The
Brough Superior SS 100 was designed and built by George Brough in
NottinghamNottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England and is one of only eight members of the English Core Cities Group....
, England in 1924. Although every bike was designed to meet specific customer requirements, even the handlebars were individually shaped, 69 SS100s were produced in 1925 and at £170 were advertised by Brough (without permission) as the 'Rolls Royce of Motorcycles'. All bikes had a guarantee that they were capable of .
The SS100 (Super Sports) was the first
custom motorcycleA custom motorcycle is a motorcycle that is highly stylized or which treats aspects such as frame geometry or engine design in an unusual way compared to standard manufacturing. Custom motorcycles are unique or individually produced in a very limited quantity, as opposed to "stock" bikes or...
with components chosen from many different suppliers.
The
Brough Superior SS 100 was designed and built by George Brough in
NottinghamNottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England and is one of only eight members of the English Core Cities Group....
, England in 1924. Although every bike was designed to meet specific customer requirements, even the handlebars were individually shaped, 69 SS100s were produced in 1925 and at £170 were advertised by Brough (without permission) as the 'Rolls Royce of Motorcycles'. All bikes had a guarantee that they were capable of .
The SS100 (Super Sports) was the first
custom motorcycleA custom motorcycle is a motorcycle that is highly stylized or which treats aspects such as frame geometry or engine design in an unusual way compared to standard manufacturing. Custom motorcycles are unique or individually produced in a very limited quantity, as opposed to "stock" bikes or...
with components chosen from many different suppliers. The first engine (from 1924 to 1936) was the twin cam KTOR JAP (made by
J. A. PrestwichJA Prestwich Industries Ltd, was a British engineering company named after founder John Alfred Prestwich, produced cinematographic equipment, internal combustion engines , and other examples of precision engineering.-History:J.A...
) V twin (upgraded to a
MatchlessMatchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles with the first models manufactured at the start of the 20th century. Produced in Plumstead, London from 1899 to 1966, a wide range of models were produced under the Matchless name ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc four-stroke...
engine from 1936. Gearboxes were the 4 stud 3 speed from Sturmey Archer. Brough developed the features of the Harley Davidson forks and produced his own version (made by the Castle Fork and Accessory Company) to combine light weight with strength that was to become a feature of the SS100 handling.
Development
The
Alpine Grand Sport was launched at the 1925 Motorcycle Show and was an SS100 with a full touring specification. In the same year Brough produced a
Pendine Racing Model (named after the
Pendine SandsPendine Sands is a 7 mile long beach on the shores of Carmarthen Bay on the south coast of Wales. It stretches from Gilman Point in the west to Laugharne Sands in the east. The village of Pendine is situated near the western end of Pendine Sands....
where
Malcolm CampbellSir Malcolm Campbell was an English racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times during the 1920s and 1930s using vehicles called Blue Bird...
set a number of world speed records) with increased ground clearance.
Every owner was encouraged by Brough to suggest their own ideas for developing the SS100, which meant that almost all his motorcycles were uniquely hand built and the design continually evolving. The
Sturmey-ArcherSturmey-Archer is a manufacturing company originally from Nottingham, England. It primarily produces bicycle hub gears but has also produced motorcycle hubs....
gearbox was upgraded in 1929 for a three speed "super heavyweight" box to cope better with the produced by the JAP engine. In 1928 Brough introduced rear suspension and in 1934 the Alpine Grand Sport gained a overhead valve JAP engine known as
two of everything as it had two magnetos and two oil pumps. A foot gear change was introduced in 1935 and a four-speed Norton gearbox in 1936.
Development on all Brough Superior's was stopped when
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
meant that the factory had to be turned over to war work.
On 27 April 2008, at the
StaffordStafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway...
Motorcycle show, the auctioneers
BonhamsBonhams is a privately owned British auction house founded in 1793. It is the third largest auctioneer after Sotheby's and Christie's, and conducts around 700 auctions per year. It has 700 employees....
sold a 1934 Brough Superior SS100 for £166,500 – a world record and the highest price ever paid for a British motorcycle at auction.
World records
The SS100 engineering was developed through competition and wins in over 50 events in the early 1920ss and H. Le Vack who worked with Brough on development was the holder of seven world records. In 1927 George Brough and Freddie Dixon both achieved a record for the kilometre on the SS100 and in 1928 Brough broke his own record with . In 1932 Ronald Storey achieved 81,08 for the standing half-mile at
BrightonBrighton is a town in the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex on the south coast of Great Britain...
and in 1939 Noel Pope secured an all time
BrooklandsBrooklands was a 2.75 miles motor racing circuit and airfield built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue. The circuit hosted its last race in 1939, and was also one of Britain's first airfields...
track record lap time of on an SS100.
T. E. Lawrence
T. E. LawrenceLieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British military officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt of 1916–18...
(known as
Lawrence of Arabia) bought one of the first SS100s in 1925 having previously owned three Brough SS80’s. Lawrence had a fatal crash on the Brough SS100 on a narrow road near his cottage near
WarehamWareham is a historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town, a civil parish, in the English county of Dorset. The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles southwest of Poole.-Situation and geography:...
. The accident occurred because a dip in the road obstructed his view of two boys on bicycles. Swerving to avoid them, Lawrence lost control and was thrown over the handlebars. He was not wearing a helmet and suffered serious head injuries which left him in a coma and he died after six days in hospital. One of the doctors attending him was the neurosurgeon,
Hugh CairnsSir Hugh William Bell Cairns was a British neurosurgeon.Hugh Cairns was born in Port Pirie, but came to Adelaide for his secondary education at Adelaide High School and tertiary education at the University of Adelaide...
. He consequently began a long study of what he saw as the unnecessary loss of life by motorcycle dispatch riders through head injuries and his research led to the use of crash helmets by both military and civilian motorcyclists. As a consequence of treating Lawrence, Sir Hugh Cairns ultimately saved the lives of many motorcyclists since.
Lawrence's last SS100 (Registration GW 2275) was built in 1932 and was on loan to the
National Motor MuseumThe National Motor Museum is a museum in the village of Beaulieu, set in the heart of the New Forest, in the English county of Hampshire...
at
Beaulieu-England:* Beaulieu, Hampshire, a village in the New Forest* Beaulieu River, running through Beaulieu, Hampshire* Palace of Beaulieu, Essex, a former palace built by Henry VIII-France:* Beaulieu, Saumur, in the Maine-et-Loire département...
in
HampshireHampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a county on the south coast of England. The county borders , Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
.
It is currently on display at the Imperial War Museum in London.
External links