The BRITTEN MOTORCYCLE COMPANY from New Zealand appeared in the 1994 TT races as a team of three; Nick Jefferies, Robbie Holden and Mark Farmer were the riders-------Before 1994 the rider was Shaun Harris who helped in no small way to develope this very special machine--Then the Britten won the 1994 "Battle of the Twins" at Daytona in the hands of another development rider Andrew Stroud --However, the attempt at that years TT was marred by the death of Mark Farmer during practice, the poor weather during the races and the problems with water in the complicated computer system built into the front of the bike--Radical this machine certainly was !! The engine WAS the frame and the radiator was set in a ducted passage under the seat --The engine was so narrow that the widest part of the bike was the rear tyre --A very special front fork was developed as a carbon fibre double wishbone parallelogram which almost mirrored the swinging arm --Damping could be controlled by the rider ---John Britten made the wheels from carbon fibre as well.... (Total weight of machine only 141 kg !) Engine capacity could be either 1000cc or 1100cc with four or five valve heads on 60 degree V-Twin.. The engine had titanium con rods, computer controlled fuel injection, and pistons from Judd F1 car engines...
I also thank John Britten posthumously for this major contribution to motorcycle racing |
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