A Britten! ....in Pittsfield?!!

[dontpanic]

The Berkshire Museum has an exhibit whose theme is Collections. Can you guess what drew me in?

[Woodcraft]

Of all the bikes I have ridden in my life, having the opportunity to race one of those at mid Ohio many years ago was probably the coolest thing I have ever had the honor to do. It was positively the best wheelie machine I have ever ridden. Externally adjustable cam timing (seriously), crazy light weight ...lots of fun.

[Rada]

Of all the bikes I have ridden in my life, having the opportunity to race one of those at mid Ohio many years ago was probably the coolest thing I have ever had the honor to do. It was positively the best wheelie machine I have ever ridden. Externally adjustable cam timing (seriously), crazy light weight ...lots of fun.

Seriously jealous...

I saw the one on display at Barber and spent a lot of time drooling over the bike and studying every detail.... Truly a work of engineering art.

[SRTie4k]

Sadly, not a work of art in the looks department. That paint scheme is hideous.

[ZX-12R]

How long is the exhibit running? My family is from just outside of Pittsfield.

[nt650hawk]

watch them all. and learn about John and why this bike is SOOOOOO amazing

http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/brit...visionary-1993

[drinkingmymilk]

How long is the exhibit running? My family is from just outside of Pittsfield.

May 11th, I just looked it up... Because I want.

[soofle616]

May 11th, I just looked it up... Because I want.

hmm, weekend ride to pittsfield?

[DucDave]

Of all the bikes I have ridden in my life, having the opportunity to race one of those at mid Ohio many years ago was probably the coolest thing I have ever had the honor to do. It was positively the best wheelie machine I have ever ridden. Externally adjustable cam timing (seriously), crazy light weight ...lots of fun.

Wow...

I already thought you were pretty cool. Now I want your autograph. That's awesome!

[Woodcraft]

Eh...I just got to ride it. That just makes me lucky more than anything else. I wish I had the opportunity to meet John Britten himself - that's an autograph I'd like to have.

I rode it at first and surprisingly it was pretty weak on bottom end power and it had a big rush of power on the top. Not exactly what I expected from a big Vtwin. I told the mechanic and he said "no problem - we found more power on the dyno with cam timing but we weren't sure how it would work on the track. I'll change it back". 20 minutes later I had different cam timing, a ton more mid range and much faster lap times. It was pretty cool.

I had a really funny experience when I was riding it. You almost never hear anything but the bike and other riders when you ride. The Britten was not exactly quiet, so this experience surprised me a bit. This bike was so easy to ride that I was riding a wheelie the length of the straight at Mid Ohio almost every lap. One lap, when I set the bike down it got into a little bit of a tank slapper. Nothing big, but when you are riding a bike that is one of less than a dozen in the world and it's considered nearly priceless, people get nervous for you. I actually could hear the collective gasp from the crowd when I set the front wheel down. Next time around I gave the crowd a glance of acknowledgement as the bike made it itself vertical across start finish again, and was sure to touch down completely straight to avoid any more drama.

All in all, probably riding that bike one of my most memorable racing experiences. I am grateful to the owner (Jim Hunter) for the opportunity of a lifetime.

[Paul_E_D]

THAT is a story. Was the bike still an alcohol burner at that point? Did they all burn alcohol, or were some of them gas burners?

[Woodcraft]

This was definitely a gas burning bike