history
Everything began with a dream, in 1986, when John Britten from New Zealand decided it was time to "refresh" his Ducati. He wanted a new body work, a new engine, in fact he wanted something completely different. So he designed two new engines, two AERO bikes featuring an extended aerodynamic front, with spoilers and a special bodywork.
The first one, featuring a Ducati engine, called AERO-D-ZERO, was built in 1985 and run on the track in 1987, reaching a top speed of 234 kph. In 1988 and 1990, the bike won some speed trials due to those 242 kph and 247 kph respectively. Later, John took the AERO bodywork and created a monocoque, AERO-D-ONE, raced in 1987. The bike was retired from racing one year later, after breaking a gudgeon pin at the Sound of Thunder Meeting.
After that, there were the Britten V1000 and the Britten V1100, with power somewhere between 155 and 170 HP. Both bikes proved to "run like crazy animals" being recognized in races because of the 2nd and 3rd places in the Battle of the Twins in Daytona.
John Britten was born on August 1950 and as a child he liked engines, building go-karts. At the age of thirteen, he managed to show his talent restoring an Indian Scout motorcycle. After finishing school and traveling through Europe, Britten returned to New Zealand and went into business, designing glass lighting. At the age of 32, John had been working to a motorcycle design for almost two years and that was the reason why he set up th Britten Motorcycle Company in 1992.
Everything was, at first, a hobby in a garage but after a while the Brittens were recognized all over the world for their power. For those bikes, John Britten used light carbon fiber which allowed the machines to gain some more power.
Unfortunately John Britten died in 1995, therefore never seeing the ten bikes he intended to build. Three of them are in New Zealand, one runs on the streets of Italy, one on the roads of Holland and five in the USA.
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