Brough

Aston Martin, the British luxury carmaker tipped as the "coolest brand in the world" of automotive, has announced plans to turn itself into a freak motorcycle manufacturer at the ongoing EICMA, Milan 2019. Partnering in with another legendary British manufacturer, Brough Superior (currently based in France though), Aston brings in a limited edition, track-only, 180 hp hyperbike - the AMB 001. It couldn’t get any more James-Bond-ish.

Taking on extremely rich finery, this $120,000 machine showcases the best of British motoring. An amalgam of a futuristic, nearly anime-inspired aesthetics of Astons’ as we know, and the engineering prowess of Brough Superior, who once used to make the most expensive road-going motorcycles in the world last century.

Brough Superiors are considered one of the finest motorcycles in the world. Owning one is tantamount to having the best of the best and nobody will tell you otherwise. That’s a big reason why Brough Superiors are always treated as headline pieces in any auction and that’s exactly what they are at the Bonhams Stafford sale at the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show on October 2015.

There just won’t be one Brough Superior at the auction. A handful are expected to hit the auction block, ensuring that a lot of wallets will bleed dry by the time the auction’s over. A 1926 Brough Superior 980cc SS100 Alpine Grand Sport will be auctioned off. Sure, this particular bike’s been dismantled and is being offered for restoration. But even then, the bike is expected to reach anywhere from £120,000-160,000.

If you’re not the type who wants to restore a bike, you can opt for a 1936 Earls Court Motorcycle Show Brough Superior 990cc SS100. This baby carries an estimate price tag of £210,000-240,000. This particular bike received extensive mechanical refurbishment in 2013, while still maintaining its beautiful patina, ensuring that it retained its classy and luxurious look. That’s admittedly a lot of money for a bike, but then again, it’s a Brough Superior. Sometimes, the name sells on its own.

In the unfortunate event that you don’t have six figure sums to throw around, you can still score a 1931 Brough Superior OHV 680 project, estimated at a more palatable £15,000-20,000.

There’s nothing normal about these Brough Superiors so anybody who is interested in winning these highly sought-after auction pieces should expect to pay exorbitant sums for them. That’s just the kind of cache that Brough Superiors have.

The Bonhams Autumn Stafford Sale is scheduled to take place on October 18, 2015 at the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show in the UK.

Continue reading to read more about the Brough Superiors that are being auctioned off by Bonhams.

Episodes of Jay Leno’s Garage usually gravitate towards featuring some of the finest cars in the world, be it old school classics or modern-day exotics. Yet every once in a while, Leno switches things up a little bit and produces an episode dedicated strictly to motorcycles. A recent episode of the web series proved as much when Leno featured one of the oldest bike roadsters in the world, the 1925 Brough Superior SS100.

Yep. the Brough Superior is celebrating its 90th birthday this year but the model Leno has in his collection certainly doesn’t look the part of a 90-year old bike. For one, it still runs pretty good, which is a testament itself to the incredible engineering and development Brough did on the bike when it first came out back in 1925.

Some of the parts of the bike aren’t new and that doesn’t come as a surprise. It is 90 years old, after all. It’s also had a handful of other owners before Leno got his hands on it. One, in particular, even decided to turn it into a race bike where it ended up competing in some racing series back in the day, including the Isle of Man TT.

But the most impressive thing about this particular Brough Superior SS100 is that it still runs like a charm. All the mechanical details are there and are functioning properly. Leno even took it for a nice run in Los Angeles and even managed to overtake a Japanese bike built much later than the Brough Superior SS100.

You can make a case that there are more iconic bike models out there. But there are only a small number of bikes that can rival the history and staying power of the Brough Superior SS100.

For a bike to run that smoothly despite its age, it’s pretty remarkable if you really think about it.

The new Brough Superior SS100 made its debut at the 2013 EICMA motorcycle show. The motorcycle features a retro style and was born from the collaboration between Boxer Design and Akira.

When designing the motorcycle, the engineers used only top notch materials such as aluminum-magnesium alloy and titanium which play a major role in keeping the overall weight to as low as possible.

At the heart of the new Brough Superior SS100 sits a 997cc, four stroke 88°, V-twin, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder engine. Fire it up and it will reward you with a maximum power of 140 hp at 10 000 rpm and 125 Nm of torque at 8 000 rpm.

The motorcycle rides on a set of modern suspensions which include a dual-wishbone Ohlis fork and a rear Ohlins Shock. It is also worthy of being mentioned that the front fork system is made from Aluminium-Magnesium alloy for the fork legs and titanium for the triangles while the rear swing arm is made of aluminium-magnesium alloy.

Hit the jump for more information on the 2014 Brough Superior SS100.