Brough Superior

Hand Built - Brough Superior
Hoxtonmoto

From Wikipedia:

Brough Superior motorcycles, sidecars, and motor cars were made by George Brough in his Brough Superior works on Haydn Road in Nottingham, England, from 1919 to 1940. The motorcycles were dubbed the "Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles" by H. D. Teague of The Motor Cycle newspaper. Approximately 3000 motorcycles were made in the 21 years of production; around a third of that production still exists. T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") owned eight of these motorcycles and died from injuries sustained when he crashed number seven; the eighth was on order.

In 1940, the Second World War brought an end to production as the factory was engaged on war work, completing crankshafts for Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. After hostilities had ceased there were no suitable engines available so the company was wound up.

Prices for these motorcycles ranged from £100 to £185 in the 1920s and 1930s.

Gold £4.24 in 1925, so £100 translates (according to my gold standard) as $80,000 in today's Monopoly Money. A little spendy for a sport bike, but possible. It's no longer in the province of the very rich, which kind of implies that society as a whole is considerably richer than it was in 1925. Which reminds me of this video clip.

Brough Superior circa 1930

1922 Brough Superior Mark I

Sum dood bought the name and slapped it on new fangled sport bike. It ain't the same at all.

Brough Superior 1924 Bert Le Vack Racer

Brough Superior 1924 Bert Le Vack Racer 1000cc

From Brough Superior:

S.S.100 and the Challenge for World Speed Records

In 1924, riding Brough Superior’s latest model, the S.S.100, le Vack attempted the motorcycle world land-speed record at Arpajon, France (later on a straight road near Montlhéry). He achieved an astonishing average speed of 119.05 mph (approx. 191.5 km/h), breaking the absolute motorcycle speed record of the time. This sensational feat was celebrated as the moment the “100-mph barrier” was shattered. In that same year alone, le Vack set a total of nine world speed records. Later in 1929, riding an improved Brough Superior machine, he pushed the record to 126.75 mph (207.33 km/h), reclaiming the title of world’s fastest. These achievements firmly established the S.S.100 as the fastest motorcycle of its era.

Bert Le Vack

Brough Superior has appeared here before.

1926 Brough Superior SS100 Alpine Grand Sports

1926 Brough Superior SS100 Alpine Grand Sports

Audrain Automobile Museum gives us a summary:

The Alpine Grand Sport version was named after Brough Superior’s success in the 1925 Alpine Trial, a tough regularity event held annually in Austria. A team of six SS100s, one of which was ridden by George Brough himself, dominated the event and won the Best Performance award. Production models offered to the public featured a lower-compression JAP KTOR racing engine (made by Joseph A. Prestwich, Ltd.), a small fly-screen for wind protection and fully equipped tool boxes mounted to either side of the rear luggage rack. This machine also has the sprung frame option, which greatly improved the ride quality on rough roads. Brough pioneered the use of dual interconnected mufflers, which improved performance without excessive noise, important for motorcycles intended for road use.

Brough Superiors were owned by many wealthy and famous motorcyclists, including the well-known British writer, spy and army officer T.E Lawrence (who fought alongside Arab guerilla forces during the First World War and became known as Lawrence of Arabia, ). Lawrence owned seven Brough Superiors, including four SS100s. He was fatally injured in a riding accident in 1935 when he swerved to avoid two young cyclists. 

Specifications:

• Engine: OHV 50-degree twin-cam v-twin, 998cc 
• Transmission: Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hand-change gearbox with chain drive
• Horsepower: 50 bhp
• Top Speed: 100+ mph

Strumey-Archer, last I heard of them they were making three speed hubs for bicycles. Seems they are still in business, though their products are now made in Taiwan.

Things were changing fast back then. The 1920 Zenith was the first motorcycle to offer any kind of transmission and here, six years later we have a three-speed gearbox.

This post started as a jigsaw puzzle, but the finished image wasn't as clear as I liked so looked around for a better one. Click to embiggenate.