Brough Superior

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1926 Brough Superior SS100
1930 Brough Superior SS100 Alpine Grand Sport
1938 Brough Superior SS100

George Brough named his bikes Brough Superior to the displeasure of his motorcycle engineer father William Brough, thereby relegating William's bikes to be henceforth known as Inferior. George used his own frames and bought engines and various other parts to produce exciting, exclusive, and expensive bikes.

George's bikes did prove to be superior and not just against his father's bikes. In the 1920s and 1930s George racked wins and records. Located in Nottingham, England the firm was thought to produce some of the best bikes in the world. The Motor Cycle claimed they were essentially "the Rolls Royce of motorcycles", and Brough used this quote as a slogan in advertising - Rolls didn't object.

SS100

The most famous Brough was without a doubt the SS100. It was produced from 1925 till 1940. It was initially powered by a 980cc V-twin from JA Prestwich (JAP). Each bike came with a signed guarantee from Brough that the bike had been timed at over 100mph for a quarter of a mile. Brough advertised the hands-off stability at speeds of 95mph. Fewer than 400 SS100s were built, the last 100 or so were powered by a Matchless V-twin. Brough constantly changed the specifications of the bike resulting in each one basically being a custom job. In 1928 he introduced an option for rear suspension, foot gear change in 1935, and a four-speed Norton gearbox in 1936.

TE Shaw, aka Lawrence of Arabia owned a series of Superiors (the last of which cost him his life in a crash), which all were fitted with a special stainless steel petrol tank. In 1938 Brough revealed the Dream, which consisted of an exotic flat four engine with twin gear-linked crankshafts. Developement on all Superior's was halted when World War 2 broke out and was never restarted again.