"George Brough, second son of motorcycle manufacturer William Brough, set up his own company in 1919 and purchased premises in Haydn Road, Nottingham to build machines powered by large capacity V-twin, JAP engines. He was assisted in this venture by friends Iike Webb and Harold Karslake who was to become his Chief Engineer. George Brough's desire to improve on the motorcycles built by his father, William, led him to the name Brough Superior and the legend was born.
The first production Brough Superior, featuring a 986cc overhead valve V-twin JAP engine, Sturmey-Archer three-speed gearbox and Enfield Cush Hub, was exhibited at the 1921 Motor Cycle Show at Olympia. In 1923 the SS80 was introduced to the public powered by a side-valve, V-twin JAP engine and H.D. Teague, editor of 'The Motorcycle', referred to the Brough Superior as The Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles after road testing an SS80. The slogan was adopted by George Brough and used in subsequent advertising.
Competition success was fundamental to the development of the marque and in 1922 George Brough lapped Brooklands at over 100mph on 'Spit and Polish', a prototype for the SS80. Following an accident it was rebuilt and renamed 'Old Bill' and, widely campaigned by George, it became one of the most famous racing machines ever. In 1924, highly regarded tuner and racing motorcyclist, Bert Le Vack, developed the Val Page designed overhead valve JAP V-twin and used it in a Brough Superior motorcycle to set a new World Speed Record of 118.98mph at Arpajon in France.
This SS80 example with a sprung Bentley and Draper frame displays all correct numbers. It has been stored indoors in a private collection for the past few years and as such will need some recommissioning before going back on the road. A Brough Owners Club known machine benefiting from an older restoration, this UK registered from new example boasts an extensive history file including copies of the ‘works build sheet’, an old RF60 continuation logbook, previous MoT's, old tax discs, related paperwork, a copy of a parts manual and a current UK V5 registration document.
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