VOL. 52 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 18, 2015 P129
SS100 employs a cast-aluminium
wishbone fork with twin tita-
nium articulated triangular links,
while at the rear the cast-alloy
swingarm with progressive-rate
link pivots in the engine crank-
cases, with Öhlins monoshock
suspension employed front and
rear. The Brough Superior's
brakes are equally leading edge,
with no less than four Beringer
230mm aluminum-ceramic
composite floating front discs,
doubled up in two pairs, gripped
by four-piston radial calipers
employing special sintered metal
pads to stop a bike weighing
410lb dry with a balanced 50/50
weight distribution.
No doubt about it, the SS100
has serious visual presence—this
is a classy set of wheels that
just oozes quality and exclusiv-
ity. It looks long, but it's also
skinny, even more so than the
1937 Matchless-engined Brough
Superior SS100 I was fortunate
enough to own back in the
mists of time, long before prices
soared into the stratosphere.
Oh, well, what might have been!
This means the Anglo-French
bike has quite a spacious rid-
ing position, although at 32.7
inches, the beautifully-made seat
with suede-leather insert is defi-
nitely a little too high, and is not
helped by the unusual choice
of 18-inch wheels as a sop to
tradition – so much so that it
might be slightly intimidating for
anyone much shorter than my
5'10" height. Henriette plans to
lower it one inch for production,
and since the footpegs are by
contrast fairly low, it won't be too
cramped if he does that. But the
flat, pulled-back handlebar is
perfectly shaped to allow you to
choose how you want to ride the
Brough, either sitting upright for
relaxed road-burning as many of
the firm's more mature custom-
ers may prefer to doin which
case there isn't excessive weight
on your arms or shouldersor
hunched down on the tank to
steal speed. The fat, rubber
grips feel meaty to hold, and
(Above) The beautiful 88°
V-twin is good for about 127 hp;
however, Brough is planning on
a turbocharged version in the
near future.
(Right) The Fior-style front
end separates steering and
suspension functions so that the
front suspension doesn't freeze
when you trail-brake into a turn.
