100 1925 lawrence of arabia on a brough superior he called george v. lawrence owned eight broughs 1922 boa short for boanerges 1923 george i 150 was more than the price of a house 1924 george ii 1925 george iii 1926 george iv 1927 george v rk 4907 ; see photo 1929 george vi ul 656 1932 george vii gw 2275 the bike he died riding undelivered george viii still being built when lawrence was killed . 1 t. e. lawrence s eighth brough superior the one he was riding when he was killed at the imperial war museum . 2 brough superior br f bruf motorcycles sidecars and motor cars were made by george brough in his brough superior works on haydn road in nottingham england from 1919 to 1940 . the motorcycles were dubbed the rolls royce of motorcycles by h. d. teague of the motor cycle newspaper . approximately 3048 motorcycles 19 models were made in the 21 years of production ; around a third of that production still exists . t. e. lawrence lawrence of arabia owned eight of these motorcycles and died from injuries sustained when he crashed number seven the eighth was on order . george bernard shaw was another among many celebrities who were enthusiastic about brough motorcycles . moving forward to 2008 vintage motorcycle enthusiast mark upham acquired the rights to the brough superior name . in 2013 he met motorcycle designer thierry henriette and asked him to design a new brough superior motorcycle . three months later a prototype of a new ss100 was shown in milan . contents 1 history 2 brough superior motorcycles 2.1 production figures 2.2 racing 3 brough superior sidecars 4 brough superior cars 5 etymology 6 see also 7 notes 8 references 9 external links history edit george brough was a racer designer and showman . all brough superior motorcycles were high performance and superior quality . most were custom built to the customer s needs and rarely were any two of the same configuration . each motorcycle was assembled twice . the first assembly was to fit all the components . then the motorcycle was disassembled and all the parts painted or plated as needed . finally the finished parts were assembled a second time . every motorcycle was test ridden to ensure that it performed to specification and was personally certified by george brough . the ss100 model was ridden at 100 mph 160 km h or more prior to delivery . the ss80 model was ridden at 80 mph 130 km h or more before delivery . if any motorcycle did not meet specification it was returned to the works for rework until it performed properly . the fit and finish was comparable to a rolls royce car and they were the most expensive road going motorcycles in the world . brough superior motorcycles have always been rare and expensive . prices for these motorcycles ranged from 100 to 185 in the 1920s and 1930s . since the average annual salary in britain during the 1930s was 200 only the wealthy were able to afford them . in 1940 world war ii brought an end to production as the factory was turned over to produce rolls royce merlin aero engines . after hostilities had ceased there were no suitable engines available so the company was wound up . 3 in 2004 around 1 000 still existed maintained by enthusiasts . 4 brough superior motorcycles edit early models include the brough superior mark i sidevalve mark i overhead mark ii standard and mark ii sports . early to mid manufacture included the overhead 500 680 s.v. junior and 750 side valve but these were not popular and were dropped from production . the following four models represent the bulk of manufacture . most were custom built to order and many variations were made the ss100 super sports powered by j.a.p. j. a. prestwich of tottenham or matchless 1000 cc overhead valve v twin engines . approximately 383 were manufactured from 1924 to 1940 . the ss80 super sports powered by j.a.p. or matchless 1 000 cc sidevalve v twin engines . approximately 1 086 were manufactured from 1922 to 1940 . the ss680 o.h.v. super sports powered by j.a.p. 680 cc overhead valve v twin . approximately 547 were manufactured from 1926 to 1936 . the 11.50 powered by j.a.p 1096 cc sidevalve 60 v twin engines . these were primarily designed for sidecar and police use . approximately 308 were manufactured from 1933 to 1940 . the model name refers to the horsepower rating of the engine 11 rac royal automobile club 50 bhp 37 kw . in reality these engines produced under 30bhp under 22kw . tax horsepower ratings were required by manufactures for tax purposes . rac hp equals the piston diameter squared times the number of cylinders divided by 2.5 . brough superior produced many other experimental show and racing models . these include golden dream . this was powered by a vertically stacked twin crankshaft opposed four cylinder engine . george brough called this a flat vertical engine . the bike was finished differently and was unique for the marque as it was painted gold and was shaft driven . it was unveiled at the motorcycle show at earls court in 1938 . straight four combination . this bike was powered by a modified austin 7 automobile engine . the transmission also came from an austin 7 . the straight four combination was an inline four cylinder motorcycle with shaft drive . it had two rear wheels that were mounted on each side of a cast drive unit . this motorcycle was made for sidecar use and 10 were built . pendine . this was introduced in 1927 and had a guaranteed top speed of 110 mph 180 km h . they were based on the ss100 model but with higher performance modifications to the engine . a well known racer barry baragwanath installed a supercharger on one and it is now known as barry s big blown brough . noel pope bought the motorcycle and in 1939 set two lap records with it at brooklands ; 107 mph 172 km h with sidecar and 124 mph 200 km h in solo configuration which exceeded the previous record set in 1935 by eric fernihough also on a brough superior . these records still stand as the track closed in 1939 . george brough was known for his dedication to his vehicles and customers . he and later albert wallis continued to service brough superiors after production ceased making parts until 1969 . for all intents and purposes production of bikes never resumed after wwii . production figures edit 1919 0 1920 1 1921 3 1922 103 1923 119 1924 195 1925 168 1926 95 1927 226 1928 155 1929 139 1930 131 1931 117 1932 58 1933 121 1934 104 1935 94 1936 187 1937 173 1938 159 1939 118 1940 10 to this list may be added thirteen motorcycles without a date on their build card . many records are incomplete for the first few years of production and for some of the low production models . the estimated total production was 3 048 vehicles . racing edit riders of brough superiors have won many races sprints drag racing hillclimbs and top speed . victories include 1922 george brough first sidevalve motorcycle to lap brooklands at 100 mph 160 km h . 1927 11 june r. e. thomas 2 miles sprint for unlimited capacity solo machines cefn sidan speed trials . 1st place . 5 1927 11 june r. e. thomas 10 miles for unlimited solo machines cefn sidan speed trials . 1st place . 5 1927 11 september r. e. thomas 2 miles sprint for unlimited capacity solo machines cefn sidan speed trials . 1st place . 5 1927 11 september r. e. thomas 10 miles unlimited race for solo machines cefn sidan speed trials . 1st place . 5 1927 11 september r. e. thomas 25 miles race for unlimited solo machines cefn sidan speed trials . 1st place . 5 1927 11 september r. e. thomas 50 miles race for unlimited solo machines cefn sidan speed trials . 1st place . 5 1928 george brough one mile 1.6 km sprint pendine . 1st place . 5 1928 r. e. thomas one mile 1.6 km sprint pendine . 2nd place . 5 1931 j.h. carr 50 miles any power solo pendine . 1st place . 5 1931 j.h. carr 100 miles any power solo pendine . 1st place . 5 1935 eric fernihough brooklands motor cycle lap record for all classes 123.58 mph 198.88 km h . 6 1936 eric fernihough motorcycle land speed record for the mile . 163.82 mph 263.64 km h . 6 1937 eric fernihough motorcycle land speed record for the flying kilometre . 169.8 mph 273.3 km h . 6 1937 eric fernihough sidecar motorcycle land speed record for the flying kilometre . 137 mph 220 km h . 6 in 2013 brough superior said it would return to grand prix motorcycle racing with a prototype machine for moto2 the carbon2 a motorcycle made by california builders taylormade and rebranded as a brough superior . 7 brough superior sidecars edit brough superior also manufactured sidecars . the sidecars had coach built bodies and some carried a spare tyre while others offered two seats for occasional use . the fit and finish of these sidecars were of the highest standard as were the motorcycles . these sidecars all offered good protection from the elements . many of the earlier sidecars were built to brough superior specification while later sidecar frames were manufactured in the brough superior factory . later sidecars were unique in the fact that the frame of the sidecar held fuel . the sidecar frame looped over the top of the sidecar body and had a filler cap at the topmost position . fuel was pressurized by a hand pump that transferred fuel from the sidecar to the petrol tank on the motorcycle . two different bodies could be ordered for the petrol tube sidecar ; cruiser or sports . the various sidecars were offered in the yearly brough superior sales catalogs 8 1921 sporting sidecar manufactured by montgomery sidecars to brough superior specifications . 1922 sidecar registered to the design of the manufacturer . 1923 brough superior sidecar registered to the design of the manufacturer . 1924 brough superior sidecar brough superior swallow coupe brough superior sporting brough superior sporting tourist . 1925 brough superior sporting sidecar brough superior touring sidecar . 1926 brough superior super sports sidecar and made mention of other sidecars available . 1927 brough superior touring sports was mentioned in the 1928 catalog mentions the popularity of it in 1927 . no mention of sidecars were in the 1927 catalog . 1928 brough superior touring sports brough superior cruiser are listed . 1929 brough superior spring frame cruiser sidecar is introduced with reference to many other sidecars available . 1930 brough superior spring frame cruiser sidecar and brough superior rigid frame cruiser sidecar . reference is also made to many other sidecars available . 1931 brough superior cruiser sidecar available in spring frame or rigid frame configuration . 1932 brough superior cruiser sidecar offered with the brough superior straight 4 combination . and another cruiser sidecar shown with one of the v twin models . the cruiser is offered in spring frame or rigid frame configuration . 1933 brough superior cruiser sidecar with mention of any type or make of sidecar supplied . send for lists . 1934 brough superior cruiser sidecar brough superior occasional 2 seater sidecar . 1935 brough superior cruiser sidecar brough superior touring sidecar . 1936 brough superior touring sidecar brough superior cruiser sidecar . 1937 b.s alpine grand sports sidecar available with cruiser or sports body this is also known