BROUGH SUPERIOR OHV 680

1934 - AAT 286

Originally obtained in the early 1950's by my Father and restored to running condition then, this machine was last taxed in 1955 before being taken off the road. Dry stored in the house for a few years until finally being relegated to the garage I finally purchased it in 1994 once I found out my Father was intending to sell it to finance restoration of his MGPB. Restoration had to wait until the MG was complete, this finally began in 1999. Due to the dry storage the restoration was relatively straightforward, mainly stripping down for repainting the frame and wheels. Some attention was required to the mudguards and rear carriers, the saddle was recovered and the tank sealed and painted black. A new ammeter, battery and fishtails were required, plus the usual rubber components, chrome items replated and a new wiring loom made. The only major modification made was the 4-bolt head conversion, along with new valve guides. I obtained a petrol tube sidecar chassis which was also essentially complete and this was also restored. It was decided to stove enamel it silver and black rather than have it re-chromed. A Monza Mark 1 fiberglass body was obtained (1950's) which once painted black seemed to suit the outfit very well. The machine was then complete ready for MOT in May 2002.

Getting it to the MOT station did prove to a bit problematic. Several attempts were aborted due to misfires, sticking valves etc. It was also difficult to find a suitable trailer to loan for the combination since riding it there was so problematic. With luck I found a trailer for sale and finally the machine was MOT'd on 5th November 2002, ready for some longer running in trials now it was legal. Unfortunately winter then set in and it was not until next spring that it came out of the garage again. I finally managed to prize it out of my Fathers hands and brought it home on 3rd May 2003 with 51 miles on the clock.

04/04/2004 Just in time for the Tamworth & District Classic Bike Club Annual Rally. Covered 47 miles without a problem, only lifted the sidecar wheel a couple of times and escaped once by the skin of my teeth when overshooting a left hand bend and taking to the grass. Had some problems with the plugs oiling up. Tried various plugs without a great deal of success. Whilst testing plugs I then had a minor disaster with the crank case cracking on the near side where the 4 bolt conversion had been carried out. It appears the crank case was not capable of absorbing the stresses required. Although I managed to obtain a spare one I decided to try a repair first. The holes were filled in with epoxy metal filler and the near side stud fixing of the barrels to the crankcase restored. The heads had unfortunately been clearance drilled, but to a size suitable for a 1/2inch BSW tap. Thus these were tapped and studded with 3/8inch cycle studs as per the original To help in removing the studs to remove the cylinder head the top of each stud was squared off.

On assembly this worked very well though the plugs were still oiling up. I was running without the sidecar at this stage and was quite satisfied with cruising at 60mph. One disadvantage of not having the sidecar is the limited number of tools you can carry in your pockets. I decided to replace it when I forgot my spanners and stalled away from home with no means of removing the plugs to clean them up. Not wanting to leave it by the road I pushed it the half mile home, this wouldn't have been too bad if I didn't live at the top of a hill. Two kind riders offered help but I'd got to the top by then. I put the chair back on and adjusted the carburetor to enrich the mixture a bit. This helped dramatically with the plugs now staying clean, though this also may have been due to too much oil leaking into the sump. I then developed an occasional misfire which was never really traced, but I suspect a bit of grit in the fuel. Passed the MOT again before putting it away for the Winter.

28/02/2004 Brought it out again in February with the aim to put more miles on, still had only done 340. Filled up with fuel and set off with all my tools hoping for a long run. Managed 5 miles before the gear change lever broke and I was stuck in top gear. I decided there was no way I could get home in top, though I could pull away I would never get up the hill so I turned it off and started taking it apart. Quickly found the problem, one of the two bolts holding the pedal on had sheared. Unfortunately it also seemed that the ratchet had passed beyond the 4th gear, easily fixed if you know how it was supposed to work but this was the first time I had looked at it in any detail. Managed to change it down into 2nd however after a bit of thought and limped home. Was quite surprised how well it ran from zero to 40mph in 2nd gear. Made up a new bolt for the one that sheared and set off the following week. Covered 60 miles without a hitch, that's now 430 miles covered. Just about getting there but still carrying all my tools in the chair, well it also helps on those dreaded left hand bends.

02/05/2004 Set off for the Founders Relay Rally, aiming for 3 local checkpoints. Reached Hockley Heath OK to meet some fellow enthusiasts, but then about 1 mile on the way to Coventry heard a grinding clunk from the back wheel. The bolts holding the rear sprocket to the hub had sheared. Not much I could do about that so home courtesy of the AA man.

15/08/2004 Back together again and set off for my longest trip to date, 100 miles each way to Wimpole Hall and the annual BS Club Rally. Probably it's first Club rally, certainly first time to Wimpole. Coming home started to rain so stopped to put on wet weather gear. On restarting nearly wrenched my knee as the kickstart broke. Then had some fun trying to bump start it. I was in a layby on the A14 so at least I had some space. It was on a slight hill so I had to push it up the hill and try and get speed coming down. Was nearly getting the hang of it after a couple of attempts, but also getting a bit hot and bothered. Thankfully a motorist saw my bit of fun and stopped to help and got going again, making sure I didn't stall it on the way home.

12/09/2004 Repaired the kickstart, a little dog had worn so a quick weld repair and I was off again. This time to the newly rebuilt National Motorcycle Museum for the VMCC Tour from Birmingham. Down to Burton Dassett, a good run with no real problems. Won a cup for best sidecar, not really a contest as there was only me and a couple of Morgan 3 wheelers. Did meet someone who knew of a 1930's single seater sports sidecar body for sale. Went to have a look and bought it.

26/09/2004 On a roll now with the Brough running well. Took it to Newark Autojumble since they were having their annual show. Arranged to meet my Father there so he could check I was looking after it. Came away with 1st prize for best pre 1939 motorcycle.

2005 was not such a good year - on one of the first spring runs I felt something tapping my right foot. On stopping to investigate I found the kickstart lever was loose. Stopped to investigate and found I had not torqued it sufficiently and one of the sprung pins had worked loose and become lost. No repair at the roadside was possible, but at least I had the sense to keep the bike running this time. Limped back home in 2nd gear again. Was an ongoing problem during the summer tying to get the mechanism tight. Finally succeeded and then noticed the front barrel / crankcase seal was blowing so dismantled the engine again.  I had to remove the magdyno since I dropped a bolt down the back of it, then had a lot of fun sorting out the timing with contradictory information from various sources I looked at.

11/09/2005 Managed to get the timing working passably but not great in time for the Tour from Birmingham to defend my trophy. Only running at 40mph max but otherwise ok and came back home with the trophy again. More competition as there was another sidecar there this time, but he won best in show and I guess the organisers try and spread the trophies around. I had been running the timing too retarded however and burnt out the front exhaust valve. No spares available so ordered some from GS Valves but there is a 12 week delivery. So time to concentrate on the sidecar.

19/09/2009 Moved to NZ, living in Invercargill home of Burt Munro and The Worlds Fastest Indian. Managed to get the Brough through registration without too many issues, only the insistance of adding a rear view mirror. Only issue now is you only get 6 months between the NZ WOF (equivalent to MOT). Didn't like the registration number allocated. Brough was taken already but Br0ugh is still available, however motorcycles only get 5 digits. Managed to get BRUF though as a compromise. Finally got it running nicely again, once I found a clogged filter at the base of the carburettor. Cleared that and ran at speed without issues probably for the first time ever, now issue is too much fuel! Main test was a ride down to Stirling Point near Bluff, to take a photo beside the signpost. Would have gone there sooner but took a while waiting for a sunny day.

 01/10/2011 The Brough Superior Club put out an appeal for photographs of Broughs from around the world. Seeing this as a challenge I once again made my way to Stirling Point for some more photos to send to the club. Result can be seen in the January 2012 page of the Brough Superior Club Calendar.

 08/10/12 For a more detailed account from start to finish of the journey from a small boy to The End of the World click Bruf in Bluff.

 Last updated 08/10/2011