Posh totty – Brough Superior SS100

To start our look at ‘coffee table’ bikes, there could be only one choice – the Rolls-Royce of motorcycles

We take a look at those coffee table bikes – the ones everyone touts, but many know little about. And where better to start than the SS100

‘Ha – kids, Eh? Don’t know they’re born’. Those oftenridiculed rug rats, wageeaters, spoiled brats, call them what you will – but one of them, a young, vociferous lad by the name of George Brough, brought us and generations before us a range of motorcycles the likes of which we hadn’t seen, and never will see again.

The Brough Superior was born from a young man’s enthusiasm – and a little egotism – to break away from the well-made and respected bikes and then motorcycles that his father, engineer William Brough was making in Nottingham.

This was a momentous time, with industrial advances the likes no one had seen before. Coal was powering most moving machines and an intelligent engineer like William not only built his own house, but saw the revolution of personal transport as a good future for the family. Brough built bikes, their own engines and even cars, albeit on a small, sensible scale.

George, probably from hanging around his father’s works, quickly picked up motorcycling, with stories of him riding from his young teens. And these machines were effectively bicycles with small engines attached. But as they became more commonplace, so did the idea of competition and young George was soon to be seen at many trials and events on a Brough motorcycle; with some success, it has to be said.

In the Nottingham road trials in

1911, George rode a V-twin produced in the Brough factory and he came first in the London-Edinburgh trial three years running – 1910, 1911 and 1912. This won for him the Motor Cycling Cup. In fact, speed and competition would surround George, quickly gaining him a ‘mad’

reputation with the locals – including the constabulary.

The First World War was about to engulf the country. William Brough wanted to play safe, create solid and reliable products and be sensible; George was ambitious and saw the war as a way to succeed. During his war duties at his father’s factory, which made fuel parts for aero engines and anti-aircraft shells, George satisfied himself by designing ‘the perfect motorcycle’, with friends he met during his service.

By 1919 George set up on his own to create this lavish machine, with his father giving much help, including staff. And the new company’s name? Brough Superior, to the disapproval of his father, who felt it implied his own products were inferior.

With George known as a sportsman, his father’s reputation for quality and George’s reputed larger-than-life PR skills (and ego) Brough Superior became an established brand in a market of one – the market for ‘upmarket sporting machines’.

Unlike Brough who made most parts themselves, Brough Superior used mainly third-party parts like J A Prestwich (JAP) engines, Sturmey-Archer gearboxes and a copy of Harley-Davidson forks. Even the frames were made by a different company. One critic pointed out that George had simply created a beautiful hand-beaten and soldered petrol tank which he stuck on top of other people’s components, which was more than a little unfair as he prepped all those bought-in parts himself.

Each motorcycle was built twice. The first assembly was for fitting of all components, then the motorcycle was taken apart and all parts were painted or plated as needed, then these finished parts were put together. Every motorcycle was test ridden to ensure that it performed to specification and was certified by George Brough. Brough’s focus on not just upmarket, but sporting bikes, made them the poster bike and one which after the devastation of the First World War, was greeted with affection – even if most couldn’t afford them.

From that first bike, the ‘Mark 1’, or 90 Bore (named because the JAP 980cc V-twin engine had a 90mm bore), must have been like seeing the first motorcycle. V-twins were for hauling sidecars, sports bikes didn’t exist and the curved saddle tank was a thing of beauty. Then, in 1923 the SS80 was introduced, with JAP’s new sidevalve engine. It was available in whatever spec the purchaser wanted, with whatever

accessories they wanted. The bikes were bespoke, with the riding position and the curve of the handlebars set at the factory for the individual customer. But most importantly, it came with a certificate that it would achieve 80mph. The SS80 in various guises gave George the success he craved and the profit he needed for the next venture – the big one.

The SS100 was released in 1925 and itself was an evolution of ace tuner and daredevil Bert Le Vack’s world recordbreaking bike, which had an experimental JAP engine and recorded a top speed of 119.74mph. The KTOR was overhead valve, 980cc and had every possible racing extra, like a top-end oil pump, four cams and roller bearings. It made around 50hp, unheard of in 1924, but would cost £100 from JAP if a customer asked.

The production SS100 was offered with the slightly less stressed version of the engine, and complete with such luxuries as a Magdyno and lights, numberplates, pump and horn, it cost £170. A speedo was extra, but you had a choice of Coweys or Bonnisken, but these would be essential should you wish to test the certificated speed over ¼ mile of 100mph.

The SS100 was the fastest motorcycle anyone could have on the road. It was the most beautiful machine anyone would see, with incredible attention to detail. The tank had changed in shape slightly to be even more smooth and suave. The exhaust manifolds were finned to keep cool, the individually bent bars a thing of beauty, including the internal cables. Bizarrely, the Harley-Davidson forks were not up to the job, having been designed for use without a front brake, so George fitted a 5in Webb, which slowed slightly quicker than dragging your feet.

Later, Castle forks were fitted, designed by Brough Superior engineer Harold Karslake, or ‘Oily’ to his friends, which were an evolution of the old H-D ones and were made by Brampton for Brough Superior. Oily also has the pleasure of being cited as the creator not only of the dipping headlamp, but of the motorcycle sidestand. Oily, we salute you, Sir.

The SS100 sold well – with 69 being made in 1925 – a lot for a small company making expensive, bespoke machines in postwar Britain. But George’s sporting aspirations created yet another model,

one that is now the crème de le crème; the Alpine Grand Sports.

The AGS had many small adjustments to help it be the best and they concentrated on helping it at the Austrian Alpine Trials, in 1926. George and fellow Brough racer, Freddie (or Gentleman)

Dixon had great success the previous year and learned a lot. So the frame was adapted to give more ground clearance and it was stiffened at the headstock, the KTOR engine was detuned to make longdistance cruising more attainable, the seat was lowered, an auxiliary oil tank fitted so the fuel tank could hold more petrol, the gearbox was repositioned to lower the centre of gravity and they had a tiny café racer-style screen. The gearshift was stuck on the side of the petrol tank, and AGS had a special close ratio gearbox. They also had toolboxes fitted as standard. But, as always, the brakes were not improved, despite the mountain passes and hairpins.

By 1934 the SS100 had gone through numerous detail changes and for this year came with the JAP 8/75 v-twin engine. This was lavishly equipped, with two carbs, two magnetos, a pair of oil pumps and

‘Oily’ also has the pleasure of being cited as the creator not only of the dipping headlamp, but of the motorcycle sidestand. Oily, we salute you, Sir.

stunning performance and the first of the Castle forks. Brough guaranteed it would top 110mph. Sadly, the overstressed JAP engine turned out to be unreliable, and just 10 of these firebreathers were built.

George decided on a change in engine supplier in 1936, with a Matchless OHV V-twin in place of the JAP. The Matchless mill came with ‘square’ barrel dimensions, hairpin valve springs and a twin carb arrangement. Two years later Brough responded to fashion and demands for comfort and fitted plunger suspension and a modern centrestand, rather than the rear wheel device used by most manufacturers.

The SS100 took something of a back seat at Brough Superior while George mucked about with a transverse V-twin mated to an Austin Seven gearbox on which the rider engaged first by hand and second and third with their foot, and then he created the Golden Dream, a shaft driven flat four. Such innovations were viewed with distrust by the well-heeled Brough buyer and the mighty SS100 continued to be the company flagship and stayed in Brough’s catalogue until 1940, when production of motorcycles ended.

Infamous Englishman, Col Thomas E Lawrence, or Lawrence of Arabia as he was known, owned seven of them, four SS100s and he had one on order when he tragically died, while riding his SS100. He used to name them all ‘George’. Brough’s reputation for quality had secured for the company one of the most important roles it ever took on, when Rolls-Royce asked Brough Superior to machine crankshafts for the Merlin engines used in the Spitfire.

There’s always going to be a lot of focus on the price of a Brough, and with the most expensive Broughs topping £350,000 that’s understandable. But there are other ways of looking at it. In 1929, an Alpine Grande Sport cost £180, which is around £12,000 in today’s money, around the same as a bottom of the range Harley cruiser. If you’d invested that £180 in a small London property in 1929, it would now be worth £350,000. And which would you rather have? A Brough Superior SS100, or a grotty little flat in Croydon?

Over 21 years, Brough Superior built

3048 motorcycles of which 383 were SS100 models. Production of Brough Superiors didn’t restart after the Second World War, mostly because Matchless had stopped making the V-twin that George needed.