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
BRITTEN V-1000 RACER TEST P120 laying the machine over on its side, the Britten feels more planted and secure than almost any machine I have ever ridden, only the Aprilia RSA250 Grand Prix machine of Alex Debon I rode felt more nimble. It's incred- ible how quickly I feel comfort- able enough to give the chassis a bit of stick—I feel completely at home, and any thoughts of working for free for the rest of my life gave way to a kind of eu- phoria I have never experienced on a bike before or since. The chassis is your friend, working with you and urging you to go harder into the corner than you did before. The feel that comes from the unconventional Girder front-end is utterly tangible. It feels as through you're running your palm over the contact patch of the tire, and with steering and suspension forces separated, it makes for a ride unlike any other. That's what this chassis has over so many I've tried before— feel and feedback. You know exactly where you are on the track with the Britten. The front- end doesn't dive when you get on the Brembo brakes, which, even for 20+-year-old calipers, still have exceptional power and feel. Rather, the suspension sim- ply squats to let the tire load up and grip for when you begin the turning process, which requires only minimal input to begin with such a lightweight chassis and running gear. But it's not just the front that makes this Britten so confidence inspiring. The rear suspension is mounted beneath the front, and this totally backwards way of thinking (save perhaps for the Bimota Tesi 3D) gives a foreign but at the same time, totally understandable feel on braking and acceleration. There's no denying that the Britten is a stiffly-sprung motor- cycle, but that stiffness equates to a motorcycle as rideable than something like a race-prepped Supersport 600 machine, to which the Britten feels almost equal in terms of weight but not dimensions, which are some- what larger. The rear suspension in particular floats over bumps as if they weren't there. The front is similarly planted, but will send a bit more of a shock through to the rider that almost gets can- celled out by the rear suspen- sion set-up. Again, the miniscule unsprung weight comes to the fore here, but it's particularly noticeable when fast direction changes are required, such as those leaving the penultimate turn and entering Broadford's final turn. Two things stand out here. One—the line changeability when in the middle of the corner and, two—the speed at which it goes from full lean one side to full lean on the other. The approach to turn six is downhill and off-camber, requir- ing total trust in the front-end. The previous three laps had That incredible spaghetti exhaust took 70 man-hours to make. Crashing a Britten is not an option for that reason alone. Radiator was housed under the seat and was cooled via ducts in the front fairing and tank.