vintage bike of the day | 1932 brough superior black alpine 680

there isn’t much to say about brough superior that hasn’t been said by others much more knowledgeable and experienced than i. so i’m gonna lift most of what there is to say about this 1932 black alpine model and it’s 680cc j.a. prestwich-powered motor from bonham’s, where a reader emailed that it was up for auction last month while sending me these pix.

it sold for £64,220. that’s almost €77,000 and over $101,000. must be nice while some of your countrymen are looking for a decent job and/or starving.

hey! i have an idea! let’s all to to paris and have a big party! we’ll rent limos and hookers and everything! it’s much more fun than giving a s**t. i won’t have another one of those until morning and you can have it for only $1,000. that’s a great deal!

i swear that’s the only way some people make money. it’s my new motto:
DON’T GIVE A S**T- SELL IT!

speaking of smarta** s***s, seems that the son of william brough, george, added the word “superior” to his brand of motorcycles as a “cheeky” way to express the better-styled machines he was producing as compared to those from his dear old dad.

they were also bigger and faster thanks to the innovative v-twin motors supplied by the j.a prestwich company. i’ve made it clear how much i’d love one of those motors. a single speedway *** would be just fine. historically, after george took over the brough marque, it took a few years but soon all brough superior motorbikes had *** motors in them.

with the addition of the strong and hard-working japs, brough machines were well-engineered in general, with sturdy gearboxes, forks, and other parts sourced from many other well-respected accessory manufacturers across britain. it was the first “custom” motorcycle to be made from parts manufactured by a multitude of suppliers, a practice that is still popular today from motorcycle makers both big and small.

brough superior was well established by the mid-1920s when they decided to sell smaller and more affordable bikes, ostensibly to gain a wider market share. *** was already producing a 674cc side-valve v-twin and that motor was redesigned to accommodate overhead valves that would be plopped into production as brough’s new “overhead 680” model in 1927. it was an immediate success and in 1930 it was joined by a more powerful version called the “black alpine 680.” the name “black alpine” was a reference to the lavishly-equipped “ss100 alpine grand” and how the new, smaller bike boasted a distinctive all-black finish.

just like everything from 2009. although the original black paint seems to have been stripped from this example.

besides some mechanical tweaks, the major mechanical difference from the standard overhead 680 was the use of the increasingly popular draper-style sprung frame. looks a lit like a modern “softail,” huh? patents expire.

but hooray for spinal care! gotta have one to care for one.

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