Sunday 26 February 2017

Brough Superior SS100 (1925) Brakes, Top speed, Suspention

Posted By: ygshhd 10:08 Leave a Reply

Brough Superior SS100

This 1932-model SSI00 was owned by George Brough ’s most famous customer, Lawrence of Arabia. After Lawrence’s first ride, he wrote to Brough: 'It is the silkiest thing I have ever ridden...

I think this is going to be a very excellent bike... 1 am very grateful to you and everybody for the care taken to make her perfect. ’

There is not much doubt about which was the fastest and most glamorous of pre- Second World War roadsters. The Brough Superior SS100 was a big. handsome, high- performance V-twin which, in the words of its creator. George Brough, was ‘made up to an ideal and not down to a price’. Fewer than 400 examples of the SS100 were built between 1925 and 1940. For most of that time, there was nothing on two wheels that could match it.

George Brough was a master publicist. He summed up the SS 100's appeal when he wrote in a 1926 catalogue that it ‘is a machine made essentially for an experienced motorcyclist who realises that just as a racehorse needs more attention than a hunter, so an SS100. with its colossal output of power, requires more attention than the average sports machine. Give it the necessary attention and you have a machine that can always be relied upon to show its back number plate to anything on wheels likely to be met on the roads.’

Signed guarantee

Brough, the son of a motorcycle manufacturer, assembled his bikes with the assistance of a small team of enthusiasts at a workshop in Haydn Road, Nottingham. He called his first big twin the SS80, after its top speed of 80mph (129km/h). The SSI00 was the logical and even faster follow-up. and was delivered with a signed guarantee that the machine had been timed at over 1 OOmph (161 km/h) for a quarter of a mile.

The precise specification of Brough’s bikes varied considerably, with even the engine of the SSI00 being changed over the years. Initial models used a 988cc JAP V-twin unit that produced over 40bhp; the final 100 machines were powered by a similar-capacity V-twin from AMC (Matchless). What did not change was George Brough’s refusal to accept anything less than the best. Manufacturers including JAP-built ‘Special for Brough’ parts; many components were returned to their makers to be redesigned and improved.

Hard-riding Brough and his fellow Superior riders, including notables such as Freddie Dixon, Eric Fernihough and Bert Le Vack, took the Nottingham-built machines to a string of victories in races, hillclimbs and sprints. This fuelled Brough’s talent for publicity, which had revealed itself when he had coined the name Superior, prompting his father’s reply: ‘I suppose that makes mine the Inferior?’

‘The Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles’

Brough’s SSI00 brochure promised ‘hands-off stability at 95mph’ (153km/h), but it was George’s slogan ‘The Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles’ that made most impact. Adapted from a line in a magazine test of a Brough, the phrase initially displeased bosses at the luxury car firm. But after a Rolls executive had arrived at Haydn Road to find Brough workers wearing white gloves - to avoid marking the show bikes they were assembling - all objections were dropped.

The most famous Superior enthusiast was T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), who owned a special stainless steel petrol tank which he fitted to his series of Broughs. Lawrence wrote of his love of high-speed travel aboard his Superiors, but he died after a crash while riding one, probably following a collision with a cyclist.

George Brough was never content with the SS 100’s performance, and produced various special models, notably the Alpine Grand Sports, which was intended for rapid touring. Fastest of all was the legendary SSI00 Pendine. named after the long beach in south Wales where many speed records were set. With its low bars, rearset footrests and high-compression engine, the Pendine was good for a genuine 1 lOmph (177km/h). Brough production stopped when the Second World War began, and did not restart afterwards.

Relaxed high-speed cruising was the Brough forte, and few contemporary hikes could come close to matching it. Handling was also exceptional by the standards of the day, leading Brough to boast of hands-off stability' at high speed. The reputation and rarity of both SS80 and SSI00 models ensure that they are now far more valuable than most modem superbikes.

Lawrence’s SSI00 is powered by a 998cc V-twin engine from JAP of north London. A horizontal spring of the Bentley and Draper rear suspension system is visible below the saddle.