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/588372
11TH ANNUAL BARBER VINTAGE FESTIVAL P112 HONORING BRITTEN The Britten motorcycle was the featured brand at this year's Barber Vintage Festival and the reunion of Britten machines, racers and the late John Britten's family was hugely popular. Nine of the 10 Britten V1000 motorcycles created by innovator John Britten (1950-95) were said to be at the Barber Festival. This was significant, as there have never been that many of the rare Britten V1000s together at the same time. Five of them were ridden around the road course on display laps and two of Britten's most famous riders, Andrew Stroud and Stephen Briggs, were on hand to ride and to talk with fans. Stroud and Briggs finished first and second respectively in the inaugu- ral World B.E.A.R.S Series (British European American Racing Series) in 1995 aboard Britten V1000s. John Britten's wife Kirsteen Britten, his children, and grandchildren, trav- eled to the event from New Zealand. Kirsteen Britten spoke at "An Evening with Britten," a fundraiser dinner for the Barber Museum. The documen- tary about John Britten's life, "One Man's Dream," was featured at a local theater. "It was a great honor to celebrate John Britten's incredible accomplish- ments with members of his family and his friends, along with the Britten owners and our museum guests at this year's Vintage Festival," said the museum's founder, George Barber. Stroud and Briggs sat down with a small group of fans for a discussion on their days racing the Britten and it was fascinating. Cycle News re- corded the lengthy discussion and it can be heard HERE https://archive. org/details/151009007 "What comes through for me this weekend is that John's story, while it's fun and interesting, also has mo- tivated and freed people to live their dreams," Kirsteen Britten said. "I had a beautiful young man come through this morning and say his family told him he had to be a lawyer and he says, 'I'm not a lawyer, I'm building motorcycles." And he was crying and he loves what he does and he's living his dream." Stephen Briggs (left) and Andrew Stroud (right) finished first and second in the World B.E.A.R.S Series (British European American Racing Series) in 1995. The two riders were on hand at the Barber Vintage Festival to help celebrate the Britten motorcycle, the featured brand of the festival this year. Talk about your unique mix of motorcycles. Sometimes the combined classes of AHRMA produce some great racing action between a diverse set of machines such as this Next Gen Superbike, Formula Vintage & eSuperSport class. In this photo it's Ryan Hunt (X76) leading a pack that includes Brad Coleman (77), Peter Politiek (P59), Paul Germain (1V), Alan Perry (162), Mick Vaclavik (oo75), Keith Powell (X49) and Will Brint (118).