VOL. 50 ISSUE 34 AUGUST 27, 2013
P47
(Far left) Former AMA Superbike
racer Shawn Higbee has been
testing the new bike.
(Left) A 2011 Brough Superior SS100
– a for-sale replica of the original.
ship, although that's practically a
bargain compared to paying five
times that figure and more for a
Lawrence of Arabia replica – with
electric start, of course.
One of Upham's many satisfied
customers is famed comedian
and bike fan Jay Leno – himself
the owner of no less than six original Brough Superiors, as well as
one of the first of Mark Upham's
modern recreations - and it was
at a party staged by London's Ace
Café at the Petersen Automotive
Museum in Los Angeles that the
Brough Superior Moto2 was unveiled. This was hosted by Leno
to welcome the Brough Superior
factory's land speed record team
which is attempting to set a number of FIM World records and
AMA National marks at the Bonneville Salt Flats on August 25-29,
using two vintage-style SS100
motorcycles ridden by Eric Patterson – and yours truly.
"Brough Superior is above all a
sporting brand which has always
competed at the highest level,"
said Mark Upham in unveiling
the new Moto2 racer. "While
developing our new range of Vtwin streetbikes, which will be
launched imminently, we felt it
important to remind the motorcycle world what Brough Superior
stands for. TaylorMade's innovative use of carbon fiber and other
modern materials in creating
such a literally unique motorcycle bearing the Brough badge is
something George Brough himself would have completely supported had he been alive today to
see it.
"And just as he would have
done, we plan to make customer
versions available for purchase
once the bike has been fully developed and raced. In the meantime, its presence on the starting
grid will underline the fact that
Brough Superior is not a brand
of yesteryear, but of today – one
that's alive and well, and will soon
be claiming its rightful place at
the top table of current motorcycle marques."
Paul Taylor added: "Moto2
was introduced as a prototype
class using a designated Honda
CBR600 control engine to limit
costs, but with complete freedom
for chassis design. As chassis
designers, this was a very exciting prospect, as top-level racing
over the last decade has become
exclusively based around modified streetbikes – Superbike, Superstock and Supersport are all
super conservative categories.
But frankly, we've been disappointed in the way that Moto2 has
developed. It may provide the
best racing in the MotoGP race
program, but the bikes have very
little distinction between them. Of
course, that's because the racing
community is innately conservative, but with the Brough Superior
Moto2 we hope to prove to teams
that thinking outside the box,
combined with rigorous testing
and development, can deliver a
competitive advantage."
CN
