The Brough Superior 680 was George Brough’s middleweight: a 680 cc overhead-valve J.A.P. V-twin, built at Haydn Road in Nottingham from 1926 to 1936. It sold in larger numbers than the famous SS100 and, unlike that model, was the backbone of the range for a decade.
Brough Superior 680 at a glance
| Maker | George Brough, Haydn Road, Nottingham |
|---|---|
| Production | 1926–1936 |
| Engine | J.A.P. 680 cc overhead-valve V-twin |
| Place in the range | one of the four main Brough Superior models |
| Built | about 547 |
| Prices of the marque, 1920s–30s | £100 to £185 |
| Assembly | twice, then road-tested before delivery |
| Total Brough Superior production | about 3,048 motorcycles in 19 models |
The 680 has no Wikipedia article of its own; this page is based on the section on the model in the English article on Brough Superior, with one detail from the German SS100 article.
History of the Brough Superior 680
George Brough made motorcycles, sidecars and motor cars in Nottingham from 1919 to 1940, and by the end of production the firm had built about 3,048 motorcycles in 19 models, of which roughly a third still exist. The range settled around four main machines: the SS100 and SS80 sports models, the 11.50 sidecar and police machine, and the 680 O.H.V. The 680 used an overhead-valve 680 cc J.A.P. V-twin and was made from 1926 to 1936, in about 547 examples.
Every Brough Superior was built to the customer’s wishes, and rarely were two of the same configuration. Each motorcycle was assembled once to fit the parts, taken apart again for painting or plating, and then put together a second time. Every machine was test ridden to its rated speed before delivery and personally certified by George Brough; anything that did not meet specification went back to the works. The finish was compared with that of a Rolls-Royce car, and Brough machines were the most expensive road motorcycles in the world, at £100 to £185 in the 1920s and 1930s, when the average British salary was about £200 a year.
Production ended in 1940, when the factory turned to war work and made crankshafts for Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. With no suitable engines available after the war, the company was wound up. The 680’s engine lived on in the record books in another form: in 1927 Konrad Lorenz rode in Vienna a scaled-down version of the SS100 fitted with the overhead-valve 680 engine.
Design and features
- Hand-built to order: each 680 was specified by its buyer, with few identical machines.
- J.A.P. overhead-valve V-twin: a 680 cc unit from J. A. Prestwich of Tottenham.
- Double assembly and test ride: every bike was stripped, refinished, rebuilt and certified by George Brough.
- Rolls-Royce finish: the most expensive road motorcycles of their day, at £100–£185.
Brough Superior 680 versions
- 680 O.H.V. (1926–1936): the main overhead-valve model, about 547 built.
- 680 S.V. Junior: an earlier sidevalve 680 that did not sell and was dropped from the range.
- OHV-680 special (1927): a scaled-down SS100 with the 680 engine, ridden in Vienna by Konrad Lorenz.
The bigger Brough Superior SS100 was the model that made the marque famous, and the two shared the J.A.P. V-twin layout. More machines are in the Brough Superior collection.
Sources
- Brough Superior, English Wikipedia: models, production figures, works practice
- Brough Superior SS100, German Wikipedia: the OHV-680 special of 1927
