Brough Superior: the ‘new’ SS100

 

So here is the new Brough Superior — the first all-new bike from the famous marque in seven decades. The rights to the brand name are now owned by the Austrian-based businessman Mark Upham, who’s been teasing us for the past three years with beautiful recreations of George Brough’s 1920s originals.

Upham has now taken the bold step of commissioning a ‘new’ SS100, a vintage-flavored machine with a mix of new technology and retro styling. It’s due to enter small-scale production in 2014 and will retail for just over $65,000.

The heart of the SS100 is a 997cc powerplant—an 88-degree liquid-cooled v-twin. (Top marks to Brough for keeping the engine compact, and not getting into the silly figures favored by US cruiser manufacturers.) The motor is the work of the French firm Boxer Design, and it’s an eight-valve DOHC unit capable of up to 140 hp. 

 

In keeping with Brough Superior’s venerable reputation for engineering, the frame is a mix of steel and titanium, and the swingarm is an aluminum-magnesium composite. Up front is a girder-style ‘Fior’ double-wishbone fork; like the back end, it’s suspended with an Öhlins shock.

 

The front brakes, looking strangely small for a machine of this caliber, are actually four 230 mm discs aligned to look almost like a drum brake. The system has been designed by Beringer to reduce gyroscopic forces. The wheels are 18” front and back, and we’re told that the dry weight of the SS100 is just under 400 lbs.

I think George Brough would have approved of the specification. The question that remains is around the styling, an entirely subjective issue.

Your call.

from Bike EXIF 2013. Named themselves "The world authority on custom motorcycles.

2013 EICMA: 2014 Brough Superior SS100

Ninety years after the debut of the first SS100, the brand is returning with an all-new motorcycle modeled after it. The 2014 Brough Superior SS100 isn’t just retro styling though, its performance is thoroughly modern. And it should be, because the company hopes to get close to $100,000 for each one it sells.

The 1925 Brough Superior SS100

Advertised as, “The Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles,” the original SS100 was famous for its performance guarantee. Each model left the factory having been ridden at over 100 mph by George Brough himself, hence the name. T.E. Lawrence famously rode an SS100. In fact, that’s what he was riding during his fatal crash in 1935.
The most obvious styling cue adapted from old to new is the cylindrical fuel tank. But obvious inspiration is also seen in the V-twin motor and its exhaust layout, as well as in the girder front suspension.

2014 Brough Superior SS100

That’s not to say that the SS100 is a throwback. The 88-degree, liquid-cooled, 997cc V-twin serves as a stressed member in the steel and titanium trellis backbone frame and uses a horizontal-seal, semi-dry crankcase. It can be tuned to deliver anywhere between 100 and 140 bhp depending on customer specification, with the former presumably sacrificing outright power for greater flexibility. Making 92 lb.-ft. of torque, that flexibility should be generous.
Brough says that stressing the engine has helped keep weight down to a relatively light 395 lbs (dry).
Front and rear suspension is Ohlins monoshocks. The front girder is designed to separate braking and steering forces and is constructed from titanium triangles with aluminum-magnesium alloy legs. The swingarm is made from the same alloy.

2014 Brough Superior SS100 stripped naked.

The brakes were spec’d because they somewhat resemble old timey drums, but are in fact dual-discs clamped by radial calipers. The Beringer system uses a static central brake pad, with calipers pushing in from the outside. In addition to looking fancy, the arrangement is said to help reduce unsprung weight.
That’s good, because Brough has curiously chosen to use 18-inch rims. Doing so not only carries a weight penalty, but reduces tire choice.

2014 Brough Superior SS100

Brough Superior hopes to make 20 motorcycles a year, with deliveries starting in 2014. Considerably fewer than the 69 bikes George Brough rode to 100 mph in 1925.

2014 Brough Superior SS100

2014 Brough Superior SS100

2014 Brough Superior SS100

2014 Brough Superior SS100

2014 Brough Superior SS100

2014 Brough Superior SS100

2014 Brough Superior SS100

2014 Brough Superior SS100

2014 Brough Superior SS100

 

Originally posted in Rideapart.com