Brittens Unleashed!

Brittens Unleashed!

If you love all things motorcycles or love innovative design then you have a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience Kiwi design history at Te Manawa but only for a few days!

Te Manawa has on display, for a very limited time, four bikes designed and built by Kiwi design and motorcycle legend John Britten. The four bikes are: 1985 Britten Aero-D-Zero, 1986 Britten Aero-D-One (The Denco), 1988-89 Pre-Cursor Britten V1000, and the 1992 Britten V1000. Each represents a key evolution point in the Britten motorcycle story.

The 1985 Britten Aero-D-Zero is thought to be one of the first Britten prototype bikes. Britten entered this bike into the local BEARS (British, European, American Racing) competition and legend has it that without a race bike himself at this point, Britten could not resist being involved in the project. Britten produced a futuristic glass-fibre body for the bike that displayed the avant-garde design style that he would later become famous for, with a sleek aerodynamic front fairing and spoilers and a shape moulded to fit the rider's body.

In his second, more ambitious prototype Aero-series Britten bike, Britten took the bodywork he'd used in the Aero-D-Zero and developed the 1986 Britten Aero-D-One. Also known as 'the Denco bike', it is powered by an unusual air-cooled, V-twin engine created by Denco Engineering, a Christchurch company with a background in speedway motors. This bike was a monocoque version, a type of construction technique where the shell that sets the shape of the body also acts as the load-bearing chassis. The Aero-D-Zero also flaunts a stylised 'B' for Britten in the shape of a kiwi.

Built from scratch, Britten's fully-fared pre-cursor machine was a bike of firsts. The first Britten with a carbon-fibre body, powered by a Britten-designed water-cooled engine, and to incorporate the engine as a load-bearing component of the frame.

The backyard visionary had his sights set on the world stage, and with the establishment of the Britten Motorcycle Company in 1992, a second generation of V1000s was about to be born.

The 1992 Britten V1000 is a high-speed homage to non-traditional methods of construction and the use of carbon fibre build around its V-twin engine. The wheels, bodywork, swing arm and front girder suspension are all made of carbon fibre, an on-board computer monitors and records mechanical function, and its sophisticated aerodynamic shape helps it slice through the air.

The Britten Motorcycle Company made just 10 of these production V1000 bikes from 1991-98. All are in existence today, three in New Zealand and the rest scattered across the globe. Te Manawa has bike number six on display, affectionately known as the 'BEARS' Britten' after it won the inaugural BEARS World Championship in 1995. Ridden by Kiwi Andrew Stroud, it stormed into first place in the series, with an Italian-owned Britten ridden by Kiwi Stephen Briggs, hot on its heels in second.

Sadly this triumphant win that cemented the Britten's place in history came only a few weeks before John Britten died of cancer at age 45.

These amazing machines are on display at Te Manawa only until Sunday 25 January. Te Manawa is located on Main Street Palmerston North and open 10am - 5pm daily.

ENDS

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