The Brough Superior Golden Dream was designed and built by

George Brough George Brough ( ) (21 April 1890 – 12 January 1970), was a motorcycle racer, world record holding motorcycle and automobile manufacturer, and showman. He was known for his powerful and expensive Brough Superior motorcycles which were the fi ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, England, in 1938. With its distinctive gold finish, this was to be the ultimate

Brough Superior Brough Superior ( ) motorcycles, sidecars, and motor cars were made by George Brough in his Brough Superior works on Haydn Road in Nottingham, England, from 1919 to 1940. The motorcycles were dubbed the "Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles" by H. D. ...

but production was stopped by the outbreak of War in 1939.

Development

Designed as a team effort by Brough, 'Ike' Hatch, and Freddie Dixon, the engine has two horizontally opposed flat twins one above the other and geared together, thus rotating counter to each other forming an

H engine An H engine is a piston engine comprising two separate flat engines (complete with separate crankshafts), most often geared to a common output shaft. The name "H engine" is due to the engine blocks resembling a letter "H" when viewed from the fr ...

. Connecting rods from opposed cylinders were of the fork and blade type and thus shared a common crank pin. All pistons moved in unison, that is to the left or to the right at the same time. The pistons could thus be counterweighted 100% yielding a perfect balance. Primary, secondary and higher-order sources of vibration canceled each other, as did the gyroscopic effects from each crankshaft.

described it a "flat vertical" engine. The four cylinders were equating to 988 cc, with the camshafts gear-driven. Further development work was done on the engine, reconfiguring it as (998cc), with chain-driven camshafts. Brough Superior Golden Dream (close up)

The engine was a four stroke engine. The frame was designed to accommodate the unusual engine and was welded together with a fully sprung plunger type springing for the rear wheel, unlike the cantilever swingarm suspension on the

Brough Superior SS100 The Brough Superior SS 100 is a motorcycle which was designed and built by George Brough in Nottingham, England in 1924. Although every bike was designed to meet specific customer requirements—even the handlebars were individually shaped—s ...

. The forks were Brough Superior's "Castle" forks derived from a

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...

design, and many components such as the petrol tank, saddle and wheels were the same as standard Brough Superior machines. The Dream had optional three or four speed transmission, manufactured to Brough's own design by David Brown Ltd. of

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

. The final shaft drive had an underslung worm and pinion gear on the rear axle and the propeller shaft was enclosed in a tube.

Exhibition and pre-production

The Golden Dream was exhibited at the

Earls Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

motorcycle show in London in 1938. Five Golden Dreams were produced during 1939 and another model was planned for exhibition at

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

; but

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was declared in September 1939 and the Brough works were turned over to the war effort, making components for

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

. Brough Superior never returned to motorcycle production.

Surviving Golden Dreams

At least one Dream is running and is owned by John Wallis (the chairman of the Brough Superior Club, Nottingham, England). Two others are under restoration. A Brough Superior Dream was on display at the British National Motorcycle Museum. Like many exhibits it was destroyed in a fire in 2003 but has since been largely restored, although it has never run, as there are no internals in the engine or gearbox.

References

{{Commons category Golden Dream Standard motorcycles Motorcycles introduced in the 1930s

Development

Exhibition and pre-production

Surviving Golden Dreams

See also

References