Play

00:00

Captions

Volume

Hero image for Britten - Backyard Visionary

Part one of five from this full length documentary.

Part two of five from this full length documentary.

Part three of five from this full length documentary.

Part four of five from this full length documentary.

Part five of five from this full length documentary.

Credits from this full length documentary.

Part one of five from this full length documentary.

Part two of five from this full length documentary.

Part three of five from this full length documentary.

Part four of five from this full length documentary.

Part five of five from this full length documentary.

Credits from this full length documentary.

Britten - Backyard Visionary

Television (Full Length) – 1994

Add to watch list

In the late 1980s, Kiwi John Britten developed and built a revolutionary racing motorcycle. He pursued his dream all the way to Daytona International Speedway in Florida. In 1991 the underdog inventor came second against the biggest and richest manufacturers in the world. Britten: Backyard Visionary documents the maverick motorcycle designer as he and his crew rush to create an even better bike for the next Daytona. After arriving in Florida, another all-nighter is required to fix an untested vehicle with many major innovations. Costa Botes writes about the documentary here.

...in New Zealand's history we've always had to either make something or fix the thing you've got. We've always been 12,000 miles away from any spare part. So the ability of Kiwis to manufacture and build things and keep things going and repair things has been a New Zealand tradition…
– John Shand, from the International Motorcycle Federation