ELORA, TN – A battle-tested icon will be seen and heard at the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) event at New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP) June 16-19.
New Zealander Stephen Briggs will be doing laps on Bob Robbins’ Britten V1000.
“I am very lucky to have made great friends with (Briggs) after I acquired the bike, he rode to second place in the World Bears championship in 1995,” Robbins said. “I was able to reunite him with the bike in 2014.”
Robbins explained that the CR & S Britten was the first customer produced bike for Roberto Crepaldi of Café Racers & Superbikes (CR & S) and loaned to the factory from new for their racing efforts.
Known as P001 for the first production bike after three factory bikes, it has been rebuilt twice since 2014 including updating new components such as rods, pistons, and bearings.
“The engine cases and most components are original from 1994 and saw many thousands of World-level race miles in its day including the Isle of Man Senior TT in 1996 with Shaun Harris,” Robbins said. “Many parts have been replaced or reproduced to keep it running well.”
Some upgrades, including a Motec electronic system, have been added to preserve the original components in working condition and add some fail-safe features.
The engine has been slightly de-tuned by lowering the RPM limit. “In the day, these bikes were revved as high as 12,500 RPM at times and made 165 HP at the wheel,” Robbins said.
“The black and yellow color scheme was based on the CR & S racing team colors,” Robbins said. “After a successful history of racing at the World Championship level, it was retired and rebuilt after 1997 and put on display.”
The motorcycle had not been run for many years following. Robbins purchased the Britten in 2014 and it underwent a complete tear-down and refresh with the intention of using the bike for demonstration laps at racetracks.
Briggs has been on board the bike at several events since 2014, including the Pukekohe Park, Hampton Downs Classics events, and the Ruapuna New Zealand BEARS and John Britten 20th anniversary BEARS events in New Zealand during 2015. Continuing its tour in 2015 in the United States, the bike was on track at NJMP and was one of ten V1000’s in attendance and was one of the five on track at The Barber Vintage Festival. During 2016, it turned laps at the Ducati Club Race Assen. During 2017 the V1000 was at the AHRMA national at Road America, and the Isle Of Man Lap of Honor 2017. More recently, it was back at the 2019 Pukekohe New Zealand Classic, Burt Munro Challenge Invercargill New Zealand, and AHRMA’s Road America event.
More information about the AHRMA event at NJMP is at www.ahrma.org
About AHRMA
The American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association is a member-owned nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the sport of historic motorcycle racing. Since 1989, AHRMA has provided an appropriate environment to showcase vintage and alternative modern racing motorcycles in the disciplines of road racing, motocross, dirt track, trials, and cross country. With more than 3,300 members, AHRMA is the largest vintage racing group in North America and is one of the world’s leading vintage motorcycle organizations.
