Tragic Genius

The words “genius” and “tragedy” are often overstated, but it is surely beyond question that New Zealander John Britten was an engineering genius, and that his death in September 1995 at the age of 45 from skin cancer was a tragedy of significant proportions for the world of motorcycling. Although a crowded existence meant he had to combine family life with two full-time careers – as a commercial property developer (a business he took over after his father passed away) as well as a hands-on two-wheel visionary – Britten’s achievements have received just acclaim the world over. The motorcycles he developed, by their technological excellence and avant-garde engineering, would have been sufficient by their very creation to ensure Britten’s name is remembered. The fact that his bikes also won races around the world by defeating the products of established manufacturers having far greater resources only adds to the calibre of his achievement.

The fact that the initially weird, but later wonderful Britten motorcycles were created in Christchurch, capital of New Zealand’s South Island and the most remote outpost on Planet Earth from the mainstream of motorcycle evolution, only added to the mystique of Britten’s creations. But the extra dose of self-reliance that Kiwis get by being so remote from biking’s world stage added to Britten’s spark of dedicated enthusiasm and innovative thought and resulted in a series of machines that probably could never have been constructed anywhere else. The fact that such avant-garde, innovative motorcycles came to be built so far from the epicentres of two-wheeled development speaks volumes for Britten’s determination, which was fuelled by a healthy dose of traditional Kiwi self-reliance.

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