Today in motorcycle history, April 21, 1890

  

 

  


 

  World record holding motorcycle and automobile manufacturer, racer, showman and perfectionist, George Brough is born at 10 Mandalay Street, Basford, Nottingham, England.  

  The second son of the motorcycle pioneer William Edward Brough who had been building motorcycles at his Nottingham factory since the 1890's.  It was assumed that George and his brother would help develop their father's business, but this son loved both beauty and speed and wanted to incorporate them into high-performance motorcycles.  His father was not of the same mindset, however.  In 1919 George set up his own factory nearby at Haydn Road in Nottingham to produce what he would call Brough Superior motorcycles.  Superior in design, looks and performance.  And, by George, his motorcycles lived up to the claim as he brought together the best components he could find and added his own distinctive styling. 

  Brough Superior's were the first "custom bike".  All built to the customers' requirements. Each bike was assembled twice. Twice. The first assembly was for fitting of all the components, then the bike was disassembled and all parts were painted or plated, then reassembled.  Then every motorcycle was test ridden to ensure that it performed up to spec, and then was certified by George Brough himself. The SS100 model was ridden at 100 mph or more prior to delivery. The SS80 model was ridden at 80 mph or more before delivery. If any motorcycle did not meet specification, it was returned to the shop and reworked until it performed properly.  100% customer satisfaction.

  Brough Superior facts you might be interested in (they can be retold in a bar setting to impress).  Sir William Lyons (aka "Mr. Jaguar") owned an SS100,  George Bernard Shaw had an SS80 and T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) owned seven of them.  Sadly, he was killed after an accident while riding his SS100 in Dorset near his cottage, Clouds Hill.



  In 1928, George Brough recorded a speed of 130.61 mph at Arpajon, unofficially the world's fastest speed on a solo motorcycle at the time.

  They were dubbed the "Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles" by H. D. Teague of The Motor Cycle newspaper. 

  Approximately 3,048 examples of 19 models were made in 21 years of production.