Dripping high tech finery, the Britten racer looks like a product of the huge expertise and endless resources of a major manufacturer. Even Ducati World Superbike racers, beautiful though they are, look low rent compared to the Britten. In fact the V-twin is the result of one man's vision and his and several friends' hard work and dedication.

Apart from components like conrods, pistons and valves, virtually everything on the bike is Britten designed and built. The only major non-Britten parts are a ZXR750 Kawasaki clutch basket and plates and a Yamaha five speed gearbox. A sophisticated engine management system allows settings such as fuel injection and ignition curve to be set by a few keystrokes on a laptop computer.

Two belt driven cams live in four valve cylinder heads. Being a V-twin the motor has a small frontal area, ideal for a racer. Setting the pots 60 degrees apart means wheelbase can be kept short for sharp Intricate exhaust system.  It  alone took 70 hours to make. No wonder Britten racers cost £60,000.  Engine castings must be strong because they're a key part of the chassis.

The V-twin unit has to stay rigid under the forces of 155bhp pumping through the back wheel and the braking forces of twin Brembos coming from the front.

Steering and suspension lugs are cast on forward head while the rear supports the saddle and radiator beneath it. The carbon fibre swingarm pivots on the crankcase.

Carbon fibre is also used for the girder fork which unlike teles can tell the difference between braking forces and bumps. Different to a conventional girder, it can be adjusted to dive under braking, essential feedback for a racer.

Britten workers layup carbon fibre themselves, and it's used in parts as diverse as the carb bellmouths and wheels.

Yes, that is the rear shock ahead of the engine and like the front it's an Öhlins. Both are sited away from heat traps that would cause damping to degenerate.

John Britten died in 1995 aged only 45, but he lived to see his creation win races. The Britten has won British, European and American Race Series (BEARS), now called Sound of Thunder, races at Daytona from 1994 to 1997.

In 1996 and '97 blistering New Zealand rider Andrew Stroud lapped all but the second and third placed racers. And to see and hear the awesome V-twin is one of motorcycling's classic sights and sounds. After each fantastic victory the Britten teamsters never miss the opportunity to give the crowds another thrill, pulling huge wheelies through the gears.

Unfortunately for race fans homologation rules limit the events the Britten can enter. For World Superbikes the company would have to build 200 bikes, a huge task for a small firm building machines that need thousands of hours of labour to produce.

A road going Britten is even less likely. There has been talk of a custom cruiser powered by a detuned Britten V-twin. But this wouldn't do the motor justice. If the fantasy of a Britten on the road could become reality it would have to be a sportster.

Phil McCallen: 'The Britten was a dark horse'

Nick Jefferies was the fastest man around the TT course on a Britten in 1994.

How did you come to race the Britten at the TT in 1994?
I’d won the Formula One race in 1993 on the Honda RC30 and I knew there was a new bike coming, the RC45 but I also knew numbers were only small.

The Honda team was going to be Philip McCallen and Steve Hislop and obviously Joey got a bike too, which left me looking at alternatives.

I’d raced at Macau and spoke to Andrew Stroud (multi NZ champion who was a Britten rider) who spoke about the Britten and said it was fast and a good bike, and it had done well at Daytona. I got the call from John Britten early in 1994, we worked out a deal, and it went from there.

When did you first ride the bike?
I met John along with the bike at a crappy Mallory Park in March ’94. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen the bike as a single Britten had been at the TT in ’93 with Shaun Harris.

We didn’t really get to test the bike properly as the weather was a bit crap and I don’t really like Mallory, but it showed potential at the North West.

How did it perform at the TT?
To be honest it was light and had so much power it would wheelie everywhere, which was great fun. You could just lift the front and put it where you wanted! It was a brilliant wheelie bike for showing off on.

Instead of loading the front over the bumps you could just wheelie it over the really bumpy bits. I’m from a trials background, so I could ride it on the back wheel all over the place.