No 56k: A Night With The Brittens - Dallas

Spectre

The Deported
Joined
Feb 1, 2007
Messages
36,832
Location
Dallas, Texas
Car(s)
00 4Runner | 02 919 | 87 XJ6 | 86 CB700SC
Last month, Der Stig forwarded an email he'd received from one of the local Ducati dealerships. It was an invitation to come see not one but two of the ten Britten V-1000 motorcycles ever made.



I wasted little time in assuring him that I wished to attend. Further investigation seemed to indicate it was really an open invitation and would have free food and drinks - so much the better.

This evening I finished up work and hustled downtown to AMS Ducati. There were quite a number of other motorcyclists in attendance, along with an interesting mix of motorcycles. Lots of Ducatis, of course. All pictures are clickable for high res versions - I apologize in advance for any poor camera work that may be present.

















Der Stig had gotten there ahead of me.





Just as I was about to walk into the dealership, one of the Brittens came roaring around the corner, down the street and past me into the exhibition area. Der Stig got part of that on video.


I walked into the area just as they were turning the Britten around and placing it on the plinth for the night's events.







Andrew Stroud, who rode this specific V-1000 to its championship win had his leathers on display.



This is not the Stroud bike, but the initial crush around that one made it impossible to get near for a while.











This, on the other hand, is the Stroud bike - and is the one that was ridden into the dealership:




Don't worry, I have plenty more photographs. The number of obvious female riders in attendance as well as other women who appeared to be actually interested in the engineering and design of the Brittens (as opposed to evidently just showing up for the free food and wine) was surprising and gratifying.





Der Stig getting a detail shot.



Of course, the obligatory "I was here" picture for him.



Looks like I'll be posting this up in installments. So, more to come.
 
Last edited:
Der Stig heading for the souvenir shirt/hat/etc table. The different accents heard were quite interesting - there were people there from the UK, Australia, New Zealand (other than the people with the bikes, that is), Asia, Ireland, Russia, France... and probably quite a few other places, at least originally.



Yes, we were even allowed to touch the Stroud bike, though most didn't - probably out of respect.


Some more shots of the Stroud bike.


























The ingenious rear pushrod suspension.


Which connects via a linkage to this upwards pointing shock in the front.


There are so many fascinating little details on these bikes.


For example, the rotors were clearly custom, but they weren't marked for proper rotation at time of manufacture so they have Sharpie'd on arrows indicating direction of rotation. Yes, the wheels are carbon fiber.






The rear wheel is another fascinating design exercise.


Tiny little rear Brembo caliper back there - and it's upside down. Yes, the bleed screw points down!




Again, more later today - I've got over 200 more pictures of the bikes. :)
 
Last edited:
I saw a V1000 in person at the Solvang Motorcycle museum in California. Amazing design.
 
Great stuff spectre, thanks for sharing man.

Those bikes are such incredible machines. I'd be happy just having a garage at my disposal again. Learning some basic machining and getting good at TIG. I can't imagine having the skills or drive to put something like that together.
 
Great stuff spectre, thanks for sharing man.

Those bikes are such incredible machines. I'd be happy just having a garage at my disposal again. Learning some basic machining and getting good at TIG. I can't imagine having the skills or drive to put something like that together.

I remember seeing a documentary where they showed his workshop/garage.
It was baffling to see a guy casting and welding this kind of stuff by his own. :blink:
 
Top