Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/520905
VOL. 52 ISSUE 22 JUNE 2, 2015 P117 Leaving the pits my first thought is to keep the Britten revving and upright, because the entry to Broadford's straight is an extremely tight left-hand hairpin and with the very limited steer- ing lock on the Britten, it makes for an interesting circuit entry. Once on track, upright and still revving, I give the Britten gradual throttle that has the revs climbing quickly to 7000 rpm in second gear, before it is time to think about the entry to the up hill, 180-degree first turn right hander that leads onto the back straight. It is apparent straight away, even on stone cold rubber, that this machine is capable of incred- ible turn and corner speed. The unsprung weight of the Britten is seriously low, with any com- ponent that can be made from carbon-fiber done so, resulting in turn speed that will nearly equal a 250cc GP machine less than half its size. Accelerating down the back straight for the first time is some- thing I won't forget in a hurry. The Britten picks up revs with such intensity it feels as though it could take on V-twins like a Panigale, and the drive through the rev range is as measured as it is ferocious—it's just so hard to believe that this machine came out of the garage of one man. There are a few different SPECIFICATIONS Britten V-1000 CONFIGURATION: .................... 60˚ V-twin CYLINDER HEAD: ........ DOHC, four-valves per cylinder CAPACITY: ........................................998cc BORE: ............................................. 99mm STOKE: ........................................... 64mm COMPRESSION RATIO: .................... 12.0:1 COOLING:......................................... Liquid FUELING: .............................................. EFI POWER: ................................................ N/A TORQUE: ............................................... N/A TOP SPEED: .......................181.1 mph (est) TRANSMISSION: ...................... Five-speed PRIMARY DRIVE: ................................ Gear CLUTCH: ............................................... Dry FINAL DRIVE: .................................... Chain FRAME MATERIAL: ............... Carbon-fiber FRAME LAYOUT: .............. Engine used as stressed member RAKE: ....................................................23˚ TRAIL: ........................................ Not given WHEELBASE: ..................................56.3 in. BRAKES: ........................................ Brembo FRONT: ...................... Twin 320mm discs, four-piston calipers REAR: ........ 210mm disc, two-piston caliper FRONT SUSPENSION: .....................Double wishbone parallelogram girder fork with Öhlins shock REAR SUSPENSION: ..........Front-mounted vertical Öhlins shock via pull-rod rising- rate linkage WHEELS: .......Three-spoke, carbon wheel FRONT WHEEL: .........................17 x 3.625 REAR WHEEL: ................................ 17 x 6.0 TIRES: ................. Pirelli Diablo Superbike FRONT TIRE: ........................... 120/70 R17 REAR TIRE: .............................. 180/60-R17 WEIGHT: ............... 317 lbs. (dry, claimed) The Britten unclothed. You can see the steering linkages, front and rear suspension at the front of the machine and the mass of carbon-fiber. back to 2500 rpm quicker than any four-stroke I've ever ridden. Coupled with the ultra-fast rev- ving engine is an exhaust note that is totally unique—the Brit- ten sounds similar to a Honda VTR1000 SP1 with Akrapovic pipes mixed with a Yamaha TRX850—a completely different note to anything I've ever ridden before, although not as loud as I anticipated.