Chch-built motor-cycle takes on world’s best

Press, 27 February 1989, Page 11

Chch-built motor-cycle takes on world’s best

By

NIGEL MALTHUS

When John Britten’s Britten 1000 motor-cycle races at Daytona in the United States, on March 11, it will be a case of Christchurch technology taking on the world’s best in a racing class that is both competitive and innovative.

He will not predict how well it will go, but it is clear Mr Britten dreams of the same type of fairytale success that so nearly came New Zealand’s way

in America’s Cup yachting.

The machine he designed and built was fired up for the first time only two days before its first

public outing, at the B.E.A.R.S. Sound of Thunder meeting at Ruapuna on January 22. Although Mr Britten was already known for his

Britten-Denco bike, designed around a proprietary engine, his latest bike is entirely new. Mr Britten believes the engine is the only one of its type in the world that was designed for racing, rather than developed from a production machine. It will compete in a class limited to fourstroke twin engines of up to IOOOcu cm capacity. This event is known in the United . States as “ProTwins,” elsewhere as "Battle of the Twins.” A water-cooled IOOOcu cm V-twin, the engine has four valves and two beltdriven overhead camshafts on each cylinder. Some internal parts were bought “off the shelf,” but the rest was designed and built in Christchurch, even the computerised electronic fuel injection. “It’s a total New Zealand product. It’s not as if I’ve hotted up a Yamaha or something,” Mr Britten said.

He said that the carbon fibre and kevlar chassis was even more radical than the engine. The chassis consists of a swing arm bolted to the back of the engine and a steering head mount bolted to the top. Carbon fibre and kevlar bodywork complete the package, which weighs a competitive 145 kg. Mr Britten said a few attempts had been made to build motor-cycles out of such advanced materials and he knew from stress testing that his was both stronger and lighter than these. His previous machine attracted international in-

terest, and some criticism that he was attempting too much in trying to build it all from scratch.

“It is a gamble. But if it goes, it’ll be so much better because everything in it is better,” he said. The weak link so far had been the fuel injection, built by a local company, Auto Logic. Matching fuel injection to largecapacity twins is notoriously difficult and the machine has been flown to the United States for the Daytona races with the job still not complete. A local rider, Chris Haldane, took the Britten to a fourth place at the Sound of Thunder meeting, when, according to the mechanic, Mr Allan Wylie, it was “not running very well at all.” “It’s much better now,” Mr Wylie said.

He will fly. to the United States on Wednesday with a second engine and meet the rider for Daytona, Gary Goodfellow.

Goodfellow is a former New Zealand international now based in Canada, and a recent runner-up in the American Superbike Championships.

Mr Britten will not necessarily see his bike race on March 11. He will fly over if the practice sessions suggest it has a chance of success.

Ironically, his only sponsorship has come from a Japanese sports clothes manufacturer who has agreed to pay freight costs. The few local firms Mr Britten has approached have shown little interest.