So, I promised to do a series on motorcycles. For those that don’t know, I am a motorcycle junkie. I just love them. Old or new, it doesn’t matter much to me.
I’m going to start this series with the most valuable motorcycle on the planet, Brough Superior.
Brough Superior motorcycles came to being in 1922 when a man named George Brough decided he could make a better motorcycle than his father had been making since 1908. In fact, he thought they were superior to any other motorcycle.
He may have been right. They were called the Rolls Royce of motorcycles and were of absolutely the highest quality. Every Brough Superior was built twice. It was assembled in the factory at Nottingham, England then taken apart so each part could be painted or plated then was reassembled.
Each motorcycle was fully tested before it was shipped and each came with a certificate of testing signed by George Brough. This model, the SS80 was certified to be ridden at 80 miles per hour.
This particular motorcycle is an SS80 that was one of 119 made in 1939. It featured a square (bore and stroke were the same) 1000cc V-twin side valve motor that was sourced from Matchless backed by a close ratio 4 speed transmission that was sourced from the same maker as the more famous Norton used.
In 1939 the Brough Superior was FAST. The brakes were moderate at best even by the standards of the day. Fit and finish was extraordinary and the ride was decent considering it was a hardtail (no rear suspension).
Though the motorcycle cost as much as a house in London at the time it had lots of supporters. Probably the most famous was TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) who owned 8 of them. Sort of. He died riding #7 but he had ordered and paid for #8 so it was delivered to his estate after his death. Number 7 lived in the War Museum in London for years but has been recently removed.
The actor Paul Newman considered his Brough Superior to be the centerpiece of his extensive motorcycle collection.
In 1940 Brough ceased production to make crankshafts for the Rolls-Merlin aircraft engines and never produced another motorcycle (or car-another story). George Brough and his plant foreman continued to service their motorcycles by making and selling parts until his death in 1969.
So if you find yourself in possession of a spare million and want a pretty exclusive collectible the Brough Superior might be for you. This one was bid to $140,000 last February in Phoenix and did not make the reserve price.
All words and photographs in this post are mine. For better or worse.
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