At Auction | 1920s Brough Superiors (the "Rolls-Royce of motorcycles")

A Continuous Lean ^ | 10/8/15 | Jared Paul Stern

[LibWhacker]

At Auction | 1920s Brough Superiors Oct 8th, 2015 | Categories: Jared Paul Stern, Motorcycles | by Jared Paul Stern

“It is a miracle that all this docile strength waits behind one tiny lever for the pleasure of my hand,” T.E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia) wrote of his Brough Superior in the 1920s. Built by hand in Nottingham, England from 1919–1940, the “Rolls-Royce of motorcycles” became an instant legend thanks to the likes of Lawrence, who owned eight of them. Extremely fast, exclusive and expensive, no two of the custom-built bikes were exactly alike. At its Stafford, UK sale at The Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show on October 18 Bonhams will be offering some exceptionally rare examples of the magnificent machines, including some project and dismantled bikes, carefully assembled and preserved over the past 40 years, a number of them flown 9,000 miles from a private collection in Australia.

Highlights include several examples of the SS100, the most famous Superior model launched in 1924, each of which was guaranteed to be capable of at least 100 mph though a record speed of over 169 mph was later set. A 1926 Brough Superior 980cc SS100 Alpine Grand Sport, originally designed to honor founder George Brough’s triumph at the legendary Alpine Trial, dismantled and offered for restoration, is expected to bring in up to about $250,000. And a 1936 Earls Court Motorcycle Show 990cc SS100, one of the rarest and most expensive motorcycles in the world, is likely to fetch up to about $375,000, which would be a record result for a British bike. The Brough Superior brand was relaunched in 2013 but modern models are mere shadows of the original.

[Fiddlstix]

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Beautiful! But if I had moolah, here’s the auction I’d like to win;
http://www.bigsby.com/vibe/forum/vintage-bigsby-guitar-about-to-be-auctioned-off/

[Artemis Webb]

155 Pounds at today’s exchange rate is $237.00.
That bike is beautiful.

[Arlis]

As a collector/restorer of vintage Triumph’s, and a biker for 51 years, I really appreciate this machine - it indeed was the ultimate and decades ahead of its time in every way.

I remember the one I saw at Barber Motorsports Museum near Birmingham, AL - incredible.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/420312577698823355/

[umgud]

Kind of reminds you of a later Vincent.

[Riley]

Been in love with this bike for years. Thanks for the eye candy.

[LibWhacker]

Beautiful restoration!

[Riley]

I also have that pic of TE Lawrence on his Brough mounted and framed, in my living room.

[woofie]

I met the president of the Brough Superior Club in the early 90’S He had a bunch of them

I had a chance to buy one but could not bring myself to part with $30,000 for one bike.

I wish I had as I would have owned a diamond all this time that went up and up in value

[wally_bert]

It is an eye catching piece of machinery.

I forwarded the article on to a guy who is big on antique motorcycles. It’s out of his price range too. He sticks with vintage Japanese. I bought one that I am playing with partly from learning stuff from him.

This weekend I had motorcycle training booked at the local tech college. The water works cancelled it naturally. It’s rescheduled for next month.

[LibWhacker]

Amazing that he owned eight of them. Wonder if they’re all still around?

[HandyDandy]

I assume it is similar to what he was riding when he crashed and died. I notice the Prince of Darkness handled the lighting system. I once drove a Royal Enfield. I felt like I was on a tractor and all levers were on the wrong sides. If I am not mistaken, the death of Lawrence led to the development of the motorcycle helmet.

[wally_bert]

Like the one Richard Hammond had no success with in that Top Gear episode against the vintage Jag and locomotive?

[OftheOhio]

Some Real Steel, that’s for sure. So many bikes I wished I was a test jockey for.

[LibWhacker]

That’s a lot for a bike in those days, though not so much when you think about the investment you’re making. I walked away from a brand new Harley (with a whole lot of insistence from the wife) that was about that much in the mid-90s.

[ConorMacNessa]

Ping!

[South40]

Bikes were very similar back then.

1920 BSA http://oi58.tinypic.com/2wpja5l.jpg

1927 James http://oi61.tinypic.com/1zbawdd.jpg

[Riley]

I think that there was a form of helmet for them at the time.

I looked at the Royal Enfield, but want more oomph than that. An Indian friend and I were thinking of just buying a couple of them in India and riding the hell out of them for a couple of weeks and selling them back to a dealer for whatever we could get. We wanted to go, amongst other places, to the Wagah border crossing on the border with Pakistan to watch the gate closing ceremony that the Indians do with the Pakistanis.

Ping list?

[Hot Tabasco]

As a collector/restorer of vintage Triumph’s,

Back in 1970 when I was stationed in the Canal Zone, I had a '69 250 Triumph Trophy while my two close buddies had a 650 Bonneville and a 650 BSA.........

Two other guys had bikes too, one had a 650 Triumph Tiger and another had a 650 Norton...........