THE 1935 BROUGH SUPERIOR SS100 ALPINE GRAND SPORT
Brough fitted the SS100 with full touring spec and named it the “Alpine Grand Sport” starting in 1925. That same year, Brough Superior Motorcycles introduced the Pendine Racing Model (named after the Pendine Sands where Malcolm Camplbel set several speed records on Brough Superior Motorcycles) which was good for 100 mph out of the box.
CONSTANT EVOLUTION & IMPROVEMENT
Every owner was encouraged to offer suggestions on how to improve Brough Superior Motorcycles, which led to continuing improvement, development and evolution. One result was the upgrading of the Sturmey-ARcher gearbox in 1929 to a 3-speed “super-heavyweight” unit to cope with the 50+ horsepower that the big JAP engine produced. In 1928 rear suspension was added, and in 1934, the Alpine Grand Sport received JAP’s new 75-horse overhead valve (OHV) V-twin famous at the time for ”having two of everything: two magnetos and two oil pumps”. Foot-operating shifting was added in 1935, and they upgraded to a 4-speed Norton gearbox in 1936.
THE JAP V-TWIN ENGINE
The 1935 Brough Superior SS100 (SS stood for “Super Sports”) was built from the very best components available at the time from a wide range of suppliers. The engines that Brough selected for his 1924 through 1936 SS100s was the twin-cam KTOP V-twin built by JAP (named for the initials of its founder, J.A. Prestwich). It was one of, if not the most advanced and powerful motorcycles engines at the time. Gearboxes were the 4-stud, 3-speed Sturmey-Archer gearbox.
1935 Brough Superior SPECIFICATIONS
| Engine type Displacement Engine manufacturer Engine model Output Gearbox Wheelbase Suspension, front Suspension, rear Weight |
Air-cooled OHV 50-degree V-twin 998cc / 60.9 cid JAP (J.A. Prestwich) Twin-cam KTOR 75 horsepower @ 4000 rpm Norton 4-speed 59.0″ / 1499mm Springer forks Rigid 300 lbs / 136 kg |