As a child I knew George Brough, he was a friend of my father Npttingham does have an engineering history with the lace industry and is where Raleigh bicycles are made. Then there is also Boots the chemists and Players cigarette dactory, THere was also a Royal Ordnance factory makiing military equipment. I left Nottingham and moved to New Zealand about 60 years ago
I have only ever seen one Brough Superior in real life in New Zealand. I saw it at a motorcycle show & stared at it...Probably for at least 20 minutes. There is so much detail to be appreciated with these bikes. I think your videos showcasing vintage motorbikes is a gift to the world. 🙏❤
@@johnmartin7158 I see you John.haha.Are there a couple Brough Superior in Invercargill museum is there if I ever get down there I'll have to visit.The South Island has a great motorbike scene & history.Apparently you could buy a small house for the price of one & Lawrence of Arabia owned one & sadly died on one.A low speed crash if he'd had a helmet he would of lived & he was a speed demon too yet low speed crash was what killed him sadly,a real gentleman Rider.
@@ruahinesrider Good morning Ruahines. Yes there are many Brough Supererior motorcycles in the museum. I spent many hours in the museum 4 years ago. And also the truck museum. A true work of art that motorcycle. Every Brough was unique. But I am a bit hooked on this BSA at the moment. A real love affair and I would like one.
@@johnmartin7158 It would be a great bike in the shed & be alot of fun being a single dug dug.The fit & finish is beautiful & the engine casings at true to the original & from side on wouldn't look out of place in a 60s line up.From front on looks a bit funny with large radiator & it's a pity that it wasn't air cooled with small radiator but every motobike isn't perfect & I'd also like to know if it's a 5 speed or 6.They have also detuned it to 45hp so they can make more models so waiting abit might mean you could even get a better model & they said it has Pirelli tyres but I don't know the size of rim.Will be dearer than Interceptor & looks it too.R.E community might become British Retro Community.Yes it is a Beautiful bike & I'd love to own one.Great job BSA
My Grandfather was born in Birmingham ,he stormed a beachhead and was willing to fight for hes life alongside Canadians to protect home ,just the best human possible and sadly passed at 98 years of age ,he treasured a motorcycle that sadly he had to part with to make ends meet ,i would love if you could do a feature on a Comet by Vincent ,im not a motorcycle person but this motorcycle i have a great deal of interest in ,new subscriber very glad to be here ,much love and respect from Australia
Nottingham was a world famous producer of lace and was awash with lace factories - with these came huge knitting machines. With these came engineering expertise. Throw in Raleigh and Nottingham was very definitely an engineering city. Love the detail in this video.
Used to live across the street from the factory. My wife’s uncle purchased a Brough as a young man. It is now on display at Wollaton Hall in Nottingham. 👍🏻🇨🇦
Hi ! The whole symmetry and aesthetics of this bike 🏍 is a site to behold. Having a V twin helps there as well. Bill Richard Museum in Invercargill NZ has a lot of these bikes. Auckland. NZ
I'm from Argentina and in my country there are a lot of classic motorcycles over there...so fortunately I have seen one like this ... How lucky I have been!And also I have rebuilt and driven a Matchless 1948 - 500cc for several years as well...
I knew a guy back in the 1970's who was so enamored that he named his first born Brough. Oddly though he only owned Panthers. You ride them mate, which separates you from the rest. I've got to be honest and say (notwithstanding the very greatest respect to your good self), I couldn't be dealing with it, although I love the bikes. You got work hard to ride machinery of that vintage. My idea of a V Twin and having fun is an early curvy SV650, no hard work. Respect to you, Ill watch some more.
Fascinating. I wasn’t aware of how prestigious they were. I’m lucky enough to live near Clouds Hill and ride the roads that Lawrence of Arabia did (but hopefully I won’t hit a postman and die) Cheers
Hello I've only just discovered this channel and as far as I'm concerned I'm in heaven. Thank you for a smashing channel, interesting and loaded with nostalgia. I'm hooked please keep them coming, all the best.
I must disagree that Nottingham "doesn't really have a background of engineering". It may not have had a history of heavy engineering, but it certainly did have a tradition of fine and precision engineering, which came about via its position as the centre of the lace-making industry. Nottingham engineers were skilled at precision work, via their expertise in producing machinery to make fine and intricate fabrics. That's one of the reasons it became the major town in the English fishing tackle and bicycle industries.
Thanks for sharing this video. Really enjoyable mix of information and the the bike being ridden. Difficult ride and give a good quality commentary. We have to have more young people on old bikes.
A beautiful work of art and engineering! The 'new' Brough Superiors look awful in my opinion, far too modern looking! I would much rather have the original machine that has all the soul and engineering grace of this gorgeous beast! :-)
I was recently at the QAGOMA motorcycle art exhibition here in Brisbane and got to see a Brough Superior for the first time. The bikes are mounted on plinths in such a way that the mounting method is very unobtrusive. Hats-off to whoever came up with it! I recommend the exhibition to those who are able to go in these travel restricted times (Jan 2021).
I really liked the description. I did not know much of the peculiarities of this famous motorcycle. The world no longer appreciates regular comfort and good power built on simplicity. Everything has to be mephistophelic. Hence the price in the same way follows that cost sophistication too. In his day it was just as expensive. But not as much as the one made in France today. Thank you very much!
I like the fact you featured the ss80 here. We have a few of them here in Canada (ex Police bikes interestingly) and they have good survivor rates thanks to their excellent engineering. Love your highlights and thanks for doing these. Where in England are you based - the country lanes and canals are wonderful to see. Thank you!
Hey Alistair, John's video is shot up near him in the Coventry area, which is in the midlands of England. That's really interesting about the SS80s being ex police bikes! Thanks for watching over there!
It was shot in and around my home village of Dadlington, such a pleasure to see the bike and chat. In the opening shot you can just see me disappearing over a bridge in front of John - I'm on a 96 Royal Star 1300. Must check my mirrors more often -had no idea he was behind me!
Is this a two stroke machine? Can't see valves or rocker box tops, oil and petrol tank. But it sounds like a four stroke. Beyond that, terrific presentation of a piece of British and motor cycle history
Thanks for sharing this guys really enjoyed the video. What a stunning Brough I'm sure for many of us a dream bike great to see it being ridden to as they should be :) keep up the awesome work.
Hi guys, that is one really beautiful bike, it just oozes history out of every nut and bolt. Everything is sooooo right about it and that petroleum tank......I’m breathless just looking at it, there’s not a bad angle anywhere on this amazing motorcycle. Thanks for this awesome upload and review of this awesome machine. I freaking love 💕 it, if only I could win the lottery.......well we sure as heck can dream 😴 can’t we. 😎👍👍👍🇬🇧🏍
As an Aussie I wasn't even aware of the "Brough Superior" until my bro took me to Canberra for a weekend a few years back. We found an exhibition of classic bikes while there. The Brough Superior was was there. Beautiful machine but I would never ride it. I'd be too bloody hard to unlearn 50 years of 0ne down, four up on the left hand side. I WHOULD kill myself, LOL.
It's 11:30 pm and I just discovered your channel. My wife is going to let me have it when she finds out I've drank all the tea and eaten all the biscuits. 😉😂
Excellent videos. Rare to see such an in-depth look at these kind of bikes. Are there any books you might recommend? Especially those that show the inner workings or even any kind of workshop manual? On the point of the gent who made the tanks, apparently one of Jay Leno’s Broughs had an inscription on the inside of the tank that read “beat it like a mule”
Brilliant video, just one thing, I would like to know the bhp of this beautiful machine. Thank you for your hard work in producing these excellent videos.
had to laugh 'bout that pub-side-story... his dad must have been related to my sis :D heard first about that ss80 from that revival guy in austin.. awesome... well not my pricetag, still nice to see them still running... very informative stuff on that channel, keep that going :))
Do u have any old Royal Enfields for making such an informative video.... well your videos are really awesome and very informative as well as interesting.... keep it up!
Ran across one at a swap meet a couple years ago. Super beautiful motorcycle, very interesting. Truly was the RR of its time. Sadly it will always be remembered as the bike that T.E. Lawrence died on, which then resulted in a plague of nanny-statists pushing helmet laws. But yeah, fabulous bike.
A drinking buddy of my fathers, known as "the Colonel" (he was Henry Moores brother in law) once promised to show me his Brough share certificates but he died before he remembered to bring them to the pub. My other tenuous connection was as the editor of the MV owners club mag I met one of our members who proclaimed the policy: "if I see a Brough for sale I just buy it" he let me sit on his landspeed record holder at Moto Legend Montlerhey a decade or two ago.
5:05: Hello, colleague cameraman! Great work and motorbike, anyway. It is a pitty that some of these supposedly have been recently burnt at Top Mountain Museum in Austria.
@@TheClassicMotorcycleChannel Nearly all bikes seem to be destroyed. Only some may be stored outside of the main exhibition hall and therefore survived the fire. Here are some pictures: www.harleysite.de/brandursache-top-mountain-crosspoint-museum-wurde-geklaert/. A defective LCD screen caused the fire. What a pitty for motorcycle history!
Absolutely gorgeous bike! Is the twist throttle standard at the time? I remember old, old bikes having throttle levers as well? Steering dampener and adjustable headlight is more advanced than my modern Honda CB500 :D
The late father of one of my friends flew Spitfires during WW2. He owned a Brought Superior which his mother thought rather dangerous so took it upon herself to sell it whilst he was serving King and Country. Sadly I don't know what his reaction was when he came home!
Hi Kevin - yes you can edge it over compression and then kick it over. That is exactly what I do on my single cylinder bikes. With this big v twin though I've found the method of kicking with the valve lifter in then let out half way though seem to work best.
At times, the YT algorithm recommends pop garbage to me- useless videos like a daily dose of minutiae. Yet, your channel has gone unrecommended until now. I've subscribed- your work is tremendous. (AUS)
Interesting. From a "modern" viewpoint it looks fragile, and I wonder what sort of robustness it had Back When - how often did it need servicing.. what broke most often.. how much the average owner could repair himself.
Here's a more in depth video on the handling of the Brough on our second RU-vid channel if you're interested, some of the footage was used in the main edit you've just seen ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kTodP7IZKdA.html
It’s interesting that nowadays we complain about the authenticity of a manufacturer buying in components from outside suppliers, we wouldn’t dare accuse George of such a thing but we do when we look at a modern bike and say, oh look the battery its Japanese or the brakes are from India, or the engine is from China... If it works well it is good.
Brough never manufactured motorcycles. They assembled bikes from various manufacturers parts, right off of the shelf. What didn;t some straight off the shelf was coppied. They were bitsa bikes. No more than also ran. Also, side valve engines are crap, perfomace wise. Long live King Vincent. The Black Shadow owns the road.
I suspect that if that dude, with that superhero jaw line and accent showed up on that bike at some rally or gathering like Sturgis...or hell, even some classy concourse like Pebble Beach...he'd literally need a sack full of fully-charged tasers and cattle prods to keep those riled-up womenfolk off him.
