Lot details
Registration No: MUE 138
Frame No: M8/2214
Engine No: LT2/D/35/29/5
cc: 1000

As the 1930's opened the worlds economic climate was in dire straits and even manufacturers such as Brough Superior, despite their illustrious client base, were forced to make concessions in order to survive. In 1933 they offered clients the option of purchasing one of their vee twins without electrics, speedometer or numberplates in order to save a few "bob"! For those that could not stretch to a stripped down SS80 or SS100 but simply could not be seen on anything other than a Brough Superior there was the option of two new models in the form of the 680 side valve and the mighty 11.50 side valve vee twin. The smaller of the two machines had, by Brough Superior standards, a very low specification and did not meet with success vanishing from the catalogue for the 1934 season. The mighty 11.50 quickly established a loyal following, appealing to those seeking the relaxed "loping" gait that only a high geared, unstressed large capacity side valve twin can deliver, or those requiring a high quality sidecar tug capable of hauling its impediment at high speeds. It cost a little less than £100, making it cheap by Brough Superior standards, although the machines inherent charm and character were probably of greater significance than its cost for potential buyers.
The machine offered, to quote the machine registrar of the Brough Superior Owners Club in correspondence offered with it, is "As far as I am aware it is all genuine Brough Superior but its a story rather like the proverbial original hammer with replaced heads and handles"!
The machine was originally dispatched from Haydn Street on the 1st July 1935 with frame number 8/1499 housing engine number LTZ/R/46709/5RF and bearing registration number RE8208. At the time of its dispatch it was fitted with a Swallow sidecar and the frame was of the rigid type, consistent with the preferences of "sidecarists" at the time. The registration number suggests that it was destined for Staffordshire.
In 1952 the machine was returned to the works and fitted with a sprung frame, number M8/2214, probably in the interests of comfort. This frame was one of the "left overs" from when production ceased at the beginning of World War 2, having been built on the 21st September 1939 and was only two digits away from the very last frame. Because the chassis or frame in the case of a motorcycle relates to the registration number the motorcycle was issued with a new Warwickshire number MUE 138. It was also fitted with a Norton gearbox, the original being retained by the works and used in the factory "hack" SS80.
Twelve years later and now owned by a Mr Priestly of Kings Norton, Birmingham MUE 138 as she was now known received a replacement engine, number LTZ/D/35129/5, taken from another 11.50 with the frame number 8/1338 that had left the works on the 28th November 1933 bound for service with the Glamorgan Constabulary.
The machine was then sold to owners in Bedford , Lincoln, Stoke on Trent, Manchester, Bolton and Northwich before being purchased by the present owner. Just pror to to the vendors purchase of MUE she appeared on the television programme "The Antiques Trail" in 2000.
Now a solo, she is offered today in complete original condition with everything except the handlebars,levers and the aluminium fishtail marked "Halfords" appearing to emanate from the Brough Superior works. Accompanying her are the letter referred to above from the Brough Superior Owners Club Machine Registrar, letters from the producer of the "Antiques Trail", and a Swansea V5C which still displays her original engine number.