The ’90s Icon That’s Still Cooler Than Most New Bikes

The ’90s gave us some exceptional motorcycles. Japanese manufacturers, in particular, had become obsessed with speed, and brought out one amazing superbike after another through the decade. BMW had struck gold with the GS line, Ducati experienced a revival, and Harley-Davidson built a motorcycle that wasn’t a cruiser.

Suffice to say, it was a decade to be remembered, and one that gave us a long list of incredible motorcycles. But one bike stands out, and it didn’t come from any of the established brands. In fact, it wasn’t even from a manufacturer at all, it was built in a shed, and defied conventional wisdom.

The Britten V1000 Is Still Cooler Than Most New Bikes

Power: 166 Horsepower

Britten

The V1000 was built by New Zealander John Britten from the ground up. Usually, when one refers to a bike or car being built from the ground up, there is at least some form of starting point: an engine, or a frame, usually both. Well, the V1000 doesn’t even have a frame and all the engine casings were designed and cast by John and his small team. Nothing on the bike uses any form of conventional thinking, but we need to start somewhere, and its V-twin engine seems like a good place.

Firstly, at a time when inline-four engines were taking over the industry, he chose a V-twin. This, in itself, was a little radical, but at the time, WorldSBK rules favored V-twins. So, if competing at that was the ultimate objective, this configuration made sense. He also had some experience with old Indian twins, and it stands to reason that this decision was more to do with personal preference than anything else.

A Home-Built Engine With Race Specifications

The “home-built” race engine was thoroughly modern, with sequential fuel injection, titanium internals and an exhaust that could easily be exhibited in an art museum. All the casings were cast in-house, and the head was designed and built with the use of a flowbench, and carefully optimized. The end result was a high-performance liquid-cooled V-twin engine that made a scarcely believable 166 horsepower. That kind of power made it competitive back in the 90s, but for it to be in the hunt for race wins, it needed a chassis to match the engine. Only, the engine was the chassis.

Engine Specifications

There Is Nothing Else Quite Like The V1000

Anything But Ordinary

Wikimedia Commons

Using the engine as a stressed member of the chassis is a common practice, but using the engine as the chassis defies all logic. Everything from the subframe to the suspension is mounted to the engine. For a high-volume manufacturer, this type of out-the-box thinking is quite literally impossible. Such a thing could never be put into production – for several reasons, least of which, cost – but when you are building something for a specific purpose that allows for creativity to flow. This creativity flowed straight into the suspension, too.

Girder forks have been around since the turn of the century (or should we be saying the turn of the last century?) and are nothing new, but using them for a race application is bizarre. By the 90s, forks were rather obviously the front suspension of choice and there were several great off-the-shelf options available to racing teams. But, once again, this setup was chosen for a specific reason. Girder forks can be easily adjusted to alter the geometry from race to race, which means the bike can be set up perfectly for just about any track in a matter of minutes.

To save weight, they were made from carbon-fiber, as were the wheels (incidentally illegal today) and rear swingarm. This is in the 90s, around two decades before carbon fiber was used by other top level racing teams. Compared to the bikes they were racing, the V1000 seemed to have come straight out of the future. Other than the fact that it had two wheels (even those were unconventional) and complied with all the necessary race regulations, it had very little in common with the bikes it was competing with.

Chassis, Suspension, And Weight Specifications

The Man Behind The V1000

It is impossible to talk about the V1000 and not talk about the man himself. John Britten was obviously a talented engineer, and didn’t only build his dream race bike, but also built his own home, which is also a little unconventional. He owned and crashed a jet boat. He owned and crashed a microlight aircraft, and he raced both motorcycles and cars. But, it was cancer that brought an untimely end to his life, shortly after the bike started winning races consistently back in 1995.

Not many of us will get an opportunity to live out our dream, but even though he passed at the relatively young age of 45, he certainly was able to achieve his. He saw his creation not only take the fight to the big manufacturer-backed teams, but win races on the global stage. The Britten V1000 isn’t so much a motorcycle as a rolling representation of what can be achieved with enough resources and willpower.

He wasn’t a “self-made man” like people like to say, but had the support of a loving family and a dedicated team that all believed in his dream as much as he did. This is not just the most iconic bike from the 90s, but a physical example of an impossible dream actually coming true.