Vintage Motorcycle News N°5 Brough Superior

SPECIAL EDITION N°5 • Spring 2020

Brough Superior the Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles

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VINTAGE Motorcycle News A motorcycle publication for the motorcyclist enthusiast.

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EDITOR Pat Castel VMN.Editor@rogers.com COVER PAGE 1931 Brough Superior SS100

Notice All information furnished herein is provided by and for Vintage Motorcycle News.

Unless otherwise stated, none of the information (including technical material) printed herein necessarily bears endorsement or approval by any manufacturer or the editor.

The editor and publisher cannot be held liable for its accuracy.

Next Edition The Royal Enfield brand is probably the only brand in the world that

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Have you ever seen a Brough Superior? It is like looking at a masterpiece. Words fail me...The rugged beauty of this motorbike has always captured my attention. Actually, the only one I could admire was in a museum. I wish my name was Jay Leno because he owns one... Lucky bastard…

When we talk about the Brough Superior motorbikes, we cannot escape the historical trivia attached to the brand and of course a name comes to mind right away because this is what this guy used to ride till his death, I am talking about British Lieutenant Thomas Edward Lawrence (1888 – 1935) who was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer, a.k.a. Lawrence of Arabia.

His story also brought some interesting trivia on a few machines such as the SS100, the Austin Four (and we are lucky to have a road test of this bike done by Paul D’Orléans from the Vintagent), the SS80 and the 11-50 Brough Superior and we are also talking about the find of the century: a collection of eight rare Brough Superior found in a barn where they had been gathering dust for 50 years...

Fast forward to the Present... I was able to get you a road test on the new SS100. We have yet to see these bikes on our Canadian roads, so far no distributor has been interested by the brand and we got an autographed picture of Thierry Henriette the man behind the new Brough Superior on page 81.

We will close this issue with the new generation of Brough Superior.

Finally if you cannot afford a Brough Superior, you might want to build it!

I mean, if you are a highly skilled modeler, or looking for a real challenge, do not miss the exclusive scale model kit of one of the most beautiful and interesting bikes from the last century made by MFH, check page 92 & 93.

Till next time... Ed.

spanned thru three centuries. With a

Brough Superior with 'Petrol Tube' Sidecar

slogan like: “Made like a gun”, they were quite a name in those days and they are still around...

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“The Rolls Royce of Motorcycles”….. vide the Motor Cycle From Terry Hobden, chairman BSC. Mention “The Rolls Royce of Motorcycles” and to any enthusiast the name “Brough Superior” immediately comes to mind. From a small factory in Nottingham and put together by an equally small number of employees, came some of the most well known motorcycles ever made.

The legend was created roughly a century ago, in the period just following the First World War, and it endures to the present day even though the last production models were made as long ago as 1940.

The story begins with George Brough who was born in 1890.

Before 1914 he was a well known and successful competitor in many reliability and off road trials, invariably riding motorcycles made

by the family engineering business W. E. Brough & Co. which was based in Nottingham.

Young George was something of an extrovert and he became quite adept at getting a lot of free publicity for the firm.

His riding experiences, followed by time spent at Coventry during the war working on high performance engines led to George having an idea as to what exactly his ideal motorcycle would be.

Unfortunately his ideas diverged from that of his father, so George took out his share of the family business and resolved to set up on his own.

He would create a luxury high performance no-expense spared

machine, made up to a standard, not down to a price and quite superior to what was coming out of the mainstream motorcycle factories. And the name of the new marque? Brough Superior of course!

The first products were immediately distinctive, brightly electroplated saddle petrol tank, deep black gloss enamel, a powerful vee twin engine, effortless performance and comfort; characteristics that remained for as long as production lasted.

It was not long before the famous accolade was awarded, but the firm’s advertisements were always careful to add, “vide the Motor Cycle” thus avoiding copyright and trademark issues.

A petrol-tube sidecar beside two Brough cars taken at the world-renowned Brooklands Museum, Weybridge Surrey.

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By 1923 the model range included the SS80 model with a 1000cc JAP side valve twin engine, for the next year this incorporated a full cradle frame establishing new standards for performance and road holding.

In 1925 came the celebrated SS100 model, utilizing a sports OHV engine developing 45 BHP, one of the most desirable and iconic motorcycles ever made. Both the SS80 and SS100 models remained in production until manufacturing ceased, augmented by a range of less expensive models with smaller engines of 500, 680 or 750 cc’s and the famous 11.50 model which had an 1100 cc JAP side-valve engine.

In his search for the ideal motorcycle George Brough made a number of four-cylinder machines, of various configurations, Vee4, straight 4, and cumulating in the celebrated “Golden Dream” from 1938.

During the decades between the two world wars Brough Superiors were continually in the news.

The 4 cylinder machines, successes of the big twins in national and international road trials, sand racing, sprinting, Brooklands records, even the world motorcycle speed record all ensured that this t i n y c o n c e r n , w i t h o ft e n a workforce of often not much more than a dozen remained in the public eye.

It was not all good news however as there were accompanying tragedies too. George Brough himself was involved in a serious accident in the French Alps in 1930 that involved hospitalization and extensive rehabilitation whilst several of his associates lost their lives, perhaps not too surprising considering the extreme performance that these machines were capable of.

At the height of the depression during the early 1930’s the firm undoubtedly struggled so a range of inexpensive (by Brough standards) models was introduced re-using old stock diamond frames and smaller 680 side valve engines to supplement the very expensive core models. Nevertheless, unlike many smaller concerns, the business survived and indeed recovered, continuing to trade successfully for many years even after motorcycle production had ceased.

During 1939 the original works at Haydn Road was vacated and work was transferred to the much larger W.E. Brough factory in Vernon Road.

Motorcycle production was terminated in 1940 to allow work for the war effort and afterwards motorcycle production was not resumed but repairs and servicing were still performed for many years.

Club’s Diamond Jubilee Annual Rally - and yes, they are all Brough Superiors, cars included.

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Total production is believed to be about 3000 machines of which about one third still survive.

his name and that is instrumental in keeping his creations alive and running into a second century.

Enthusiastic ownership of a brand new Brough Superior in those days could become the entrée to an unofficial club.

Many of George’s products are still used regularly—summer and winter—and their reliability is a testament to the build quality.

Many riders became personal friends of George Brough and often received support when participating in many of the important trials and speed events of the time whilst for those who took their motorcycling slightly less seriously the Brough works organized weekend rallies and gymkhana type events.

Not for the enthusiast is the concept of locking a Brough away and never savouring the experience of riding one on the open road.

Although the Haydn Road works is now but a memory, George Brough would surely approve of the collective wisdom and expertise held within the club that reflects

Although centred in Great Britain, amongst its 400 or so members are many from all over the globe. The highlight of the year is the Annual Rally, a weekend long event that

This ethos is still alive today in the guise of the Brough Superior Club which was formed more than 60 years ago in 1958 to bring together and support those have an interest in these now elderly motorcycles.

involves both a riding day for the energetic and a static rally event for those who wish to merely study and discourse about Brough Superiors!

There are also regional UK meetings and usually at least one international rally held in Europe each year as well as gatherings in North America and Australia.

The club maintains a most comprehensive register of machines, a picture archive, offers technical advice, and through an associated company Brough Superior (Spares and Events) Ltd, a spares service.

The Club can be contacted through its website www.broughsuperiorclub.com where there is much more information and details of how to apply for membership.

A German-owned six cylinder Brough car heading out followed by German, Australian and Brit Brough riders, en route to Clouds Hill, the cottage once owned by Lawrence of Arabia (Colonel T. E. Lawrence) while serving at Bovington Camp nearby (now a rank museum).

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1936 Brough Superior Dual purpose car 8 cylinder

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History of Brough Superior, written in 1969

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A 1952 Road Test from the Past

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A BROUGH SUPERIOR SS100 SURFACES IN DEEPEST RUSSIA The rare and beautiful Brough Superior SS100 is one of the most famous motorcycles ever made.

Originally marketed as the ‘RollsRoyce of Motorcycles,’ each unit shipped with a guarantee that it was capable of 100 mph.

The last place you’d expect to find a Brough Superior is in the heartland of Russia, over 2,500 miles from the Nottingham factory where it was built. But that’s where this stunning example lives: in the Motorworld by V. Sheyanov museum in the former ‘closed city’ of Samara.

Despite the brutal environs — temperatures stay below freezing point for five months of the year — Motorworld is the largest private collection of vintage motorcycles in Russia.

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It’s been a long and strange journey for this SS100. It’s now in the care of museum founder Vyacheslav Sheyanov, who also owns a Brough Superior Austin Four, an SS80 and an 11-50, as well as this SS100.

The SS100 was technically the world’s first custom motorcycle: each Brough was built to order, according to the customer’s spec.

And the bikes were constructed by hand using high-end components from multiple sources.

The motor came from J.A.P., the transmission from Sturmey-Archer, and the forks from the Castle Fork and Accessory Co., built to George Brough’s design.

This particular SS100 originally belonged to a very special customer: Dunlop Tires, who bought it in 15

1928 to commemorate their 40th anniversary. They used it for advertising and promotional events, and to test out their tires.

An archival photo shows that the Brough was originally shipped with a sidecar. But then the Second World War happened, and by 1946 the sidecar was missing, and the frame was badly damaged. The original engine KTOR/C 71727ST was fitted into a 1934 SS100 in the late 1940’s (The frame was re-united since withy this engine).

Then, in 2001, an unsung hero got his hands on it, and treated it to a complete restoration. Not only was it rebuilt back onto the original Brough Superior frame #956 swapped in the 1940’s (it was last on the road in 1945). The current frame is a much-altered 680 frame, Spring 2020

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1931 Brough Superior SS100

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but the motor was brought back up to running condition too.

Fast forward another seven years, and the SS100 ended up in the personal collection of collector and Brough Superior specialist Michael FitzSimons.

FitzSimons knows a thing or two about vintage motorcycles— according to the New York Times, he was responsible for setting up the motorcycle departments at both Sothebys and Bonhams.

FitzSimons also owned every Brough Superior model ever made at one stage. But in recent years he started selling them off, citing his age, and being quoted as saying “It’s not true that the one who dies with the most toys wins.”

And that’s how this SS100 ended up in the Motorworld collection.

FitzSimons put it up for auction in 2012—but not before it was

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stripped and checked thoroughly.

The authenticity was never confirmed by Mike Leatherdale (the Machine Registrar for the Club) — but he sent a copy of the Works Record card for the current engine.

Sheyanov won the bid. (We don’t know how much he paid, and we’re afraid to ask.) The Brough was transferred to its new home in Samara, where it’s been since.

And other than perishable items, like the air filter, rubber and oils, it’s still almost completely original.

It still runs — and regularly, too.

Motorworld has a team of four mechanics who tend to the collection, and if they need inside knowledge, they lean on the expertise of the Brough Superior Club, who are always willing to lend a hand.

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Production Specifications 1931 (Text courtesy Miles Soppet with the assistance of Dave Clark - Brough Superior Club Technical Historian.)

1931 numbers were 32 JAP SS80s, 9 JAP SS100s, 67 OHV 680s and 9 OHV 500s a total of only 117 bikes. This reflected the state of the depressed economy.

was horizontally split and a great improvement on the soft soldered pressed steel versions, it meant that the clutch could be run in oil for the first time.

Prices remained the same as in the previous year. The introduction of the OHV 500 at just 100 guineas in a rigid frame was perhaps another attempt by the Brough works to bring prices down to reach a bigger market.

The OHV 500 was fitted with the JAP V twin 500 which was descended from a racing version said to have been used in the 1930 TT. Th e B r o u g h catalogue stated ‘this machine is convertible to a pukka racing machine quite easily by the owner’ the bike was not a success and only 9 were

Both JAP SS100 and SS80 were unchanged from the previous year.

There was a significant change to the rigid frame offered with the standard OHV 680. It was an improved cradle frame incorporating a platform for the oil tank, a pivotal gearbox and detail to brake pedal and footrests.

Both the OHV 680 and 500 saw the introduction of the cast aluminium primary chain case. This Vintage Motorcycle News

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made of which 3 survive.

As with previous years, there was an unknown number of the 5/15 and SV 750 produced.

Photo below: Bill Gibbard Beside A Brough OHV 500 At Stamford Hall

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Collection of eight rare Brough Superior motorcycles made famous by Lawrence of Arabia could fetch up to £3m after being discovered in collapsed wooden sheds, badly eaten by rust during 50 years.

By ANTHONY JOSEPH and KATIE LOUISE DAVIES • For many years motorcycle fans and enthusiasts talked about the 'urban myth' of the Brough Superiors • But now a fleet of eight bikes have been located in Bodmin, Cornwall after gathering dust in a barn for 50 years • Experts are calling the find one of the greatest motorcycle discoveries in decades. Brough Superior bikes, built from 1920 until 1940, are the most sought-after two-wheel transport in the world A collection of the 'Rolls-Royces of the motorbike world' which were made famous by Lawrence of Arabia has been discovered in collapsed wooden sheds, badly eaten by rust during 50 years.

For many years motorcycle fans talked about the 'urban myth' of the Brough Superiors. But now a fleet of eight bikes have been located in Cornwall, in what

experts are calling one of the greatest biking discoveries in decades.

Brough Superior bikes, built from 1920 until 1940, are the most sought-after two-wheel transport in the world.

Parts from the 1938 Brough Superior 11.50 Project are pictured here and are among the treasure trove of motorbikes and collections

that were found. A close-up of the decaying conditions of the exHubert Chantrey, Brough Superior 750cc BS4 is one of the bikes that have been discovered.

The ex- Hubert Chantrey, Brough Superior 750cc BS4 is one of the highly sought after Brough bikes which were found in a barn in Bodmin, Devon These bikes were owned by Frank Vague, an avid member of the Brough Superior Club in the 1960’s, who recently passed away.

Mr Vague, from a village near Bodmin, Cornwall, acquired the majority of the collection in the early 1960s and they have remained unused for 50 years.

Many enthusiasts and collectors had heard about Mr Vague's bikes, but most people thought it was an urban myth.

In good condition, five of the machines (1930’s side-valves) might now go for £100,000 or thereabouts. The 4-cylinder would be worth well over £300,000. although the bikes would sell for a fraction of the figure in their current condition because of the amount of work needed.

The motorcycles were built in Nottingham, at founder George Brough's factory in Haydn Road.

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The alluring Lawrence of Arabia died riding his motorcycle On 25 February 1935 the 'real' Lawrence left his final RAF posting, at Bridlington, Yorkshire, and began his long journey back to Clouds Hill by bicycle. Persistent journalists soon invaded his privacy, despite his urgent appeals to be left alone.

new fame. He used it as a means to publicize the Arab cause, attacking government policy through letters and articles in quality and mass-market newspapers. Although glad of this opportunity, he later came to despise the publicity which surrounded him.

In what would prove to be the last weeks of his life, his mood swung between optimism and pessimism.

He was planning to revive a long-held ambition to set up a fine printing press, but he was also uncertain about the direction his life would now take.

Recently letters by Lawrence of Arabia in which he says how well his Brough Superior motorcycle is running and speaks of his love of book collecting. He uses the sign-off “Woof” after saying that Captain Liddell Hart had written a study of him; he describes 1933 as a “vintage year for books” after listing some of those that he had read; he enthuses about how his old motorcycle is running “like a new one”; and he says that he has been spending money on his cottage in Dorset, to which he had moved his book collection.

On May 13th he rode his motorcycle down to Bovington Camp to send a telegram and post a parcel. On the way back he clipped the wheel of the bicycle of one of two errand boys who were riding towards Clouds Hill. He crashed heavily and was rushed to hospital with severe head injuries. He never regained consciousness and died on May 19th, to widespread grief and dismay, at the age of 46.

The Hollywood version of this great man stared the very sexy Peter O’Toole, where the film opens

Lawrence's wartime exploits became known to a wider public through an 'illustrated travelogue' - a lantern-slide show which drew huge audiences in Britain and abroad. Initially Lawrence - now known to all as 'Lawrence of Arabia' welcomed his Vintage Motorcycle News

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with Lawrence as a civilian, riding his motorcycle down a narrow English country road, only to be killed when he tries to avoid a collision with a couple who are bicycling on the wrong side of the road. At his memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral, reporters try to gain insights into this remarkable, but enigmatic, man from people who knew him, with little success.

The film then flashes back to Cairo during World War I, where Lawrence is a misfit army lieutenant, notable only for his insolence and knowledge of the Bedouin. Over the objections of a skeptical General Murray (Donald Wolfit), he is sent by Mr Dryden (Claude Rains) of the Arab Bureau to assess the prospects of Prince Feisal (Alec Guinness) in his revolt against the Turks.

Lawrence of Arabia loved his motorcycling and his motorcycle.

'A skittish motorbike,' he said; 'with a touch of blood in it is better than all the riding animals on earth, because of its logical extension of our faculties, and the hint, the provocation, to excess conferred by its honeyed u n t i r i n g smoothness.

Because Boa' Boa was Lawrence's pet name for his Brough - 'loves me, he gives me five more miles of speed than a stranger would get from him.'

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Lawrence's Brough joins museum Source: Imperial War Museum

The final fate of the Brough Superior which belonged to Lawrence of Arabia has long been a favorite topic of debate. Now we can reveal where it is! And you can go to see it, too...................

Lawrence of Arabia loved his motorcycling and his motorcycle.

'A skittish motorbike,' he said; 'with a touch of blood in it is better than all the riding animals on earth, because of its logical extension of our faculties, and the hint, the provocation, to excess conferred by its honeyed untiring smoothness.

Because Boa' - Boa was Lawrence's pet name for his Brough - 'loves me, he gives me five more miles of speed than a stranger would get from him.'

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Now the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire, UK, has announced a major new exhibit which will be joining its Hall of Fame: Lawrence of Arabia's Brough Superior SS100 motorcycle. The Brough, which has been loaned to the Museum by its current owner, is considered to be the one on which Lawrence had his fatal accident on May 13th, 1935.

Finding it, and bringing it to the Museum has not been an easy task.

It has been a two and a half year labour of love for Beaulieu's motorcycle expert Frank Levy to bring the Brough to Beaulieu, after he found himself sat next to the bike's owner at a motorcycle gathering in London in 2001.

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Frank Levy said: 'It is brilliant to get an original motorcycle like the Brough, but this one with its celebrated provenance is outstanding. Broughs were the pre-war Rolls-Royce of motorcycles and were mostly custom made, as was Lawrence's. He was quite a short man and he had the back wheel made smaller to accommodate his short legs.'

Lawrence, immortalized as Lawrence of Arabia, had an unceasing passion for motorcycles and, like so many other men of his generation, began riding during the First World War. Following the publication of 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' Lawrence bought his first Brough Superior, a 1922 Mark 1, Spring 2020

thus beginning a long association with the marque and its owner, George Brough. Lawrence named his Broughs 'Boanerges', meaning 'sons of thunder', and called them George I, George II, and so on.

George VIII was ready for collection at the time of Lawrence's death.

Lawrence's last motorcycle (George VII aka GW 2275, built in 1932), was fitted with all the best Brough Superior equipment of the day. In particular it was equipped with the Bentley & Draper rear suspension system, Castle Brampton front forks, Royal Enfield brakes and Lucas electrical equipment. Its engine number was 22000/S and its frame number was 1041.S. The machine sported an Amal 1.1/16-inch carburetor and a Jaeger 120mph speedometer.

Lawrence was famed for giving that speedo plenty of exercise in his high-speed dashes along the lanes of England - in fact he broke it more than once!

'The burble of my exhaust unwound like a long cord behind me,' he reported. 'Soon my speed snapped it, and I heard only the cry of the wind my battering head split and fended aside. The cry rose with my speed to a shriek while the air's coldness streamed like two jets of iced water into my dissolving eyes... The next mile of road was rough. I braced my feet into the rests, thrust with my arms, and clenched my knees on the tank til its rubber grips goggled under my thighs... The bad ground was passed and on the new road our flight became birdlike.'

Frank Levy still considers Lawrence's riding to be a considerable feat: It was made for a man who loved motorbikes and he Vintage Motorcycle News

is supposed to have ridden 500 miles a day on it.'

There can be no doubt that Lawrence was besotted with his Brough and the exhilaration it afforded him. It was; 'the silkiest thing I have ever ridden' he said. 'At 50 she is a dream. She is extraordinarily fast, with a following wind and downhill I got over the hundred on Easter Monday in the New Forest.' And yes - if you have noticed - Lawrence

The one early summer's day in May 1935, Lawrence was riding the Brough back home from Bovington in Dorset to his nearby cottage at Clouds Hill. Suddenly he came upon two boy cyclists, possibly obscured from view by a passing car; fatally swerving to avoid them he pitched over the handlebars onto the road. Like most riders of the time he was not wearing a helmet, and so sustained a serious head injury which left him in a coma and claimed his life some six days later.

No one who knew TE Lawrence could have been too surprised by his end. George Bernard Shaw, who contributed towards the Brough's cost as a present to Lawrence, commented on his friend's mania for speed and is reported to have summed up his gift thus: 'It was like handing a pistol to a would-be suicide.'

initially referred to Boa in female terms but later switched to calling the bike 'him' or 'it'.

The chrome and black Brough cost T E Lawrence £190 when he bought it in 1932 but today it is priceless. Despite the 25,000 or more miles they covered together, and a few dents - the legacy of that fatal crash near Clouds Hill in Dorset nearly 70 years ago - the Brough still looks impressive. All through the latter months of 1934 and the first part of 1935 Lawrence planned to take George VII back to Brough for some much-needed maintenance, but he found it hard to make time for the trip.

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The strength of the Brough protected it from major damage -- the footpegs were bent, saddle grazed, the headlamp rim came off, the kickstarter and gearchange levers were bent -- and following the accident it was repaired by George Brough himself. If you look closely at the bike in the Museum then the damage done to the handlebars and front mudguard can still clearly be seen to this day.

Since the accident and its subsequent repair, Lawrence's Boa has rarely been exhibited in public.

Now visitors to the National Motor Museum will be able to see this legendary bike for themselves displayed in a special exhibition case, complete with other Lawrence memorabilia within the Museum's Hall Of Fame.

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Write an article for this newsletter VMN.Editor@rogers.com

We need your stories, your anecdotes, your photos and your input. Put your bike on the cover page...

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Matchless, Norton, Triumph, Velocette and more...

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Brough Superior Austin Four The Brough Superior Austin Four is a motorcycle so rare that very few have ever actually seen one in the flesh.

Out of the original 10, seven survived (though two are in the progress of a renovation rebuild) The Brough Superior-Austin Four created a sensation when revealed at the 1931 Olympia Motorcycle Show.

It was listed in the 1932 Brough Superior catalog as the ‘Straight Four’ but it was commonly known as the Brough Superior Austin Four, or BS4, or ‘3-wheeled Brough’.

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The machine is unique in its design, being powered by a modified Austin 7 automobile engine and gearbox unit, from which a d r i v e s h a ft e m e r g e s o n t h e center-line of the motor.

Rather than design a new gearbox, George Brough had the inspiration to keep the central driveshaft, and use a pair of close-couple rear wheels driven by a central final drive box.

The story behind the creation of the Brough Superior Austin Four is one of need meeting opportunity, George Brough wanted an inline-4 and it would have been prohibitively expensive to develop one in-house.

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So he approached Austin and stuck up a deal to use their popular if slightly anaemic 747cc engine, along with its original transmission.

George bored the engine out to 797cc and had a new alloy head developed with larger valves, he paired this with twin carburetors and rather popularly – twin rear wheels.

The Austin Four had been intended as a sidecar motorcycle, but a few were built to ride solo.

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with a sidecar, not a sports machine.

Power output was actually quite low, and the performance was inhibited by the use of standard Austin rear-axle ratios.

The brisk acceleration with a heavy sidecar fitted would, however, more than compensate for lack of top speed.

On sale from February 1932, the Brough Superior Four had been in development for 18 months and brought much needed publicity to the Brough works as the Depression struck the motorcycle industry worldwide.

Despite the attention, however, only ten examples were actually built. Initially designed for use with a sidecar, the Austin engine was from a well-proven Austin 7 design, Vintage Motorcycle News

which was a side-valve with a low-pressure oiling system. George Brough chose to use also the standard Austin 7 three-speed gearbox, complete with reverse, driving a prop shaft to a crown wheel and pinion mounted in a specially cast housing.

The twin rear wheels would possibly have been expected to make it difficult to handle, but Hubert Chantrey successfully completed the Land’s End Trial on a solo version.

Chantry pointed out that it really was a luxury motorcycle, as it had cost George Brough over £1,000 to develop (which equates to over £50,000 today.)

In 1939, the Brough Superior Four was actually sold for £185 whereas a

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new SS100 with rigid frame at this time was £155.

Engine cooling was achieved with a pair of purpose-built radiators fixed either side of the front frame downtube.

The Brough Superior-Austin Four’s greatest success was the publicity generated by the introduction and imaginative marketing of such an unusual motorcycle.

Of the ten Brough Superior Austin Fours built, (all these were built in 1932 but one was not sold until 1933 and another in 1934), a total of seven have survived to this day.

And one of these luxurious Brough Superior Austin Four can be seen in the Motorcycle Museum «Motorworld by V.Sheynov».

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ROAD TEST 1930 BROUGH SUPERIOR AUSTIN FOUR

BY PAUL D'ORLÉANS (courtesy of VINTAGENT.COM)

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Impressive, beautiful, and certainly unusual. The Brough Superior Austin ‘4’

A large collection of old motorcycles is often a depressing sight; the usual scenario is rows of desirable machines, which could best give pleasure if taken out on the road, yet are left to gather dust like a Chinese warrior army, holed up in someone’s barn or warehouse, waiting for Godot…

But some collectors are different, and we’re lucky (as in ‘we’ who care about how our favored cultural treasures are cared for) to find those who not only share their treasures via museum shows and track days, but can be seen near their homes on fair days, stretching ancient chains or belts through their favorite bends, a tell-tale grin on their faces.

At the top of the heap are connoisseurs who allow guests to ride their machines as well!

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And these the Vintagent holds dear in his heart, for they allow him to experience in the metal the rarest and most intriguing of machinery ever produced for a rider to sit astride, to explore the exquisite countryside.

I think I’m having a good time, excuse the lofty prose, but you’ll see why, as on this fair day in southern Germany, I’ve been allowed an extensive sampling of not one but THREE rare beasts, two of which are simply among the most unusual motorcycles ever produced.

Imagine the scenario; the doors of a great barn (climate controlled and with a good alarm!) are thrown open, and your host says with a smile, ‘It’s an excellent Spring day, let’s go for a ride. Which would you like to try first?’

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This is, of course, an unanswerable question… kind of like the day I took my daughter to the toy store and said, ‘you can have anything you want, just choose’, and she burst out crying.

So, I allowed my generous benefactor to choose for me, as frankly any of his machines would be a scoop in the pages of the Vintagent.

The Brough Superior-Austin is well known to motorcycle aficionados as the ‘three wheel motorcycle’, as clearly it has two rear wheels, which are driven by a shaft between them to a final drive box, shared by both wheels, with no differential, just a bevel and crownwheel.

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The twin Amal carbs make a beautiful music for the passenger’s ears, being only a foot away!

from one wheel to the other… it’s never dangerous, just strange, and the bike can be ridden ‘normally’.

After several prior attempts to build a four-cylinder motorcycle (inline and a v-four), George Brough made a deal in 1930 with the Austin Motor Company to purchase a bored out ‘sports’ version of their infamous Austin 7 car engine; water-cooled, with a car-type gearbox (including reverse!), and driveshaft.

The overbore only produces 800cc, not in SS80/100 territory, but the Vintage Motorcycle News

‘sports’ aluminum cylinder head with better gas porting and twin carbs is a significant improvement over the car’s anemic output.

Priced new in 1932 at £188, for which you could have bought a nice house in the country, with a few acres of apple trees. Ten were made, perhaps 7 survive.

This particular machine has been close to me for near 25 years, as it lived in Oakland in the collection of notorious drug lord Ben Kalka at his shop ‘Goode Olde Days’.

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When Ben moved into San Quentin, the BS4 was sold to a Swiss collector…

I had read reports that the BS-Austin outfit was seriously underpowered, especially compared to the hotrod reputation attached to the Brough name.

When I expressed this to my host, he raised an eyebrow and suggested we start our tutorial with me in the chair, for an exemplary ride.

The outfit starts with a push of the button (another legacy of Spring 2020

automtive ancestry), and shortly settles down to a muted purr…but there’s a hint of a rasp in the note too, a hint that this pussycat may have a little tiger in her.

The gearchange is strictly pre-war car; no synchromesh in the gears (3 forward, 1 reverse), so timing and engine speed are crucial for a quiet gearchange, and even then, changes can’t be rushed.

A note about the sidecar; this is the cataloged BS ‘Sports’ chair (I used to have one on my 11-50), a no-frills model, but extremely comfortable, as are all buggy-sprung chairs.

It was a retrograde step for sidecars ever to gain a sprung wheel, for there is no imaginable comfort to be gained over floating above the bumps on gently flexing springs.

No kidding; really relaxing.

It was clear from the get-go that Lord Austin’s product had been breathed upon, for the BS has life

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The Austin engine is uprated with a ‘sports’ cylinder head in aluminum, and twin carbs.

and strength, and rapidly reaches a 50mph cruising speed, at which

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point the valves are singing merrily, the intakes making a pleasant

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whistle, the gearbox an unobtrusive whine, and the outfit as a whole feels solid as a rock and indefatigable. And remarkably calm. Here’s the view from the chair; So, now it’s my turn. First, familiarize self with gearchange, which is a car shift turned to face forward – a strange pattern, but it makes sense once the beast is underway.

Second, familiarize myself with the brakes… and I know from experience that the front is no ‘stopper’ – totally useless. The rear brake with ‘BS’ cast into the pedal is more reassuring, and hauls the heavy (700lbs?) four-wheeler down rapidly.

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Third, where the hell is the throttle? Indian-style, it’s on the left ‘bar, which will take a moment of getting used to, especially as the clutch lever is next to it.

Luckily, there’s a foot clutch as well, which becomes my preferred device – too akward to feather the clutch and open the throttle with one hand.

And suddenly, all the disparate parts come together and we’re underway, the smooth purr of the engine pushing the plot forward rapidly.

Not fast mind you, but rapid, and I for one have never trusted ‘fast’ outfits… they seem like a good way to finish upside-down in a ditch!

How do I know that, you ask… well don’t.

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Curious about the ride? Take a spin yourself: I can say, hand on heart, that this is the nicest motorcycle pulling a sidecar that I’ve ever ridden, and I’ve ridden all manner of outfits; German, English, Yank, Jap. There is a feeling of tireless solidity about the machine, the engine just feels very right, the handling is, well, Superior.

George Brough was a great advocate and rider of sidecar machines, and all of his bikes work well pulling a mate, but this one is better.

I’m not sure one can pinpoint exactly what makes it so good, but it is, for all of the novelty and rarity, an incredibly relaxing motorcycle

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to ride. There’s no point in hurrying, as the ride itself is the

point, and I think I just called this Brough Superior a Zen motorcycle.

My expectations were completely overturned… unlike the outfit…

And what’s better than a B-S Austin outfit? Two! Vintage Motorcycle News

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1940 Brough Superior SS80 Special In 2019 Brough Superior are probably best known for being the motorcycle company of choice of the legendary Lawrence of Arabia (T.E. Lawrence) and the record-breaking prices these machines now fetch at auction.

To the vintage motorcycle enthusiast they are the holy grail, the companies run of motorcycle production from 1919 to 1940 producing two of the most sought after bikes in history and a legacy that lives on in Brough Superior Clubs, an endless array of hard cover books and the spectacle that occurs when any Brough comes up for auction.

But all that has been said before, what is rarely discussed is the role George Brough and his motorcycles had on the custom scene and the lessons he left for future builders.

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So from the collection of The Motorworld by V.Sheyanov, let’s take this rare 1940 Brough Superior SS80 Special around the block and see what we can learn.

George Brough was first and foremost a motorcycle enthusiast and it’s easy to see why growing up with his father the head of his own motorcycle company pioneering the early days of the two-wheeled machines.

But young George was a petrol head and racer who spent years trying to convince his Father to build more performance orientated machines, the likes of which the world had never seen. But his conservative Father was not convinced and so George opened up his own factory in Nottingham nearby to his father’s own, only with a slight change to the Brough

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name; George would call his company “Brough Superior”.

You’d have to think that made Christmas lunch a little awkward from then on and his old Dad didn’t take kindly at his sons subtle dig, but as much as he was a show man, George could back up his boast!

Take for example this model, the SS80, it doesn’t get its name from having 800cc or a designation that followed a numeric order. It comes from the fact that even in 1924 George guaranteed that his customers would be able to achieve a thunderous 80mph or their money back!

This was an easy claim to make as George had used an SS80 he nicknamed ‘Spit and Polish’ (so-called because of the immaculate finish he always maintained) to become the first Spring 2020

sidevalver to lap the Brooklands track at over 100 miles per hour (161km/h).

Despite being a motorcycle company, Brough Superior had far more in common with the custom workshops of today, right down to the names like “Spit and Polish”.

No two bikes were the same, although based on largely common platforms each bike was different and largely built to the customers desires.

Another aspect of his production that is common to the modern customiser was the way he built his bikes. There was no production line with common parts simply attached, each bike was assembled before being stripped down for paint and polished and then assembled.

Along with his own components he used the Ohlins and Brembos of Vintage Motorcycle News

their day to create his Superior machines.

There were at least four types of front end used on the SS80, on this particular machine are a set of Brough’s own forks, with a centrally located compression spring designed for rougher more arduous journeys and a rigid rear, although the De Luxe model offered a sprung rear.

The engines were no different, George wanted a unit that would not only meet but exceed his customers expectations of speed and reliability.

Early models of the SS80 used the 988cc J.A.P. sidevalve engine, but seeking an even more reliable and quieter operating engine in 1935 Brough switched to the Matchless V-twin side-valve, a 50degree 982cc fitted with many of his own parts like big side valves, totally enclosed 39

and automatically lubricated, oversize roller and ball-bearings throughout, detachable cylinder heads, and full dry-sump lubrication to all moving parts.

Like customisers of today he took good engines from what the big manufacturers had to offer and then made them that much better.

As the last of the SS80’s were being built, 460 of which featured the Matchless engine, Brough made this promise even as he lowered the bikes pricing “Despite the price at which the “S.S.80 Special” is marketed, I am prepared to guarantee the materials and workmanship throughout this machine to be identical with the remainder of the Brough Superior range, and also justify what “The Motor Cycle” said of the original S.S. 80 model : “The Rolls-Royce of Motor Cycles”.

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The Rolls-Royce like praise was even official when George was given permission by the Auto giant to use the nickname in his advertising. It was easy to see why, the famous tank, assembled from as many as twelve pieces of metal was beautifully soldered together by craftsman of George’s choosing, usually requested with a painted upper and deeply polished sides that neither scratched nor corroded despite the harsh English conditions.

The seats too were Rolls like luxury with comfort and style a priority for these performance machines of their time, sprung and with the best of leather stitched over the top, most were shaped for the individual client.

The patented “Loop” frame was also vital to the success of the SS models, the precision in design and construction meant it was precise at

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both high and ultra low speeds, a rare achievement at the time.

The four-speed box with enclosed primary was so smooth that you could make clutchless shifts without a worry in the world and the 8inch brakes had tremendous stopping power.

So confident was Brough in his creation the sales brochure made such claims, backed by guarantee “It is a very satisfying to know that you are astride a machine which, if you wish, can leave behind anything on wheels. It is actually possible to ride hands off at 60mph. It starts first or second kick stone cold. It will tick over like a high-class car at speeds as low as 10 miles per hour on top gear.

It can be circled round in the road inside a 12ft circle with both feet on the foot rests.” All of this in the 1920’s until the start of WWII put an end to the production run of SS80’s that with George himself on board won 50 straight races until a punctured tire ended his unbeaten run.

The life and death of T.E. Lawrence aboard an SS100 (One of eight Brough Superior’s he had owned) no doubt adds to the brands legacy and legend but the sheer quality of the machines, their performance and perfect construction meant they were years ahead of their time.

George’s ultimate lesson to customisers today is simple, take absolute pride in what you do, but don’t be so proud you won’t use the best components available even if made by others and never compromise on quality.

Because to build a bike that is truly superior, requires the absolute best of everything and that includes you, the one in your workshop, back shed or garage spinning the spanners and spending the long hours to get your bike, just right!

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1937 Brough Superior 11-50 Economic recession in Great Britain was almost over by 1932, and British motorcycle manufacturers started noticing that sales were on the rise.

George Brough, however, who was ďŹ rmly established in the high-end segment of the market, still had problems selling his machines. His Brough Superior model range was not updated for a whole while, so it was necessary to do something in order to attract the general public.

Next year, during another motorcycle show in the same Olympia center in London, all motorcycle models of this brand were shown in their modernized versions. 7-inch front brakes and 8-inch rear brakes were a novelty.

A new option appeared, featuring completely interchangeable wheels (including the sidecar wheel), which made having a spare wheel a very practical idea. They were all easily detachable and could be used for the preceding models as well.

The Brough Superior model range presented in 1932 during the motorcycle show at the Olympia Exhibition Center had only one updated motorcycle model: it was SS80 which received a rigid frame, aluminum exhaust tubes and a smaller gas tank. This machine produced some interested response, but it was not big enough to get back to the pre-crisis sales levels.

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British policemen on their new Brough Superior motorcycles.

SS80 leads the column, followed by 11-50 models. George Brough stands in the background (in the middle).

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gentle in combination with the sidecar.

Still, there was no significant sales increase happening. It was necessary to take decisive measures in order to keep the company’s position on the market.

abroad, mostly from police officers, who needed a motorcycle as powerful as SS100, but with a simpler, L-head engine and a lower price tag.

Thus George Brough hastened to announce the release of two new motorcycles. One was the 680-cc, budget-priced Junior—a dream of many who formerly could not afford the Brough Superior. The other one was a new heavy L-head motorcycle designed from scratch and called “11-50”.

The 11-50 got a double-cylinder, V-shape, 1096-cc JAP LTZ motor, with bore and stroke of 85.7 × 95 mm—George Brough said that it was designed specially for Brough Superior.

The model 11-50 was designed as a response to many requests from Vintage Motorcycle News

The angle between the cylinders was equal to 60 degrees, in contrast with the usual 50 degrees, which increased engine torque and was promising rides that would be more 44

Announcing his new motorcycle George Brough was promising a 1150-cc engine, but he did not mention bore and stroke. This was a cunning marketing ploy, so typical of George. The reason was that at the time this combination, “11/50”, meant 11 RAC h.p. (RAC stands for Royal Automobile Club), which was the horsepower parameter used in Great Britain to calculate tax on moving vehicles, and 50 h.p. effective output. In other words, when the potential customer heard the name of this motorcycle model, he would imagine a very powerful machine, which would promise a great saving to its owner. In reality, however, engine capacity of the 11-50 model was 36 h.p.

The solo version of this motorcycle model could reach 135 km/h and, when used with the side car and having two passengers, it could go as fast as 110 km/h.

The Brough Superior 11-50 had a benevolent reception with critics, but most importantly, with police officers, for whom in was designed in the first place.

This is not surprising, since with the guaranteed speed of 110 km/h practically no law violator could escape from a patrolman on 11-50.

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Brough Superior SS100

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Brough Superior - an 1,800 mile ride One thousand eight hundred glorious miles on a Brough Superior.

The Brough Club very kindly lent me a Brough Superior SS80 so that I could experince riding one - I wrote an article for the club on my experiences and here it is.

At the end of June 2013, I collected the Brough Superior Clubs Tate SS80 from its custodian Dave Clark and for the next two months it came to live with me.

I could have spent many happy hours looking at all of the superb engineering that is progressing in Dave's sheds and house, but Dave is a busy man and I have a Brough Superior to ride! Whatever tinkering I may get up to in my garage is clearly at the primitive end of the scale compared to Dave who is clearly a highly skilled and very proper engineer. After being shown some of the fine engineering and machines that Dave has, it is time for me to take the Tate away.

After pre-flight checks and an explanation of Brough Superior riding and care I finally get to sit on the Brough and then full of excitement and not a little trepidation I have my first ride as I

leave Dave's and head off to the joys of the M25 motorway and home.

I expected its long wheelbase to make it slow to turn and cumbersome, but it steers very nicely. I had wondered how it would fair with no rear suspension and girder forks, but again this is a pleasant surprise and it rides nicely over the less than smooth tarmac now favoured in this country. After a few minutes we join the M25 for a few junctions to bypass some of the urban sprawl and settle down to a steady indicated 50/55mph on a surprisingly traffic free motorway.

The engine feels lovely as it sort of hums and thumps away below and is surprisingly quiet. We soon leave the M25 and take to some nicer roads for our inaugural flight. A few minutes after the bike splutters and cuts and a switch to reserve petrol brings the motor back to life a moment later. The small reserve tap falls perfectly to hand, even for a novice wearing bike gloves and operates with a lovely silky action.

On other older machines I have ridden, operating the reserve tap can be a contorted process as it is daftly barely accessible and usually has the fluidity of a rusty padlock.

On a Brough Superior it is well positioned and works perfectly.

We stop at the next petrol station and add a few gallons and a quick look over the bike shows all is well.

We continue for home via an extra long route as I have waited decades to ride a Brough Superior and I am in no hurry to get off it now. The more I ride it the more I appreciate its charms. A few hours later we trundle up the driveway and park up outside. A few minutes more and I have moved a garden chair next to it and with a mug of tea for company just sit and look at it and take in how everything fits together. Even after many weeks of having it to stay I kept finding myself popping into the garage to look at it and often sitting with a mug of tea and just appreciating it.

I couldn't quite believe I had a Brough Superior sitting in my garage and that I could ride it whenever I wanted and ride it I did, taking it out for a spin almost every day.

For most people reading this, the sight of a Brough Superior will be a regular occurrence, but for me and most other people it is still a rare sight. Indeed before I joined the club I had only ever seen one on the road and all the rest were trapped in museums.

www.broughsuperiorclub.com Vintage Motorcycle News

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Perhaps I should begin at the beginning and explain how I came to be interested in Broughs.

On September 3rd 1939 my father was just 18 years old when he listened to the 11.15am radio broadcast which announced we were at war with Germany. He had a cup of tea and then rode his Excelsior JAP into town and volunteered for the RAF. After the Battle of Britain he spent the rest of the war in Egypt. When he returned to the UK he needed transport and soon he had an SS100 fitted with a fuel in the loop sidecar -that's what he called it. An SS100 proved to be the perfect antidote to five years away at war and what better way to blow away the cobwebs than with a big fast motorcycle. It has been over 60 years since my father sold his SS100 GAU 856 and when I arrived in 1965 all that remained was an album of pictures and my fathers enthusiasm for how wonderful it Vintage Motorcycle News

was. When I turned 17 my father was very much on my side with my choice of my first proper motorcycle, it was a second hand V twin Ducati and I spent all of my many years of paper round money and other savings to get it. I have had a Ducati ever since, but sadly a Brough has so far proven out of my price range.

My grandfather Thomas had been riding motorcycles since they first appeared and greatly approved of the SS100 and enjoyed trips out in the sidecar. It was the only outfit my dad ever owned and I suspect one reason for buying it was so he could take his elderly father out for a blast. My dad eventually succumbed to the lure of a new Triumph Speedtwin, then a Thunderbird and finally a T110 and the Brough passed to his pal Morris and then onto new keepers.

It was featured in last Decembers supplement on its 1953 European Tour.

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My father continued riding bikes until he was 87 years old and then he decided he was getting too old for them and bought a sports car instead, he still enjoyed speed as he put a strip of tape on the cars speedo to remind himself not to go over 100mph. He passed away in 2009 and on the second anniversary of his death in 2011 I was looking through one of his photo albums from the 1950's and I decided to put some of his biking pictures on the internet to share with some motorcycling friends. I thought a few people might be interested in the pictures but within a week the webpage had gone "viral" and over one million people had visited the page, much to my surprise. I had sent a couple of pictures of GAU to the Brough club for their archive and was very surprised to hear that not only did GAU still exist but that it was still in the UK and in fine fettle. Shortly after this GAU's keeper very kindly Spring 2020

rode it over to my home and I got to see and hear my first running Brough and not just any Brough, but the SS100 my father had last ridden more than 60 years ago.

After a very pleasant few hours talking bikes and admiring the SS100 from every angle, its keeper very generously gave me a lift in the sidecar up to our local pub - my first ride with a Brough Superior and what a gorgeous sound. I have always found sidecars to be uncomfortable and something you are keen to get out of as soon as possible, but the Broughs was as comfortable as sitting in an old Jaguar, with the added bonus of an SS100 engine thumping away just a few inches away - very fine.

Shuffling past a Brough Superior in a museum doesn't really give you the opportunity to appreciate it, but sitting in a sidecar whilst an SS100 is given a good gallop certainly does.

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Before I joined the club my only source of knowledge about them was the headline grabbing auction results and seeing very shiny but obviously unused ones in museums and magazines. I had assumed that almost nobody still rode them. I was wrong as GAU's keeper has been regularly using it in the spirited fashion it was designed for, for many decades. Heartened by the knowledge that owners still used them I took little persuading to join the club and soon discovered the Tate loan scheme and that surprisingly the bike was not booked up.

I live in rural West Sussex so most of my trips on the Tate Brough were gentle early evening rides around the local lanes over roads that had probably changed little since the bike first took to the road.

Before each ride I would give it a check over looking for anything loose or untoward and generally all it needed was a little air in the tires 51

and a perhaps a slight top up of its engine oil. Then it was just a matter of turning on the petrol and then tickling the carburetor until a little petrol trickled out and then with a stout swinging prod it almost always started first kick. The final ritual I developed was to say a thank you to Mr Peter Henry Tate as I put the bike into gear and rode his bike down the drive and off out for a canter.

A few days after collecting it I rode it to our local Midhurst Motorcycle club gathering and as they were having an evening run, I decided to join in. As many were on modern bikes, I set of a little ahead of them so I did not slow anyone up and headed cross country to a well known biking cafe outside Alton station. Outside the cafe was a good mix of bikes ranging from 60's Triumphs to the latest 190mph superbikes and I parked up in a safe spot on the pavement by the station where I could keep an eye on the Spring 2020

bike. Within a couple of minutes I was to start a conversation that I would repeat many times in the next two months as people wandered over to have a look at the bike. For almost everyone I spoke to, this was the first Brough Superior they had seen on the road and accordingly wanted a good look and were full of questions.

Most people seemed to make a reference to Lawrence and Broughs, its value, how nice it was to see one being used and everyone was pleasantly surprised that it was loaned out by the club. One chap on a Goldstar made me laugh when I told him it was loaned to me by the club and he said "our club doesn't even have a bl**dy Bantam loan bike!".

Just as I was about to set off a familiar face appeared in the shape of Mike Smith who was heading off to work and had spied the Brough parked up and came over to say hello.

After the Alton cafe I headed over to another local biking cafe at West Meon, which is mostly more modern bikes. Even amongst a newer generation of riders, everyone seemed to know what it was and many people took pictures and the usual questions continued.

Another early evening ride around the lanes that snake around the South Downs had been very enjoyable until heading for home, where I had got stuck in the traffic that pours out of Goodwood and clogs up the neighborhood. The clogging could be worse though as most of the traffic consists of fine old cars and bikes and modern exotics so plenty to take in as we both get hot in the traffic. As we arrive back in Midhurst where I live, I pull over to put in a couple of gallons of petrol ready for the next Vintage Motorcycle News

ride. So far I have started it first kick since I collected it and I thought I had the hang of it but maybe because its hot it slightly kicks back when I try and start it and when I try again, the kick starter moves down without engaging. The kick starter still swings down sweetly and springs back up again but does not engage.

I investigate but can see nothing external amiss. Assuming that something has "stuck" or moved out of alignment I try various gentle wiggling and tapping the case gently, but all to no avail. I put my jacket and helmet back on and see if it will bump start which is does surprisingly easily and we are soon out of the traffic and home. A further inspection at home reveals no clues and so I call the Club to see what I should do as the loan conditions understandably restrict you from taking anything apart. A couple of days later I take it over to Mike Smiths as he has kindly offered to have a look and help remedy the problem. In summary the kick starter has an engagement pawl that is pushed into engagement by a spring loaded pin.

This pin has become stuck down in its blind hole and hence does not engage and none of it is protruding so it cannot be gripped and pulled out. Mike has a look through his extensive stock of parts but we can't find the exact part we need and so we return to the original part with the pin still stuck in it. We decide to apply a little gentle heat to see if it will release the pin. As the oil around the pin starts to sizzle we realise that if the blind hole has oil in it then heating will expand the oil and push the pin out. As this thought occurs the pin does indeed come out with a "pop" and fires itself down Mike's driveway. We had created a tiny Brough Superior 52

cannon and just inadvertently test fired it! After a fruitless five minute search amongst the gravel, Mike gets a new pin and spring from his stocks and it all goes back together very sweetly. Many thanks to Mike for giving up his time to fix it.

Most of my riding consisted of late afternoon canters around the local lanes, but it did also take it to a few VMCC gatherings where its appearance seemed to be appreciated. One of these was in East Sussex and I had a very enjoyable ride heading home westward towards the setting sun with the South Downs on my left and the roads almost devoid of other traffic. For one brief moment I sort of achieved another great ambition that I am sure most motorcyclists have dreamed of since Brough Superiors enabled it with the first SS100's. I doubt if I will ever do a genuine 100mph on a Brough Superior, but on my ride home at a steady 50/55 the speedo had a few seconds of misbehavior and the needle jumped around to 100 and stayed twitching at the magic number for a couple of seconds before recovering itself and dropping back to 55. I wonder how long it has been since a Brough Superior topped a 100mph in the UK? At the end of July we attended Piers Ottey's West Sussex Ride Out, which was especially enjoyable as it was the first time I had ridden in the company of other Brough Superiors. I had not seen a Black Alpine style bike before and Piers bike is beautiful and immediately I became a fan of this style - very striking. Terry's SS100 is an iconic masterpiece that I could have happily spent hours looking at and what a fine noise it makes. Terry has already written about this event Spring 2020

so I will just say that it was a well done run over some lovely lanes. If you ever go on a run that has Brian Walker on his 1924 SS80, then make sure you get to follow it as the noise from its exhausts is extraordinarily. From behind it sounds like some sort of huge aero engine from the Great War, especially when accelerating yet when standing alongside it, it is quite quiet.

Another outing was the Graham Walker Run at Beaulieu , which is always a good day out as it is a great venue and always has a good turnout of interesting bikes. We take a mix of A and B roads down into the New Forest and park up awaiting the start. After an hour of looking at a fine mix of veteran and vintage machines, and a chat with a fellow Brough rider, it's time to start the run. I have been chatting with a fellow entrant who is on another example of 1930's exotica a Series A HRD Vincent Rapide and he decides to follow me around the course. I wonder how long it has been since two such iconic 30's superbikes were ridden in company.

The New Forest has quite low speed limits so we just gently chuff around the route and take in the sights and sounds. I suspect that if a Brough Superior and a Vincent Rapide rider had encountered each other on the same road in the 1930's then speeds would have been a bit higher!

The following week the Vincent's owner very generously lets me have a ride on it and so I can compare the Brough with what was probably its main competition. The Vincent is obviously more powerful than the side valve SS80, but other than that I think much falls in favour of the Brough. Even though the Vincent is a super rare TT spec Vintage Motorcycle News

machine with TT spec brakes, both the front and rear brakes on the SS80 give more feel and power than the Vincent's. The riding positions are different with the HRD putting the rider further forward and hence a slightly more sporting and cramped stance. The Brough would be more comfortable over a long distance. Both bikes handle very nicely and the Vincent rides very much like a modern bike. The engine of the HRD is quite busy and certainly you can see why it was called "the plumbers nightmare" and the Brough looks simple and purposeful. The Vincent was noticeably quicker than the SS80, but then I suspect an SS100 would 53

produce as much power and be just as rapid. Hopefully one day I may get to sample an SS100 and find out.

One of the obligations of borrowing the Tate Brough is that you should bring it to any club events that occur whilst you have it.

Luckily for me my loan period coincides with the Annual Rally and so I have the pleasure of more Brough Superior miles heading up to Oxfordshire. I plan a route to suit the Brough and set off early on the Saturday morning. We head west along the A272 through Sussex and Hampshire and after Winchester take a short section of the A34 before peeling off onto Spring 2020

small roads more suited to the Broughs pace. If I had carried on along the A34 a few more miles there is an almost hidden stone memorial to Geoffrey de Havilland's first flight in 1910 at this spot. Imagine designing and building your own aeroplane and then deciding to teach yourself to fly it by trying to fly it! Not surprisingly his first flight ended with a prang, but he was not put off and continued on to be one of our great aeronautical engineers.

I like roads that run through valleys and follow rivers as the tarmac tends to meander pleasantly through fine turns and scenery. The Bourne river (more of a stream now that water companies have pinched most of its water) has the B3048 for company and takes us through Vintage Motorcycle News

quintessential English countryside as we head northish. These small roads are enjoyable places to ride the Brough, they are about 1 to 1½ cars wide, mostly empty and pass through countryside untroubled by modern developments. The only downside is an occasional scattering of gravel where small streams wash out onto the roads in heavy rains.

We leave the valley at Hurstbourne Tarrant and skirt north up to higher ground and pass through Faccombe and stop on the top of Inkpen Hill to take in the splendid views and quickly check the bike over. All is well so we descend down into the valley and through Kintbury and cross the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal that runs nearby. As the little roads crosses over the water a few 54

times in quick succession it creates a series of little humpback bridges.

When I was a teenager I was overcome with an irresistible urge to jump them all one after another on my Ducati. Today I am a grown up and we gently roll over each in turn. We cross the A4 and a few more lanes later we are on the A338 heading north. This is another fine piece of tarmac that takes us through Wantage and on up towards the west of Oxford where we stop for petrol and then continue on to Middle Aston.

When I arrive a couple of Broughs are stopped at the entrance so I am definitely at the right place and I stop to have a chat before riding up to the main house. It is a fine spot for the Rally and to have a stretch after 110 miles on a Brough Spring 2020

Superior. It is not long before a small herd of Broughs appear and I join them and follow them off down the local lanes as we head for the lunch time pub. I friend has suggested to me that the correct term for Broughs plural is not a herd, but an affluence of Broughs. I have never seen so many Broughs before and I am trying to appreciate them in flight and take in the scenery without becoming part of it. At the pub I have a dilemma as outside are more Broughs of all types than I have ever seen and inside is beer and food. The bikes win and I spend my time looking at them all in turn and talking with a few owners that have not been lured inside. Eventually a sausage sandwich tempts me in and soon after we all set off again to the next destination. I expect that most members of the club are quite familiar with seeing so many Broughs on the road, but for me it is quite surreal and causes a wide grin inside my helmet. After tea and cake at the next stop we head back to Middle Aston. Broughs are plentiful at the annual gathering, a selection below.

I have booked in for dinner but I am greatly enjoying riding the fine machine and as I will only have it for a couple more weeks decide to skip dinner in favor of more riding.

I find Terry and apologize for changing my plans and hope that someone will make use of my supper. I don waterproofs and head back south via the same route. The A338 is almost empty as the rain begins and it fails to dampen my spirits even as the water starts to dampen all sorts of parts of me where icy cold water is generally not welcome.

We leave the A roads and make progress down the lanes and again Vintage Motorcycle News

stop on the top of Inkpen to check the bike and take in the view.

The small roads are wet and unpleasantly scattered with gravel, but the Brough is ideally suited to the terrain. Its long wheelbase makes it very stable in these conditions and yet you can still get it to change direction quickly should the need arise. The brakes also are well suited as the rear brake is very progressive, full of feel and powerful enough when you need it, perfect for these roads and probably exactly like the road conditions that existed when it was made.

When you ride an old bike I think you need to ride it on the type of roads it was designed for to fully appreciate it as its makers intended.

We continue to canter homeward as the daylight starts to give way to darkness and we ride on into the gentle colours of twilight. I always enjoy riding in twilight as the fading light seems to change the feel of the countryside and it always seems more adventurous as you watch the world change from light to dark. The Brough seems to favour the dark as when I turn on the lights nothing happens and I stop shortly after outside an old church to investigate. I can find no flaws in the wiring and nothing loose and so switch to plan B. On my 1914 Triumph motorcycle I always carry a set of modern bright clip on bicycle lights and these are soon attached to the Brough. These modern LED lights produce an impressively bright light and we are soon back in motion and heading home.

I feel very much at home in the saddle as we progress through the counties of Berkshire, Hampshire and into Sussex. After over 300 miles today we arrive home in fine 55

form and park up the bike outside the garage to cool. After I have changed out of my damp riding gear and said hello to Tara my wife (best not to ignore she who must be obeyed) I wheel the bike into the garage to give it a thorough check over. I run a spanner over all the fastening and find nothing lose. The chain is still in tension and pleasantly oily even after its rainwater bath. A thorough check of the wiring reveals no obvious fault and I later learn from Mathew that he had a similar issue and it turned out to be an internal fault in the ammeter, so maybe I had the same issue.

The next morning I am up bright and early with clear skies but mixed weather reports. It takes just a couple of glugs of oil to bring the level back to normal and couple of pumps of air for the tires. After over 300 miles yesterday it is looking a little travel stained and I am in two minds whether I should clean it for its appearance at Sundays gathering. I decide that it is honest toil that has put a thin streak of dirt and oil over it and perhaps it should stay as it is a working bike and anyway whenever you clean a bike it almost certainly guarantees your next ride will be wet and wash all of the cleaning away.

The Brough is keen to get going and starts first kick and we retrace yesterdays route crossing many fine English counties again. We stop halfway for fuel and a quick check over shows all is well and we continue up to the Rally. I wondered around for hours just admiring the machines and chatting about them and other motorcycling matters. A very fine spot to pass a few hours. I parted a little earlier on Sunday to ensure Spring 2020

I really mean m o s t l y admiring the Brough from different angles, parked up in its native habitat on roads that it was designed to scamper along.

A few hours of fine Broughing later we are home. We have ridden over 500 miles this weekend and apart from the lights it has been perfectly reliable and a real pleasure to ride. Riding over 500 miles over a weekend would be a good performance for any bike and especially so for one that is past its 7 5 t h birthday.

time allowed a complete journey home in daylight and anyway after the awards everyone seemed to be setting sail for home as well.

Unusually it took a couple of kicks to start and I put this down to a natural reluctance to leave so many of its family behind, but once Vintage Motorcycle News

running it was in normal fine fettle and we were both keen to take to the roads of England.

We traced the same route home, though this time in fine warm sunshine and stopped a couple more times to just pause and take in the scenery. When I say the scenery, 56

On another pleasant sunny afternoon I am heading home and westward along the A272 and as I reach the outskirts of the old town of Petworth the traffic starts to crawl and by the time I reach the narrow centre it is close to static. I am moving so slowly that I am overtaken by an old chap on the pavement on a mobility scooter and he stops alongside me to have a Spring 2020

look at the Brough. We exchange appreciative nods and then the car ahead moves a few feet forward and I pull over to the side of the road to let him have a closer look. The old boy turns out to have ridden bikes until his 70's and was very pleased to see a Brough Superior on the road and in fact hadn't seen one since the 1950's. I ask if he ever had one (hoping it still exists in his shed ...) but he only got to admire them and never had a chance to even sit on one. I offer to resolve this oversight and he gets off his scooter with surprising agility and has his first ever sit on a Brough. As he sits on it asking questions he tells me that his wife will never believe that he has been sitting on a Brough Superior so I take a snap with my phone. A few days later I pop in to Mike Smiths to pick up a copy of the Golden Jubilee Rally book (well worth getting) and Mike kindly gives me a few Brough Club stickers. If you are ever passing through Petworth on a Brough Superior and see an old chap on a mobility scoter, now with a Brough sticker attached - do pull over and let him have a look.

such company time is well spent and passes all too quickly.

glorious miles on a Brough Superior.

My time with the Brough comes to an end all too soon and I take it out for one penultimate ride around the local lanes. I head past the Elsted Inn that hosts a fine annual gathering of two, three and four wheeled classic machines each New Years Day and pass through South Harting and climb up over the South Downs. From 1905 onwards the road here was closed for an annual hill climb and its steepness must have been a real challenge to these early motors. This afternoon the roads are empty and we take a regular route south along the lovely B2146 and then slowly meander home. As the roads are quiet I get to enjoy the sweetest part of the Broughs performance several times over. In top gear (where it spends almost all of its life) I let it run down to around 15mph with the ignition retarded and then balancing the throttle and ignition timing let it pull us gently back up to 50mph. It does this beautifully and effortlessly and the way it does it is will be one of my favourite memories of my time with the bike.

My final social outing on the bike is p l e a s a n t r i d e o v e r t o Th e Flowerpots Inn in Cheriton, a well known gathering spot for older bikes. I am meeting GAU's keeper for lunch and he has ridden over on another SS100 that he owns. It is a Matchless engined machine that he has just restored and returned to the road and it looks simply stunning. It is a sunny English summers day, we are outside a fine pub with good beer with two Brough Superiors parked next to us. He has been riding Broughs longer than I have been alive and he is full of interesting and entertaining stories and tales and in

The next ride is my final ride as I sadly have to return it to Dave.

When I arrive at his home he is loading his beautiful WE Brough into a van to on its way to a birthday party. I give Mr Tates bike a final pat on the tank and I am Broughless again.

Perhaps I should touch upon the possibly contentious topic of how many miles is too many miles to ride the Tate bike. Once I knew I was going to be lent it I did ask around to see what members thought about using it and putting some miles on it. As I was a relative new boy to the Club I did not want to blot my copy book by breaking any rules whether written or unwritten. Accordingly I spoke with the members I knew about what would be acceptable mileage.

Th e l o a n s c h e m e g i v e s n o restriction (which is very generous), but I wanted to see what members thought. Everyone I spoke with was keen that it should be ridden as much as possible and this seemed to be borne out at our annual Rally when almost everyone seemed keen to know that it was having some miles put on it. The only negative I picked up was a raised eyebrow from one member when he heard how many miles I had covered. If I have annoyed any members for putting too many miles on it then I can only apologise and for everyone else - I took care of it, it was running as well at the end of the loan as it was at the start. I enjoyed every mile and a great many people got to see it and hear it whilst it was out and about - for most it was the first Brough Superior they had ever seen on the road.

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My thanks go to the club and all those involved in the Tate loan scheme especially Terry Hobden and Mike Smith, with special thanks to Dave for restoring it and keeping it in such fine condition.

My final thanks must be for Mr Tate without whose great generosity I would have never had the experience of eighteen hundred 57

I expect it may be some time before I ride another Brough as my pockets are not deep enough to buy a complete one. I have however made a start and now have a set of SS100 flywheels and I only need a couple of thousand more bits and I will be able to ride it!

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Brough Superior Club gets a diamond jubilee of a drenching Source: MACFILOS By Mike Evans After a rather magnificent summer of endless sunshine and unusually high temperatures, little old England has returned to form.

Over the last weekend, the August bank holiday, the weather returned to what we locals charitably call “changeable.” Changeable is a euphemism for wet and is to be expected on holiday weekends. So it was I got near drowned on an odd quest, to see a display of legendary motorcycles that were made before the second world war.

Soft grass surfaces and motorcycle parking are not congenial companions, as this Brough enthusiast is finding out. Incidentally, the plate tells me that this particular Brough was registered in Nottingham, home of the Brough factory, so it probably has a particularly interesting history

Stop me and buy one: George Brough might not have envisaged his powerful vee-twin hitched to an ice-cream sidecar, but there’s no discounting the value here. Sadly the sidecar was not stuffed with 1930s cones, bricks and choc bars. Just imagine what you could get for tuppence or, even, a penny in those days. A penny cone now costs 500 times as much and is probably half the size. (More information: The ice cream sidecar was one of a fleet of such operated by the Creamax company in the 1930s. Creamax was owned by the mayor of Bury St Edmunds who purchased a succession of BS SS80s for this purpose. Very strange) Vintage Motorcycle News

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When I met my old friend Nick Jeffery at Brooklands ten days ago he sparked my interest by mentioning the Diamond Jubilee rally of the Brough Superior Club which was scheduled for the bank holiday weekend near Oxford.

Now I’ve never owned a Brough Superior — unlike the marque’s most famous acolyte, Lawrence of Arabia, not to mention George Bernard Shaw and Orson Welles (Note: Nick tells me that he knows of no reliable source that attributes BS ownership to either George Bernard Shaw or Orson Welles.

Shaw’s wife, Charlotte, gave T.E. Lawrence many gifts including a new BS in 1929 and he believes that is where the GBS connection came in. He also has no idea how the suggestion of Orson Welles’ ownership arose).

I’ve always been fascinated by these bikes which gained the reputation of being “the Rolls-Royce of motorcycles”. This description was coined by H.D.Teague, one-time Midlands editor of The Motor Spring 2020

Cycle, and taken up with enthusiasm by George Brough. At one time, as many of you know, I worked in the London office of that magazine but by that time Bob Currie had taken over Teague’s office in Birmingham.

Oh dear….. Fresh from the grass car park, this was my first sight of the rally.

Water, water, everywhere. All the polished metal and meticulously fettled engines battled with the downpour

The combination of a diamond jubilee, a delicious collection of lusty vee twins and a noted country house, at Middle Aston, meant I could hardly refuse to go. On Sunday, therefore, I set off for Oxfordshire in reasonable weather and in high spirits. But the weather soon turned exceptionally nasty.

The car’s satnav had difficulty as we approached the target and sent me off down a three-mile single-track lane, barely wide enough for the car, where I drove in dread of anything coming in the opposite direction. Satnavs are known for this sort of thing.

Fortunately, nothing did come along (in six miles, must have been the bad weather) but I got to the end of the lane and found no sign of the house and nary a Brough Superior. I had to resort to Apple Carplay where the ever knowledgeable Siri had an instinctive knowledge of the whereabouts of the rally. So back I went down the same lane, scraping the hedgerows on either side of the car. Once more, though, nothing came in the opposite direction.

Despite the rain, I led a charmed life last Sunday.

A magnificent Brough Superior SS100, the very epitome of 1930s two-wheel superiority. Another example originally registered in Nottingham

twice in the morning without realising — and I found a parking spot with some difficulty. I met my friend Nick, looking rather bedraggled as he wrestled with his 1928 Brough, and discovered a huge collection of Brough motorcycles and Brough Superior cars. Why hadn’t I realised George Brough also manufactured a rather tasty line of superior saloons? I suppose they can’t be called the Rolls Royces of motor cars but they do look equally impressive.

Why so Superior you might ask?

Well, George Brough who was the scion of the Brough engineering family in Nottingham was searching for a distinctive brand for his new muscular vee-twin motorcycle shortly after the end of the 1914-18 war. A friend in the pub suggested “Brough Superior” which George quite liked. His father though, also a motorcycle engineer of repute, wasn’t impressed. “I suppose,” he said, “that makes my bikes Brough

Brough Superior cars were indeed very superior, reminiscent of a Mercedes-Benz or Horch of the period.

By this time the rain was sheeting down and the front and rear wipers were working overtime. Middle Aston House hove into view — I realised I had probably passed it Vintage Motorcycle News

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Middle Aston House — a smart resort for well-heeled countryphiles — as a backdrop to the rained-off Brough Superior Club Diamond Jubilee. Note the lowering skies as they lowered by the minute. Centre-right, in the yellow jacket and woolly hat, is my friend Nick Jeffery, still looking for a parking place to exhibit his Brough I know about this car because there was a helpful notice in the windscreen. It had arrived at Middle Aston all the way from Fúrstenfeldbruck county in Bavaria, to the west of Munich. It is owned by Heinrich Klimaszewski-Blettner and is a Brough Superior Hudson 3500cc six-cylinder originally registered in Cornwall on November 16, 1938. I hope he didn’t have a satnav like mine or he might still have been wandering the narrow lanes of rural Oxfordshire. Heinrich says that he and his wife Barbara have travelled over 10,000 miles in the car without major mishap. The torque, he says, is great and copes magnificently with the mountains of Austria and Italy

Inferiors”. This anecdote I gleaned from another old friend, the late “Titch” Allen, so called because of his modest dimensions. But if his knowledge of motorcycles and motorcycling had been the yardstick he would have been known as “Huge” Allen.

The following photograph of the Austin 7-engined Brough Superior is particularly interesting, according to Nick Jeffery: “It was one of the ‘Bodmin Broughs’ sold at a Bonhams auction. They were then little better than polished rust. This example sold for £331,000 in that s t a t e . Th i s i s a n a m a z i n g transformation.”

Anyway, while I was pondering all this, the rain continued to fall by the bucketful. Motorcyclists are well used to the British climate and

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This, I thought, is one of the more unusual Brough Dream four-cylinder models but I was wrong. Don Morley has pointed out in a comment that this is an Austin 7-powered Brough with reverse gear, and a rather nice example at that. George Brough had a dream that motorcycles should be as smooth and quiet as a prestige car but he could never shake off his love for the lusty, throaty big twins as exemplified by the SS100.

invariably come prepared for the worst. They are used to getting wet.

I, having arrived in a sissy car with sat nav and a tin roof, was getting wet. Worse, there was a clear and present danger threatening whichever camera I intended to use. Discretion encouraged me to leave the M10 in the car and I decided to sacrifice the newly acquired Leica X2 on the altar of Brough superiority. If I’d realised the weather was going to be so bad I would have brought the weatherproofed Panasonic G9 and a suitable lens.

But the rains came a-tumbling down, heavier than ever, and the camera was getting soaked. Not good. In the end, I left in a disappointed frame of mind. I had had high hopes of this Diamond Vintage Motorcycle News

Jubilee (coincidentally, the club was formed the year I got my motorcycle driving licence) but all I got was a nondescript collection of snapshots. Still, I’m sure you will be interested to see these legendary beasts, despite the gloomy surroundings. At this remove, it’s hard to see them as two-wheeled Rolls Royces, but the enthusiasm of the members of the Brough Superior Club is palpable if a little dampened on this occasion.

Looking at these photographs you might be excused for thinking that Brough Superiors are ten a penny.

Not so. They are valued in the tens of thousands and, in some cases, the hundreds of thousands. Pushing your Brough through the waterlogged grounds of Middle Aston Hall may look a bit mucky.

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But this is a true case of where there’s muck, there’s brass.

Disclaimer: Any Brough Superior Club members who happen across this page will rapidly conclude that I don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. The devil is in the detail when it comes to Brough lore. I plead ignorance and submit that the average Macfilos reader (with the honourable exceptions of my old mates Don Morley and Nick Jeffery) doesn’t have much of a clue about George Brough and all his works.

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A Shaft Driven Opposed-Four Motorcycle built by Brough article by Jeff Dean England's 996 cc 1938-1939 Brough Superior “Golden Dream”

Flash! The Brough Superior Dream lives!

It had been thought that the only known Brough Superior was on display at the British National Museum. In August 2008, however, Allan Johnson, of Georgetown, Ontario, Canada, was at a Brough rally in Nottingham, England, when he took the photo above of one of the later 1939 development Dreams. It is owned by, John Wallis of England. Allan reports that two others are under restoration, so three Dreams may be on the road in the future.

The boxer layout, with the crankshaft longitudinal and opposed cylinders, was developed

by BMW Engineer Max Friz, and resulted in the 1923 BMW R32 — the first BMW motorcycle.

Gold Wing GL1000, Brough

(pronounced "Bruff") Superior

This engine layout always struck me as being utterly logical. The cylinders project sideways into the wind and have good primary balance, and transmission to a shaft final drive is relatively straight forward (or backward), eliminating any need for a bothersome chain or belt.

Nearly 40 years before Honda introduced its revolutionary opposed-four, shaft driven 1975 Vintage Motorcycle News

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The photo above is a close-up view of the 1939 Brough Dream. Here you can see the enclosed driveshaft, kick starter, right-side foot shifter, the generously sprung saddle, and one of the two carburetors on the motorcycle.

produced an opposed-four, shaft driven motorcycle named the “Dream.” One was painted gold for Show purposes and was nicknamed “The Golden Dream” but it was never sold. It is currently in a museum in Birmingham, UK. The cut-away line drawing (on the left) of its engine are from Ronald H. Clark's excellent 1964 book, Brough Superior: the Rolls Royce of Motorcycles. (Note: "Brough" rhymes with "tough.") The cylinders in the engine are stacked over each other (see drawing above), unlike in the Honda GL1000, where they are placed fore and aft.

Here are some passages about this machine from Clark's book: … like some previous examples, had four cylinders, but there all Vintage Motorcycle News

resemblance finishes for here we have the cylinders arranged after an "H" on its side or, if one prefers it, two horizontally opposed twins one above the other and geared together. Perfect balance was obtained by causing them to rotate in opposite directions but with each pair of pistons (when considered vertically) reciprocating together. George [Brough] called it a "flat vertical"—flat for balance, vertical for cooling.

As first designed, the four cylinders each were about 68x68 mm., 996 cc., with the camshafts gear-driven ... Much development work was done on this engine and as might be expected many modifications resulted, culminating in the second design ... and it was this engine that 63

was used in the first "Dream" exhibited at Olympia in 1938. [note: Inasmuch as the contemporaneous BMW R51, and the earlier R5 and R23, all had identical bore and stroke dimensions of 68mm., one just cannot help wondering if George Brough might not have used some BMW parts in the development of his 1938 Golden Dream engine! Or perhaps this dimension is something like the Golden Mean—so immutable that it was destined to become the dimension for the perfect 247cc cylinder.]

Final drive was by the propeller shaft ... and an underslung worm and wormwheel on the rear axle, and even the propeller shaft was Spring 2020

The Brough Superior Golden Dream above is on display at the British National Motorcycle Museum. It was heavily damaged in a museum fire in 2003 that was started by a discarded cigarette. (We owe so much to smokers.)

enclosed in a tube [this didn't happen to BMWs until 1955 - ed.]!

Quite apart from its original features, this remarkable engine had one advantage over all the OHV twins so far produced—the valves and springs are now totally enclosed. It was the most original and outstanding attempt to break away from the ... conventionalism in motorcycles this country [i.e., England] had, up to 1938, ever witnessed. ... two were produced during the late part of 1938 (components for further engines were made but never finished) and with the four-speed box was being erected [sic] for Olympia that year.

Then, in September, England was at war for the third time this century, and for the second time the productive capacity of the house of Brough applied to the war effort.

Brough Superior Dream Engine

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Four cylinders: Bore 71mm., Stroke 63mm. -996 c.c. - compression ratio 6.5 to 1.

The cylinders are arranged doubly opposed transversely in the frame (one cylinder above the other on each side.)

With this arrangement all the cylinders are equally cooled, and the Exhausts, which face forward, give an uninterrupted stream of air cooling them in a manner impossible to achieve with any other arrangement.

The cylinders and heads are not shielded from the air by the front mudguard as with other machines.

The cylinder block is aluminium carrying liners of special wear-resisting material, and each pair of cylinders (upper and lower) has its own crankshaft. They are coupled together with wide-faced gears, the teeth of which are ground.

The crankshafts are each in two parts, the driving side member 64

having the crankpin and driving side journal integral.

The main bearings are bronze, and capable of great endurance. The crankshaft arrangement permits the use of bearings of generous proportions, and the connecting rods are of light alloy, operating direct upon the crankpin in accordance with the latest racing practice.

Th e r e a r e t w o c a m s h a ft s chain-driven to give silent operation, and the cams operate mushroom tappets and have a gradual take-up of tappet clearance to give quiet running. The whole of the valve gear is totally enclosed.

Frame This is specially designed to accommodate this type of engine, being welded together instead of the usual practice of brazing lugs.

This frame also has a fully sprung (plunger) rear wheel which is fitted as standard on other Brough Superior models.

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Forks The Brough Superior—formerly known as the Castle—type of fork is fitted as standard on this machine.

General The remaining specification, such as bulbous-nosed tank and its capacity, saddle height, ground clearance and wheel base, etc., is practically identical to that of standard machines.

The Dream could be supplied with 3- or 4-speed transmission, and the final drive is by silent, underslung worm.

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The rear wheel and all driving mechanism could be detached from the machine in two minutes.

Allan Johnson, whose photos are seen above, adds this postscipt: In an interview in the early 1960s, George Brough put his decision to not to proceed with the Dream Four as follows, “I wanted to go on with the Dream after the war but it was so complex that it would have absorbed all our production facilities.

Materials were controlled and one had to undertake to export most of one's production.”

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(These were the requirements of the Labour government of the 1945-1950 period — only firms that exported large amounts of their production could get quantities of special steels and other critical materials.)

“It was hard to decide against making motorcycles but I had to think of my men ... most of them had been with me for the whole of their working life and I just could not take the risk. The Brough Superior name lives on but it now stands for the highest quality in precision engineering.”

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The Brough Superior Golden Dream.

The Golden Brough is the only Brough not to be finished in chrome: it is, quite literally, golden. It’s also the first time in history a motorcycle has been painted in metallic paint.

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But the machine’s origins were controversial. George Brough lavished the Golden Dream’s media accolades but remained tight-lipped about the original design concept of the flat-four motorcycle.

Then, in 1956, it emerged that the original design proposal for the Golden Dream had come from a certain Capt Palethorpe.

Palethorpe – a keen hydroplane enthusiast –conceived an engine that could be used in a motorcycle and a hydroplane and proposed the concept to George Brough as a means of spreading development costs between Brough’s motorcycle interests and Palethorpe’s personal passion, hydroplanes.

The prototype Brough engine was manufactured by Sharland Motors, who also manufactured Palethorpe’s hydroplanes.

The prototype Dream was soon ready for testing. This initial engine was long-stroke and manufactured purely for analysis using forks and a frame available at the time. But it proved unsatisfactory.

George Brough then decided to manufacture his own transverse flat-four version – only this time it would be a short-stroke – and then presented the revised Dream as an in-house concept.

Brough’s short-stroke engine was produced with help from development engineer and two-time TT winner Freddie Dixon and H J Hatch of Burney and Blackburn Ltd. Hatch was the brains behind the Excelsior Mechanical Marvel, the 1929 Lightweight TT-winning machine, named so because of its complex valve gear, and the iconic AJS 7R racer.

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The 2017 SS100

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Road Testing The 2017 Brough Superior SS100 The first new Brough test ride in more than 70 years…By Paul d'Orleans

Want to get bikers up in arms?

Revive a hallowed brand.

Established manufacturers get a pass when producing ugly or ill-considered motorcycles, and nobody questions their right to exist, but a new manufacturer using an old name fights steep resistance, no matter how committed it is to the old name.

Brough Superior owner Mark Upham is doing his best to honor the spirit of the late George Brough, which is probably impossible in the 21st Century, because Brough invented a genre — the luxury motorcycle — that was bombed out of existence in World War II. Vintage Motorcycle News

First-generation Brough Superiors were built between 1919 and 1940, and immediately earned a reputation for quality, innovation, handling, speed, and beauty.

They were the most expensive and fastest motorcycles in the world, and their lustrous finish earned t h e m t h e n i c k n a m e “ Th e Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles.” Rolls didn’t object.

Above all, George Brough was a PR genius, crafting an image via selected competitions (ones he was likely to win), flamboyant personal style, a gift for turning a phrase, and the regular patronage of celebrities like T.E. Lawrence, otherwise known as Lawrence of Arabia.

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It isn’t likely for a motorcycle to be all those things today, as “fastest” seems irrelevant, most expensive is a matter of adding zeros, and today’s heroes are tomorrow’s targets for scandal.

Just imagine a T.E. Lawrence cell phone hack, with his leather bed sheets and masochistic inclinations…

Since we live in a different world today, what remains to link old Brough and new is aesthetics, innovation, and quality; the 2016 Brough Superior SS100 makes a strong pitch for all these.

One of George’s innovations, and a hallmark of the brand, was the industry’s first saddle tank, which Spring 2020

was nickeled up and shapely, with a rounded nose and pleasing proportions.

The new Brough Superior lifts its tank design directly from a 1920s Pendine racing model, which used triple straps to bind tank to frame; it’s the visual DNA of a Brough Superior, and a feature Mark Upham insisted on.

Underneath that old-school tank (built in polished aluminum) we leave the past behind and enter the 21st Century, with a unique motor and innovative chassis.

The heart of the beast is a V-twin of course, but set at 88 degrees, which provides perfect balance a lá Ducati and Moto Guzzi, but looks wide to a traditionalist.

It’s a bespoke motor from the firm Boxer Design of Toulouse, France, a water-cooled 8-valve DOHC unit of 997cc that produces 120 Vintage Motorcycle News

horsepower. That wide vee concurs with one of George’s last experimental Broughs, using an AMC-built (Matchless/AJS) 90-degree V-twin OHV engine, which was never serially produced.

It thus bears a thread of a connection with the past, which turns out to have both lovely castings and contemporary performance, and most importantly isn’t an H-D clone.

The Boxer Design engine is built and developed by Akira Engineering of Bayonne, which certainly has the chops — its Kawasaki ZX-10R engines currently dominate WSB racing.

The chassis is both innovative and expensive, with a mix of titanium, aluminum, and magnesium for the frame and swingarm, carbon-fiber wheels, aluminum bodywork, and a double-wishbone front fork.

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Front and rear suspension use Öhlins units, and that fork is a gift from Claude Fior, who never patented his design from the 1980s.

It’s still avant-garde, but very well developed, with lots of track time; BMW’s Duolever fork is also Fior-based.

While blade-type forks normally have zero brake dive, the Brough’s fork has a small amount engineered in to feel “normal” when the anchors are out.

The small-diameter Behringer brakes, sourced from the aircraft industry, are incredibly powerful, with quad rotors on the front wheel; Actual braking ability is the most radical departure from old Broughs, whose stopping power never equaled their 100 mph potential, in the days when traffic was sparse.

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The specifications of the new Brough Superior have been discussed before, since the debut of the prototypes four years ago, but few road reports have made it to American shores, principally because Brough won’t be marketed here for a year or so (testing + regulations = $$$), and none are currently in the US. We’re a low priority, but that didn’t stop Boxer Design principal Thierry Henriette, the man who’s building the new Broughs, from allowing a test ride last June at the Wheels&Waves festival in Biarritz.

The Pyrenees are legendary for motorcycling, with lightly traveled mountain roads and 1000-year-old stone villages for scenery.

My test was over the slightly more traveled coastal roads of the Corniche, which attracts a few tourists eager to photograph the Cote Basque, and get off the ubiquitous toll highways.

Luckily, access to this fantastic stretch of road between France and Spain is very poorly marked, so risky passing maneuvers were minimal.

Th e S S 1 0 0 i s p r o b a b l y t h e lightest-looking literbike on the market, with lots of empty space around the engine and beneath the saddle.

The dry weight is just under 400 lb., excellent for a 120-hp machine, and throwing the bike around corners is easy.

It’s not razor sharp like a racer; it feels like a fast street machine, and real-world handling is totally intuitive.

I stepped off a 1974 Norton Commando and onto the SS100, and the feeling was familiar at all speeds, except flat-out.

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At speeds over 100 mph, the Brough was still charging hard, and pushing the bike through the Corniche’s bends felt completely stable, predictable, and modern.

The gearchange is firm and accurate, the clutch is progressive and strong, and the Öhlins suspension does its job unobtrusively.

The power is yeehaw-level good, but not insane — let’s just say passing traffic wasn’t even a thought, and clear roads offered breathtakingly fun motorcycling, with super secure handling, a great noise, and the stunning looks of the bike.

And the looks; love ’em or hate ’em, they’re distinctive, and telegraph the quality of the machine’s construction.

Even a good squeeze on those crazy Behringer brakes in mid-corner felt perfectly safe; there’s no ABS yet, so it’s best to keep your right hand supple.

An hour’s ride back and forth on the coast road left me with a big smile, and a desire to own an SS100 — the “cheap” one that is. At £45,000 (about $60,000), the new SS100 is 10 percent the price of a 1920s model, and therefore a bargain! Well, any other bike is cheap by that metric.

Th e B o x e r e n g i n e i s a b i t reminiscent in feel of a mid-1920s JAP 990cc OHV racing motor, which was the heart of the original SS100.

It wasn’t meant for the street, and had a nervous disposition, which the new motor shares. There’s a slight harshness to the primary and camshaft drive of the Boxer motor; you can feel the sharp edges of gears whirring around, with not much cushioning effect present.

It isn’t bad, and it runs dead smooth, but that slight harshness is the sort of thing a few years’ development will probably eliminate.

For a small producer’s wholly new engine, it’s something of a miracle it works so damn well.

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My favorite model is all black, but my well used test bike harvested eyeballs everywhere it went — I haven’t attracted this much attention on two wheels since testing a Confederate Wraith.

I’ve spent more saddle time on vintage Brough Superiors than new sportbikes, having ridden a 1933 B-S across the States in the 2014 Cannonball.

I’ve also been a B-S owner’s club member since the 1980s, having owned four models, back when they were semi-affordable to 99 percenters.

Therefore, I’m the most likely candidate to make mouth-frothing accusations of “blasphemy!” for use of the Brough name, but I’ve known Mark Upham for years, and he’s also an arch enthusiast of the marque.

That doesn’t mean he’ll make a decent new motorcycle, but when journalist Alan Cathcart introduced Upham to Boxer boss Thierry Henriette, he landed in the right hands. Henriette was excited by the project’s challenges, and has made an intriguing motorcycle that is totally up to date with terrific performance, a retro, classy vibe, and a totally unique look.

It actually fills the vacant niche of the Gentleman’s Motorcycle.

Would George have approved? I do believe he would.

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The SS100 is a collaboration between Brough owner Mark Upham (left), an Englishman based in Austria, and French designer Thierry Henriette. It is produced at Henriette’s factory in Toulouse Vintage Motorcycle News

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Aston Martin with 2 wheels missing: This is the British car maker's first foray into motorcycles, teaming up with another iconic British name, Brough Superior

Aston Martin launches £100k SUPER BIKE with Brough Superior It was Lawrence of Arabia’s favourite two-wheeled brand with a reputation as the Rolls-Royce of motorcycles. And now it is being combined with a dash of 007.

For luxury sports car maker Aston Martin has joined forces with legendary Brought Superior to create a strictly limited edition track-only 186mph £100,000 motorbike as part of an adventurous new collaboration.

Only 100 of the new hand-built AMB 001 by Aston Martin and Brough Superior will be made – combining the dynamism and heroism of First World War desert Vintage Motorcycle News

hero Lawrence of Arabia with the derring-do of Aston-favourite James Bond.

With a price of €108,000 (expected to be around £100,000 for UK customers) they are being built and hand-assembled in the Brough Superior factory in Toulouse, France with first deliveries this fall.

huge amounts of pulling-power in a wide range of engine rpm.

This is also the first time that a Brough Superior model is presented with a V-twin turbocharged engine.

The collectors’ bikes aim to combine elegance, beauty and power.

The new carbon-fibre AMB001 made its worldwide debut at EICMA, the Milan Motorcycle Show marking the start of ‘the first chapter of an exciting new partnership.’

The new bike boasts a turbocharged output of 134 kW (180hp) at just 180 kilos dry weight promising an incredible engine response with

Aston Martin said: ‘Strictly limited to just 100 examples, the track-only AMB 001 represents the union of iconic Aston Martin design and

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Only 100 of the new hand-built AMB 001 by Aston Martin and Brough Superior will be made

state-of-the-art Brough Superior engineering to create a piece of automotive art for the motorbike connoisseur.’

Aston Martin executive vice President and chief creative officer Marek Reichman added: ‘This is what we believe a cutting-edge motorcycle should be and we are very proud to see the Aston Martin wings on a motorcycle for the first time.’

sports bike concept, boasting exclusive technical features, including a chassis configuration with a double wishbone front fork and structural carbon fibre body’, the brand said.

Stirling Green and Lime Essence with Matte Black wheels, forks and brake assemblies.

It also features a combination of paint and bare carbon fibre that accentuates the lines.

The new bike is in the traditional Aston Martin Racing colours of

He said hi-tech skills developed for cars such as the Aston Martin Valkyrie hyper car as well as expertise in traditional craft techniques had helped create ‘a truly beautiful motorcycle; a design and engineering work of art.’

Design inspiration was taken from the new series of mid-engined Aston Martin cars.

The aim was to create ‘a unique, modern, lightweight and powerful Vintage Motorcycle News

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Brough Superior Aston Martin AMB 001

The motorcycle is not road legal, so will only be allowed for use on track. It's aimed at well-heeled automobile collectors Vintage Motorcycle News

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Aston Martin and Brough Superior are collaborating on limited edition motorcycles

New partnership between luxury automotive manufacturers will showcase the integration of beautiful design and exquisite engineering in strictly limited edition motorcycles

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Aerodynamic wings attached to the cowl on the front of the bike take their direction from the ‘S-Curve ‘ which provide downforce at the front.

Ultra-lightweight Aston Martin wings sit under the lacquer of the bodywork on the nose and the tank, and are the same nine-micron stainless steel wings that adorn the Aston Martin Valkyrie.

The bike boasts a strong, sculptural body form accented by a carbon fibre fin The new bike boasts a turbocharged output of 180hp and a dry weight of just 180kg. It's the first time that a Brough Superior model is presented with a V-twin turbocharged engine All of the components have been specially designed using the best processes and materials, including carbon fibre, titanium and billet aluminum.

There are lots of nods back to Aston Martin cars, too.

The design of the fin is derived from the side strake on Aston Martin cars. It runs along the full length of the Stirling Green tank,

passing under the saddle and out onto the rear, creating a flowing form along the top of the bike.

A spokesman said: ’As the fin passes under the saddle it can be seen through breaks in the Oxford Tan leather pads of the hand-stitched saddle, which combines old techniques and modern technology in one swooping area that is a perfect fit for the human form.’

The design takes inspiration from Aston Martin's latest range of supercars, including the Vantage, DBX and Valkyrie hyper car

Design boss Reichman said in a statement: ’Aston Martin may be 106 years-old but the forward momentum of this company is inspiring, for every area of the business but for Design in particular.’

‘The same people who work on the design of our cars have worked on the AMB 001. These people are absolute experts and have delivered many of the special project cars that we have designed. Unlike at other car companies, our designers have the full breadth of experience and I think this is showcased in this aspirational bike.’

Brief history of Brough Superior The brand was relaunched in 2013 by respected motorcycle designer Thierry Henriette who began by relaunching the most famous of George Brough’s motorcycles - the SS100 - favored by Lawrence of Arabia, and now has three ‘modern luxury classics’.

A spokesman said: ‘The new era Brough Superior bikes have kept the DNA of the classics such as the art deco design and improved it beyond the modern standards with exclusive technologies and the finest materials’.

Source: Mail online

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Aerodynamic wings attached to the cowl on the front of the bike take their direction from the ‘S-Curve ‘ which provide downforce at the front

Aston Martin executive vice president Marek Reichman described it as a 'cutting-edge motorcycle' and claimed the brand was 'very proud to see the Aston Martin wings on a motorcycle for the first time’

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Old photo of the Brough Superior works on Haydn Road in Nottingham, England and the new home of the Brough Superior near Toulouse, France.

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The Brough Superior Anniversary

100 Years The Brough Superior Pendine 100 Years Limited Edition Vintage Motorcycle News

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2019 was quite a

100TH BIRTHDAY for

BROUGH SUPERIOR

For its 100th birthday, Brough Superior organized a very nice and interesting event in the Austrian alps. More than 30 guests

coming for the great majority of them from the UK responded to the invitation, proudly arriving after couple of days of rides on their Brough Superior. Resellers, partners but first and foremost passionates about the brand constituted the guests.

The visit started with a tour inside the Hydroeletric power plant TIWAG, followed by the 007 spy exposition in Sรถlden, then rides

across the Austrian and Italian alps. At last, a tour inside the amazing Top Mountain Motorcycle Museum of Hochgurgl, located

above 2200m right at the start of the gondola. The owner of the museum celebrated the birthday by setting up a special 100 Year birthday corner.

As a privileged partner, Total proudly accepted the invitation and

offered to the whole guests a special 100 year cobranded ELF/Brough Superior metallic plate !

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Brough Superior Works Museum

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Brough Superior Works Museum

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Brough Superior Works Museum

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Brough Superior Works Museum

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Brough Superior

Brough Superior

The Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles

The Complete Story

by Ronald H. Clark Hardcover

by Peter Miller Hardcover

Amazon.ca CDN$166.29

Amazon.ca CDN$84.00

Reissued for the 40th anniversary of the Brough Superior Club, this complete story of the most distinguished name in the history of British motorcycles was written with the full cooperation of the Brough works and of George Brough himself.

This book documents the full story of Brough and Brough Superior from the early years of the twentieth century through to the end of production in the Second World War, and post-war attempts at revival.

About the Author: Peter Miller has enjoyed a lifetime's interest in historic vehicles. Vintage cars were an early passion, but over the years early motorcycles have become a more dominant interest.

His early motorcycling experience was obtained with Corgi scooters which, with their single gear and 30mph maximum speed, represent the antithesis of the Brough Superior.

It was 1999 before he gained his first experience with a Brough Superior, a 1939 SS80 De Luxe model, which he subsequently bought and now regrets the missed 'Broughing' years.

Early retirement has given Peter time for vehicle restoration and to research background histories of the machines he owns. He is a resident of Dorset, England.

For more than 30 years, it has been the definitive book on Brough Superior, containing a wealth of technical data, archival photographs, cutaway drawings, diagrams, graphs and tables and nine detailed appendices of engine specs and competition histories.

A study of a small motor manufacturing business dedicated to quality.

This is a valuable reference to anyone who's admired the Brough Superior, one of the finest machines of any kind ever produced.

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www.MotorcycleClassics.com Subscribe to our Magazine or visit our Store

Contact us at: 1-800-880-7567! and get those Special Collector Editions

MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS PREWAR PERFECTION…………………………$9.99 Take a trip down memory lane with the Motorcycle Classics Prewar Perfection special issue! Packed with stories about all different kinds of bikes (from a 1936 Harley-Davidson EL and 1941 BMW R75 to a 1927 Cleveland 4-45 and a 1933 KTT Velocette), this collection features something new and interesting on every page.

Read about the enduring legacy of the inventor of Carmex lip balm (his grandson rides and fixes up motorcycles), travel to Berlin to discover the roots of the 1939 BMW R51, and learn how the 1930 Henderson KJ Streamline was used as a police transportation vehicle. This is the perfect read for the history lover and motorcycle collector!

Other articles include: • Refined Pioneer: 1921 Reading Standard – Some antique motorcycles are time travelers. They do much better in current conditions than they did when they were built. One of these is the Reading Standard.

• Diamond in the Rough: 1931 AJS S8 Deluxe – Restorer John Whitby was flipping through ads for cars when a motorcycle in the background of a photo caught his eye.

• A Little Fun on the Side: 1941 BMW R75 – Owner Mark Dunn urges us to retain our historical memory while keeping it light at the same time with a military sidecar BMW. • And more!

MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS STREET BIKES OF THE '50S…………………..$9.99 Motorcycle Classics dedicates this Special Collector Edition to the remarkable street bikes of the 1950s. Numerous classic motorcycles were designed and built in the ’50s, and Motorcycle Classics has put together a 96-page special edition featuring articles that explore the decade and what it brought to the motorcycle world. The Harley-Davidson KHK, Honda JC58 Benly, Devil Lusso Extra, and many others are all covered in this glossy-page, full-color guide.

Whether you’re just discovering these bikes or have been riding them since they first came on the market, you’re sure to enjoy this special edition.

Articles in this guide include: • Unapproachable: 1957 Norton Model 30 – Joe Block’s rare 1957 Model 30 is one of just 70 built that year, but that doesn’t stop him from riding it.

• Big Sid’s 1950 Series B Vincent Meteor – A towering man, Sidney Biberman left a monumental legacy as a Vincent aficionado, tuner, and lover of speed.

• Dad’s 1958 BMW R50 – Shortly after the death of Richard Costello, his son Bill found a note attached to his father’s R50 in the garage. Since then, Bill has devotedly restored his dad’s BMW. • Speed Twin: Ed Turner’s Triumphant Twin – Emulated by everyone, Triumph sold a parallel twin first.

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1/9scale Model Kit : Brough Superior SS100 The new line up from MFH (Model Factory Hiro) is the 1/9 scale motorcycle model.

Ref: MFH-K485 available at your local Hobby Store • This is a multi-material kit contains of lathe-cutting aluminium parts, photo etch sheet, decal sheets, white metal, rubber, etc.

• The chain is assembled from photo etch parts and totally movable.

• Kit can be combine with sidecar kit “K663 1/9scale Full detail Kit : Brough Superior AGS Sidecar “ (sold separately)

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1/9scale Model Kit : Brough Superior AGS Sidecar The new line up from MFH (Model Factory Hiro) is the 1/9 scale motorcycle model.

Ref: MFH-K663 available at your local Hobby Store • A multi-material kit featuring white metal, resin, etching, decals and rubber parts.

• Kit only includes parts for sidecar. To be used as an add on to the kit K485 “1/9scale Model Kit : Brough Superior SS100”, and K662 “1/9scale Model Kit : Brough Superior SS100 -1926“ • Door can be open/closed. Wheel built from a combination of metal rim + stainless spokes/pipes for a realistic representation

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How about

A caricature of yourself and your bike

• Illustrations

• Caricatures

• Cartoons • Portraits

Contact me for a quote at DeanFoster444@gmail.com • www.deanfoster.ca Tel: (403) 466-9602

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BROUGH SUPERIOR SS100

2020 Ameliasburg Rally Roblin Lake - Ameliasburg, ON July 24-26 GPS: 44°03'29.9"N 77°26'03.3"W

Presented by: CVMG Eastern Shield Rally Fee: $40.00 (includes camping and the tradition Hot Dog & Corn meal) Day pass: $5.00/visitor

Games and Vintage Motorcycle Ride on Saturday Vintage Motorcycle Concours

For more information or to register, contact: Ian Taylor Email: iantaylor140@gmail.com - Tel: 613-478-6928 Vintage Motorcycle News

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COMING SOON TO YOUR MAILBOX

A Septuagenarian Odyssey Simon Gandolfi has never been one to grow old gracefully and following two heart attacks he decides not to rest up, as many might, but to ride the length of Hispanic America on a 125cc motorbike. And why not?

His wife may have plenty of reasons why not, but used to the intrepid septuagenarian's determination to complete any plan he comes up with, she shrugs her shoulders and waves him goodbye.

At 73 years old, Simon Gandolfi sets off from Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico to embark on a five and a half month journey culminating at 'the end of the world', Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego. For Simon this is a journey of discovery. Leaving behind the safety and sanctuary of friends and family, he is truly alone but along the way he meets and talks with rich and poor, old and young, officials and professionals, agricultural and industrial workers. This expertly written travelogue reveals not only the stories of those he meets, and his own, but also that of Latin America, its attitudes to itself, to the USA and the UK in the aftermath of the Iraq war and the realities of the poverty and endemic corruption throughout much of this continent.

But whilst guide books often warn of thieves, corrupt police and border officials, Gandolfi writes of the incredible kindness and generosity he encounters, of hope and joy, understanding and new friendships, and ultimately, an old man's refusal to surrender to his years.

Outrageously irresponsible and undeniably liberating, Gandolfi's travels will fire the imaginations of every traveller, young or old.

AMAZON.COM Old Man on a Bike (Paperback) US$13.14 Vintage Motorcycle News

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