Did You Know? George Brough.

brough1He was the inventor and maker of what is still regarded as the world’s first Superbike, the Brough Superior, motorcycle made famous by Lawrence of Arabia.

Brough21- A total of 3,048 motorcycles of 19 models were made with about 1,100 models left worldwide that are still on the road, according to the Brough Superior Motorcycle Club.

2- The Brough Superior SS100 “Rolls Royce Of Motorcycles” nickname was coined by The Motor Cycle newspaper because of George Brough’s attention to details and quality.

3- Each machine was certified to reach 100 mph (about 160 km/h)

4- The Brough Superior set a motorcycle land speed record when in 1936 British racer Eric Fernihough reached 163.82mph (263.64 km/h) over a mile before hitting a speed of 169.79mph (263km/h), a year later.

5- World War One British army officer TE Lawrence, also known as Lawrence of Arabia, owned seven of the bikes and was killed riding one in Dorset, in 1935.

6- Movie director, actor, producer Orson Welles and playwright George Bernard Shaw were among the celebrities to have owned more than one Brough.

Brough37- George Brough continued to ride his motorbikes until he was about 60-years-old.

8- The Haydn Road factory, in Nottingham, UK where George Brough worked his magic, and which was used to make Spitfire engines during WWII, no longer exists and a small housing estate stands in its place.

9- Recently the city of Nottingham, UK unveiled a plaque on the birthplace of George Brough at 10 Mandalay Street, Basford.

10- in 2008, a British man Mark Upham bought the rights to the Brough Superior name and started building new bikes.

NewBrough

21 Responses to “Did You Know? George Brough.”


  1. 1 Rodent Sep 17th, 2014 at 8:34 am

    The re-birth of the Brough should be aborted.

  2. 2 Drake Sep 17th, 2014 at 12:27 pm

    There is one Brough in the Cannonball. Doing very well.

  3. 3 James just another crazy Kiwi Sep 17th, 2014 at 1:41 pm

    I have to agree with Rodent on this one !!!

  4. 4 Woody Sep 17th, 2014 at 2:22 pm

    OK you haters, let’s do something positive. We pool our funds and purchase the Studebaker name, then buy a few thousand 1950 Bullet Nose re-pop pieces & put them on old Econoline vans. Voila! The “Genuine Studebaker Motorcycle Hauler”. Think of the clothing revenue alone, imported jackets embroidered with, “Studebaker Haulers-Since 1852” 😉

  5. 5 Lone Rider Sep 17th, 2014 at 3:26 pm

    The original can and will never be bested. Leave these “rebirths” alone! Rebirths should never happen, try something new instead of trying to rewrite history and jacking it up.

  6. 6 Reyn Mansson Sep 17th, 2014 at 4:04 pm

    Lone Rider, I think the Triumph rebirth has been quite successful.

  7. 7 Woody Sep 17th, 2014 at 6:17 pm

    Did Triumph ever actually “die”? Thought they always kept planning and building after the big 1980s contraction.

  8. 8 Johnzero Sep 17th, 2014 at 6:40 pm

    The “rebirth” is ghastly. How could such an obviously plain ugly design survive any critical product review? As for rebirths, Triumps seems to be doing well, honoring and extending their heritage, Indian too.

  9. 9 Big Mike Sep 17th, 2014 at 7:12 pm

    Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If everyone truly thinks it’s ugly, then it won’t sell. If it doesn’t sell, it will be gone.

  10. 10 Jacob Hesselschwardt Sep 17th, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    I personally like the looks of this bike and would love to own one. According to:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INtHggCw7uU

    this bike will sell for 50,000 Euros. In US currency, that converts to about $65,000. That is a mighty heavy ax to swing for any bike and especially for a sub 1000 cc bike. As much as I would like to own one, it is never going to happen. This bike; however, is billed as the “Cadillac” of bikes, so it is not intended for everyone.

  11. 11 Jacob Hesselschwardt Sep 17th, 2014 at 9:41 pm

    Sorry. I see I made another typo. The Brough is billed as the “Rolls-Royce” of motorcycles, not the “Cadillac” as I mistakenly wrote in my last post. My apologies.

  12. 12 Jacob Hesselschwardt Sep 17th, 2014 at 9:52 pm

    Sorry, I don’t mean to be a post hog, but I found this bit of trivia interesting:

    Lawrence of Arabia owned seven Brough Superiors in all, including the one that he eventually died on while riding. The second of his Broughs he nicknamed George I. This particular bike cost 150 pounds when Lawrence purchased it in 1923. At that time, the bike’s cost was more than the price of a house.

    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brough_Superior

    If this is correct, then the new Brough Superior is a deal at less than the cost of most homes today. I now wonder if I can now talk my wife into letting me purchase one without her filing for a divorce. Probably not.

  13. 13 Jay Horton's Private Shop Sep 18th, 2014 at 8:05 am

    I’ll take the Econoline (if it’s from the early 60’s to 74)……. sans the Stude nose; just saying. Later Jay

  14. 14 Ted Sands Sep 18th, 2014 at 8:51 am

    I visited the Brough Superior design team in Toulouse France in January this year, Boxer Design Co. is handling the development of this bike. These guys are passionate about the bike and have created a unique version of the original that will haul ass, lots of hp. I’m glad there are people like this in the world that are willing to follow their dreams, if I was a bike collector I’d want one of these in my collection. I remember when some people thought my brother would fail when he started his motorcycle business and now Performance Machine is celebrating 45 years in business.

  15. 15 Woody Sep 18th, 2014 at 9:41 am

    Sorry Jay, if you don’t 100% share another’s vision, you’re a hater 😉

  16. 16 mikey Sep 18th, 2014 at 10:04 am

    I know of one of Georges personal bikes in a private collection. It still has Georges license plate on it, which in the UK the plate stays with the motorcycle until………. The owner that has the bike has original pictures of George with/on the bike, and the plate number in the pictures is the same as what is on the bike. I never asked what it took to obtain the bike, a small fortune I imagine though. The plan is to get the motorcycle in running condition from what I am told, it has been sitting for decades.

  17. 17 1951vbs Sep 18th, 2014 at 11:01 am

    Most folks mispronounce “Brough” as “Bro”. It is correctly pronounced “Bruff. Just so you can talk about them intelligently! My 2 cents

  18. 18 Woody Sep 18th, 2014 at 9:06 pm

    @Jay-Now taking reservations at $100,000
    http://woodysfairings.com/images/Studeoline1.jpg
    With cassette 4 speaker audio upgrade; $100,008 ☺

  19. 19 Arthur richards Sep 22nd, 2014 at 2:08 am

    I know his grandsons and I knew their father John Brought. His so. Kevin still has two of the first cars off the assembly line a saloon and convertible , don’t believe he still has a m/ cycle, good people

  20. 20 Arthur richards Sep 22nd, 2014 at 2:13 am

    Sorry my typing skills are zilch I spelt his surname wrong it is John Brough , I put broughts silly me

  21. 21 nicker Sep 24th, 2014 at 7:59 pm

    One very dapper & cool dude indeed.
    And easily recognized as a true scooter craftsman ……to his very core no doubt.

    Certainly sets the bar high for those with aspirations…… 🙂

    -nicker-

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Cyril Huze