Superior Reincarnation

The last Brough Superior rolled out of the Nottingham factory in 1940, the year its manufacture was halted abruptly. Now we ride its reincarnation in France under the stewardship of Mark Upham

- Roland Brown

IT’S AN EXHILARATING AND classically English experience. As the bike accelerates hard with a long-legged twin- cylinder feel and deep exhaust bark, I’m looking over a large, round Smiths speedometer and leaning forward across a broad fuel-tank on which, beneath two big chromed filler-caps, is the unmistakable logo of Brough Superior.

But this is no British burn-up on the legendary Nottingham-built V-twin that ruled the roads until production was abruptly halted in 1940. I’m just outside Toulouse in the south-west of France, riding an SS100 on D-roads that sweep between fields of yellow sunflowers, like the ones that form a picturesque annual backdrop for cycling’s Tour de France. And I’m riding away from the factory where production of the new- generation SS100 is about to get under way.

That famous logo, the bike’s essential style, its V-twin engine configuration and many of its details are instantly recognisable as Brough Superior. And it’s here in Toulouse, more than 75 years after the last SS100 rolled out of George Brough’s famous works in Haydn Road, that current Brough Superior owner Mark Upham is about to bring this most glorious of marques roaring back to life with an all-new superbike of the same name.

This part of France has long been the base of Thierry Henriette, the quietly spoken design genius whose Boxer Design concern has created a string of show-stopping specials over more than 25 years. None matched the impact that the SS100 made on its unveiling at Milan’s EICMA exhibition in November 2013.