Beschreibung:

quite what George Brough’s father - Nottingham-based motorcycle manufacturer William Edward Brough - thought when his younger son cheekily added the word ‘Superior’ to the family name when founding his rival marque can only be imagined, but it’s thanks to this act of youthful bravado that we have one of the greatest and most evocative names in motorcycling. W E Brough’s machines had been innovative and well engineered, and his son’s continued the family tradition but with an added ingredient - style. The very first Brough Superior of 1919 featured a saddle tank - an innovation not adopted by the rest of the British industry until 1928 - and the latter’s broad-nosed, wedge-profiled outline would be a hallmark of the Nottingham-built machines from then on. Hand-built in small numbers, the Brough Superior was - inevitably - expensive, but as its maker acknowledged, he ‘never intended to produce (the) design as cheaply as possible.’ J A Prestwich of London and Motosacoche of Geneva supplied v-twin engines for the MkI and MkII Brough Superiors respectively, though within a few years all models would be JAP-powered. Gearboxes were sourced from Sturmey-Archer and (initially) forks from Montgomery, while frame and accessory manufacture was contracted out to specialists in the British motorcycle industry’s Midlands heartland. With the SS80 tourer and SS100 sports model well established by the mid-1920s, it was decided to add a smaller and cheaper alternative to these two 1,000cc models to the range. JAP was already producing a 674cc sidevalve v-twin engine and this unit, redesigned to accommodate overhead valves, went into Brough’s new ‘Overhead 680’. First shown to the public at the Olympia Motorcycle Show in 1926, the ‘Miniature SS100’, as George Brough called it, entered production for 1927 and was an immediate success. This 680’s accompanying Brough Superior Club copy works record card reveals that it was despatched new on 16th March 1928 to Messrs Williams & Jones and first registered ‘WO 1406’ (a Monmouthshire mark). The machine was originally owned by Mr Owen William of Blackwood, Gwent (see Gwent Records Office letter on file). ‘WO 1406’ was restored between 1999 and 2002, the related invoices and receipts being on file. Work carried out at this time included a total engine rebuild, overhaul of the magneto and dynamo, and replacement of the fuel tank, while the stainless-steel exhaust system was fitted in 2004. Presented in good condition throughout, this matching-numbers Overhead 680 is offered with the aforementioned documentation, assorted correspondence and Swansea V5 registration document.