The SS80 was named because Brough Superior guaranteed that each model would be able to top 80 miles per hour. Motor Cycle magazine had a different name for it – they called it the “Rolls-Royce of Motor Cycles.” Some people just consider it to be the predecessor to the SS100 – but no matter what you call it, it’s an important part of motorcycling history.
George Brough himself rode each example to verify the mph claim, and each bike had to put down at least 30 horsepower on the dyno. For more on the SS80 (and the tale of someone who got to enjoy riding one), check out this profile from Real Classic. The first models used a J.A.P. engine, though by 1935 the SS80 started using Matchless V-Twins powerplants. Production ended in 1939, when World War II started. Just over 1,000 of the model were ever built, 460 of which have Matchless engines.
This numbers matching example (M8/I997) has an impressive amount of documentation going back to new and it comes with a Brough factory “petrol tube” sidecar (named as such because it stores extra gas). The seller believes it has been restored at some point in the past but there aren’t many details on that. Ownership history is well documented, though, and it seems that the bike came to the US in 2003. The current owner acquired it in 2021 as a non-runner and went about changing that with new head gaskets, a carb rebuild, full fluid flush, and an “overhaul” of the electrical system with period-correct wires.
Find this Brough Superior rig for sale in Walled Lake, Michigan with bidding up to $110,000 here on eBay.