Britten V1000 on arvau

Wikipedia / Britten V1000

The Britten V1000 is a handbuilt race motorcycle designed and built by John Britten and a group of friends in Christchurch, New Zealand, during the early 1990s. The bike went on to win the Battle of the Twins in Daytona International Speedway's Daytona Bike Week festivities in the United States and set several world speed records.

The bike makes extensive use of carbon fibre, and features a radiator located under the seat, double wishbone front suspension, frameless chassis, and engine data logging.

A total of 10 Britten V1000s were produced by the Britten Motorcycle Company 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: 1420mm
Weight:
Fuel tank capacity: 24 litres
at 11,800 rpm
Maximum safe engine speed: 12,500 rpm
Maximum speed:

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 98.9mm x 65mm
Piston, flat-top slipper
Titanium conrods with oil feed to little end
Titanium valves Inlet Ø40mm Exhaust Ø33mm
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, chain-drive / 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 320mm cast-iron rotors with opposed 4-piston Brembo callipers
Rear brakes: 210mm 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, Netherlands
2nd Pro Twins, Laguna Seca Raceway, USA
DNF Battle of the Twins, Daytona, USA

1993

Fastest Top Speed at the Isle of Man TT
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 188.092mph (302.705km/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 187.96mph 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 188.092mph 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 188.092mph on December 4, 1993, in Christchurch New Zealand. Both records remain unbroken.
World standing start -mile (400 m) record (1000cc and under)
134.617mph
World standing start mile record (1000cc and under)
213.512mph
World standing start kilometre record (1000cc and under)
186.245mph