helped make the Britten motorcycle possible.

[@truthboomertruthbomber5125]

I saw Barber’s Britten run in practice at the AHRMA national at TGPR in 1996. Sadly the rider over revved the shit out of it trying to do a wheelie on the S/F straight. The next session it dropped a valve from the sound of the crunch I heard. . The next year at that national I was running my first road race on a BOTT F3 GS500 Suzuki.

[@DennisMerwood-xk8wp]

Another BS fairy tale! No Britten EVER dropped a valve - especially not from over revving. All the bikes had an ECU with rev limiter!

[@mikeskidmore6754]

John Brittons Business Partner planned to build more bikes after John Died, then he died while flying a Helicopter in a Rescue Mission . That's when the Britten Project died.

[@TreadTalk247]

What people don’t realize is, THE MAN (Mr. Britten) was as much the product as the bike was….”

[@ShaunHensley]

Had that issue

[@petefinnegan3873]

you should do a story on kim newcolme

[@OldDirtGuy]

John Bitten is what happens when a 27 club person gets 45 years. Where the heck am I @ anyway?

[@scotfield3950]

Hoe did John succeed where hd failed with the vr1000?

[@hughjanus3378]

I’ve also read Tim Hanna’s book ….and I know that he had a Mechanical Engineer with a PhD who designed the engine and other stuff…..but he is not mentioned on the internet anywhere….apparently a typical trait of Britten to claim the limelight while the volunteers did all the work. An interesting read …

[@mikeskidmore6754]

There is a whole documentary on youtube about Britton .. This 20 minute clip is not it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWS5gnVtmbl5pa8

[@JoshuaLaws-z6d]

first principles is also how elon musk said he approaches problems...

[@eliinthewolverinestate6729]

Amazing motorcycles. I have always liked the minimal frames like the Bott frames. If I was Harley that's what I would do and make it fit a standard gas tank too. Put the Pan American on a diet and offer smaller engine in it. Make it cheap so everyone can buy one like a Honda.

[@dogpaw775]

just kept thinking 'Vincent'.

[@diavuno3835]

I just keep thinking Buell😂

[@partypooper2591]

The OTHER thing that puts an end to motorcycles, other than legislation, is a wedding ring. It was either the wife or the RD400, and the wife, of course, won. Sigh. Sic transit gloria mundi.

[@EnlightenedSavage]

Don't forget about the accomplishments of the tularis. It was better than the brittan in every way and took the title away from the brittan as the fastest homebuilt motorcycle made. Rob tuluie went on to do amazing things in race tech including creating championship winning f1 chassis. He was much more than a frequency guy he was an accomplished astrophysicist and was head an shoulders above every engineer around when came to understanding problem solving.

[@DennisMerwood-xk8wp]

@EnlightenedSavage Enlightened Kiwi here: No way my friend was the Tularis "better than the Britten in every way". You are dreaming. Delusional. How many bikes did Rob Tuluie make? John made 10-Brittens. ( NOTE THE CORRECT SPELLING!) Got a link we can visit to prove that the Tularis was the fastest homebuilt motorcycle made? Got a link telling us how fast the Tularis was around the Isle of man TT course? Or at Daytona? Betcha don't!

[@DennisMerwood-xk8wp]

My comment disputing this nonsense disappeared eh!

[@twinturbo8304]

My Honda 1971 cb350 Would trounce any Yamaha rd350 I had a Kenny Harmon cam and leaner jetting and a hooker header. Adios rd 350 Bonsai Yamaha

[@MeYou-yz2yz]

I reckon my 1976 rd250c modified with production racing rd350B barrels and pistons, plus expansions, k and n's and electronic ignition would give you a run for your money.

[@twinturbo8304]

I loved my cannondale, but you destroyed the company

[@hughjanus3378]

Britten created a clever image of himself as a genius inventor. Not correct. He had a dedicated team of volunteers working tirelessly on this bike who never got any recognition. The fact that the description contained lots of …” he wrapped Kevlar around this ..and that…” shows how successful he was at creating this “one man genius” image. He had a mechanical engineer who had a PhD in mechanical engineering working on the engine…never gets a mention…..when his team developed a carbon fibre wheel he patented it in his name. His team tried unsuccessfully to develop standard forks instead of the girder forks he insisted they use in the bike…because the team realised that the dynamics were unsuitable. He was a good motivator and had access to money courtesy of his property developer father. But not a nice person to his dedicated team…….the true story is far from the over hyped one-man genius story that HE aggressively promoted.

[@ericalger5003]

HOLY SHIT! THAT was TERRIFIC!!

[@Larpy1933]

Exactly: What he said!