Took the words out of my mouth. Noticed Guy Martin must be a Britten fan too, watching "Guys Garage" noticed he has a huge mural of the Britten on his garage wall.
I've 'followed' - so to speak - Britten since I first read a contemperaneous article about the very first V1000 he made .... I mean literally MADE. By hand. That bike - EVERYTHING about that bike - screamed high class engineering, innovation, design and determination and it was awe inspiring. The tragic, early death of John Britten was a real shock and such a huge loss to motorcycle engineering and racing. Like most, I imagine, I've seen a couple of documentaries about his life - video of him casting crankcases in his own home workshop and stuff like that, and they merely emphasise how very determined and innovative he was. And I love the scenes of him at Daytona where his V1000s - again pretty much home made - emphatically humiliate the multimillion dolllar products of Ducati Racing. Best of all, though, I went to the Pukekohe Classic meeting in NZ about 6 or 7 years ago and had the chance to stand next to a couple of Brittens, hear them start up and watch them race at close quarters. That alone justified the air fare! Well, almost. If you're going to put an advent picture up of a Britten, for my money, it should be the very last of the series because you should always save the best till last! My 2p.
Having spent my working life as a mechanical design engineer I can fully appreciate John Britten's achievements in such a short life, such a sad loss. Amazing what can be done in a garden shed if your talent is big enough - one of my hero's. Allen Millyard is another talent, looks like I might have to add Ian Drysdale to the list.
I have met Mr Millyard a couple of times through working with his Brother Brian. Who is also a very talented engineer. But really nice down to earth people. Joe
9th Dec https://www.lanemotormuseum.org/collection/motorcycles/item/jawa-175cc-1959 Edit... I couldn’t find the exact details on the above Jawa... I suspect it may be the 250, not the175... the nacelle is a bit different too (QI - I am led to believe that Jawa used them before Triumph)
What a cool idea and great thread, @DCS900. I just discovered the thread this evening so I've just now caught up with all the posts. I'm really enjoying it and am looking forward to the rest off the "Advent Calendar"! This is a lovely Christmas gift to the forum. Thank you!
Dec 13th This bike never fails to stir my loins… I’ve lusted after one of these for more years than I care to remember! https://www.ducaticlassics.com/motorcycles/900-mike-hailwood-replica
