Brough Superior

The term 'ton-up' is an old British motorcycle slang term for achieving speeds over 100 mph on a bike and, interestingly, the first bike manufacturer to advertise that their motorcycles could achieve this speed was Brough Superior, way back in 1924.

Dubbed the 'Rolls Royce Of Motorcycles', founder George Brough made beautiful and innovative bikes even by today's standards. They were the first motorcycles to have 1000 c.c. v-twins, plus many other minor features like prop stands, twin headlights, crash bars and interconnected mufflers. Brough motorcycles were built twice, once to fit the parts, then disassembled to allow for paint, then reassembled to ride. 

Rarely were two bikes the same, as they were built to spec for each individual customer. Every bike was road tested too, so they could certify that it would, indeed, achieve 100 mph for the SS100 (80 mph for the SS80) . Evidently, speed laws had yet to come in to affect. haha. 

Apparently, George Brough once said his motorcycles were "atmosphere disturbers"! Without a doubt!!

Talk about old school, with these dapper looking dudes about to ride

Of course, this whole process made them a pricey purchase and a Brough could cost a buyer anywhere from £100 to £185. The average annual wage at the time was only about £200, so pretty much a wealthy man's motorcycle. 

I guess that's why someone like T.E. Lawrence, a.k.a. "Lawrence Of Arabia", would be one to purchase and ride one of these motorcycles, ultimately dying on his when he was involved in an accident. 

Brough motorcycles basically went under during the Second World War, when the factory was taken over by Rolls Royce to produce aero engines and there were no parts nor time for motorcycles. However, Brough motorcycles are back, albeit a modern looking version of the old cafe racer. 

More on that later, with some future posts about recent barn finds that include a rare Brough bike or two. 

Time for the road test

Looking warm in his woolies

T.E. Lawrence loved his SS100, but ultimately died on this machine

Just in case you didn't know that T.E. Lawrence was also known as Lawrence Of Arabia

Think the new version looks as good as the vintage?

Seems tiny to me, but maybe just a big rider. 

Check out some other posts about U.K. motorcycles and things like the ton-up boys and groups like the Rockers.