Britten Buy-Out
BRITTEN BUY-OUT
WHITHER BRITTEN? BY the time of John Britten's death in September, 1995, his work had created a respected and influential place for itself in motorcycle design. In rapid-fire succession, the New Zealand native produced a successful racing V-Twin, carbon-fiber chassis technology, a workable non-telescopic fork and practical, safe, carbon-fiber wheelswork that any large manufacturer could be proud of.
The V1000 Twin won numerous races worldwide, and a new Single was in progress. John had even re designed the Twin to make it suitable for production
with Down Under Indian revival funding, but that arrangement apparently went nowhere.
Since then, we've heard that new money had been found and that the Single would be built as Britten had planned. A mys terious Auckland backer then promised production bikes within three years. Long-time U.S. supporter and V 1000 owner Jim Hunter put together financing packages intended to allow the enterprise to go for ward, but nothing was ever agreed upon. Meanwhile, tal ented people were leaving the company. Currently, a machin ist comes in to finish parts for the two final Vl000s.
One of these bikes is report edly destined for a Japanese collector. The other may be kept for Britten's children. There are persistent reports that the company has tried to sell it self, in whole or in part, to a variety of buyers, said to in clude ATK, Bimota and Harley. More recently, Polaris report edly had a look. Victory spokesman Matt Parks says that Mrs. Britten approached Polaris two years ago, but there was little to interest a main stream motorcycle producer; the major assets were John's "skin-and-bones" filamentwound carbon-fiber technology and the Britten name. Neither had a place in Polaris' product planning.
It's impossible to say whether the Britten name will continue to be actively associ ated with unusual high-perfor mance motorcycles, or if it will pass, like the man himself, into history. Either way, our respect for John is permanent.
Kevin Cameron
