Brough Superior 680 Black Alpine

A trade and some cash netted motorcyclist and collector Don Rosene of Anchorage, Alaska, this exquisitely restored 1930 Brough Superior 680 Black Alpine. Granted, it wasn’t so nicely restored when he acquired it some 25 years ago, but it was a motorcycle with history, and the machine deserved a complete resurrection. Don wasn’t in a rush for the Brough Superior to be finished, but like many important things, it took time for the project to reach a conclusion.

Don began his riding career at 12 years old aboard a diminutive 1.5-horsepower Doodlebug scooter, first rolling down the alley behind the family home in Rockford, Illinois. When he turned 14, he got a Cushman scooter. “Then, when you’re 18, it’s not cool anymore to ride a scooter,” Don chuckles, and continues, “You’ve got to get a car so you could have a gal sit next to you.” He went away to college but returned to motorcycles in 1963 with the purchase of a 305cc Honda Super Hawk. The Honda was traded the next year on a 650cc Triumph Bonneville, and that taste of British torque led to a succession of the parallel twin machines.

With the purchase of a Bultaco Matador 250 in the mid-sixties, however, Don began competing in enduros and says motorcycles, both street and dirt machines, were his life. “But I was going to work in an office which was a terrible thing,” he says. “I’d gone to school to become a computer programmer, and that didn’t work out. I didn’t like that at all.”

Career changes

A chance meeting with a friend in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, altered the course of his life. “He was selling tickets for Edison Dye and the first Inter-Am in 1968,” Don says. “We had dinner, and he says, ‘I’m working for Edison in California, and Edison wants to get an operation going in the Midwest. He’s got two containers of parts coming from the U.K. from Wassell and Jofa going into Milwaukee, and we’ve got to find a place there to have a warehouse.'”

Essentially, it was a job offer. Don told him he’d sleep on it. Ultimately, he didn’t get any sleep that night and called his friend the next day. “I told him I’d do it and turned in my resignation at the office job and went to work selling biking accessories for Edison Dye on the East Coast and selling tickets for the Inter-Ams all the while racing motocross and enduros — about everything you could do, including ice racing and hare scrambles,” Don explains.

That led to a job with Penton as the manager of Penton East and then KTM as national sales manager. On a KTM business trip to Anchorage, Alaska, in the early eighties, Don visited The Motorcycle Shop. Tired of traveling, he bought into the business, and he remains a co-owner retailing BMW, Ducati, Husqvarna, Kawasaki, KTM, Triumph, and Royal Enfield.

Along with that, Don has been quietly collecting motorcycles that appeal to him. Some have significant race history, while others, such as a series of Triumph Bonnevilles, simply remind him of his youth. Which brings Don to the story of this 1930 Brough Superior 680 Black Alpine. While it’s not a machine that floods him with nostalgia, it’s an important model in the history of motorcycles in general.

The Superior Brough

Brough Superior’s story starts with William Edward Brough, a mechanic working in a colliery in England. In the late 1800s, W.E. Brough built a home workshop where he began tinkering with internal combustion engines and motorcycles. His son, George, was born in 1890. Under his father’s tutelage, George became proficient with the intricacies of mechanics. He also quickly grasped the concepts of designing and engineering and was a gifted motorcycle rider. Aboard machines built by W.E. Brough, George was first in the 1910, 1911, and 1912 London-Edinburgh reliability trials.

Working in partnership with his father by 1918, George was brimming with ideas about how to build powerful machines without equal. These were motorcycles, he thought, that would be built to exacting standards and to a high level of finish that would exude luxury.

But when he presented his ideas to his father, W.E. wasn’t interested. Instead, George packed up and used his third share of the company to buy land, building a small factory on Haydn Road in Nottingham. He’d already produced a small handful of bespoke motorcycles, but in his own premises he properly set to work with the Mk 1.

A 1,000cc J.A. Prestwich (JAP) side-valve, or flat-head, V-twin engine was bolted into a rigid frame and power was transferred to the rear wheel via a 3-speed Sturmey-Archer gearbox. Crowning the Mk 1 was a nickel-plated gas tank with eye-appealing proportions that set the course for George Brough — who added “Superior” to the product name to set his machines apart from those of his father.

Refining the Mk 1, Brough lowered and lightened the frame and with a tuned 1,000cc JAP side valve engine in the cradle, managed to lap Brooklands track at just better than 100mph. While it was fast, he nicknamed his personal racer “Spit and Polish” for its stunningly clean and well-maintained appearance. The machine became the basis for the new Super Sports, or SS80, a motorcycle Brough guaranteed would do better than 80mph.

Although Brough experimented with frame design, his machines were essentially an accumulation of the best components that could be supplied from outside sources. So refined were the finished products that a road tester writing in The Motor Cycle referred to an SS80 as “the Rolls-Royce of motorcycles.” It was a line Brough quickly adopted, using it to describe his machines through to the end of Brough Superior production in 1939.

After the SS80 in 1925, Brough launched the powerful and fast SS100 equipped with his new Castle forks. These were Brough’s version of a Harley-Davidson front end. The SS100 featured an overhead-valve 1,000cc JAP V-twin, which had been developed by JAP’s Val Page and tuner/rider Bert le Vack. In 1924, le Vack rode a prototype SS100 to take nine world speed records, including, according to Brough Superior’s catalog, 123mph solo and 103mph with a sidecar.

John Young: master craftsman behind the Brough’s restoration

So, you’ve acquired what many consider to be one of the finest motorcycles ever built — a Brough Superior. It’s in excellent “rider condition,” but not quite up to your standards. Where do you turn to find the right person or shop to restore it? Hopefully, you’re not too concerned about the cost or the timeline because, for some collectors — like the owner of the featured Brough Superior 680 Black Alpine — restoration is about bringing the machine back to its original glory, no matter how long it takes.

John Young’s journey into restoration began at an early age. At just 5 years old, he was already pumping gas at his father’s station, and he grew up learning the trade in his dad’s auto body repair shop. Surrounded by a tight-knit group of friends who shared a passion for motorcycles and classic cars, John’s reputation in the industry grew. In the 1980s, a friend who specialized in mechanical work on Mercedes-Benz vehicles began referring customers to John for bodywork. Those referrals helped John establish Classic Auto Restoration in Lake Barrington, Illinois.

John’s 5,000-square-foot shop was filled with cars, motorcycles, engines, frames, and gas tanks, along with the tools of the trade — an English wheel, bead blaster, paint booth, welders, and a frame machine. He could do just about everything. Shelves of motorcycle magazines and trophies from his racing days lined the walls. As his wife, Kathy, put it, “A major car restoration might take him five to ten years. He was always working on multiple projects unless there was a critical deadline.”

Enter Don Rosene, whose own story started at his father’s filling station in Rockford, Illinois. Like John, he advanced from scooters to motorcycles and raced in Midwest enduros. Though they had competed in some of the same events, they didn’t really know each other at the time. That changed when Don began working for MZ motorcycle importer Edison Dye’s International Accessories. Struggling with slow sales, the company needed an expert enduro rider to showcase the brand. Don immediately thought of John Young, a top-tier rider who happened to live nearby. John agreed to take on the challenge, and the two began traveling together to AMA National Enduros across the Midwest and East Coast. “We developed a great friendship,” Don recalls, “even though John always finished ahead of me!”

Years later, after working with another restorer for several years, Don’s Brough Superior project had stalled around 2017. After some discussion, John agreed to take over and see it through to completion — including fabricating a new front fender from scratch. John’s restoration credentials spoke for themselves: he had worked on Vincents, Manx Nortons, and BSA 441 Victors (his favorite), as well as exotic automobiles like the Mercedes-Benz 300SL “Gullwing” and the Ferrari Daytona Coupe.

Don never asked about the cost or the timeline — he simply trusted John to bring the Brough back to life. And as you can see, John delivered. The result is the stunning Brough Superior 680 Black Alpine, a testament to their lifelong friendship and John Young’s unmatched craftsmanship.

Medium-weight 680 OHV

To complement the SS100, Brough next built the Overhead 680 in 1926. Powered by a 680cc overhead-valve JAP V-twin, the model bore a significant resemblance to the larger and more powerful SS100, but was offered at a lower price thanks to the smaller-capacity powerplant. By 1930, two versions of the midsize 680 were available, including the Black Alpine, equipped with a cantilever spring rear frame, and the Overhead with rigid frame.

“The popular, medium-weight, low-priced B.S.,” a 1934 Brough Superior brochure says of the 680 model. “The steering, cornering, riding position and road-holding, not to mention the quality of workmanship and material make these machines the most popular of the ‘Brough Superior’ range, and at the price, they undoubtedly offer the world’s best value in sporting motor cycles. These models are fast becoming the popular choice of the motorcyclist who prefers the SS100 in a smaller capacity.”

The 680 Black Alpine, as the name suggests, was finished completely in black, while the Overhead model maintained the plated gas tank. Production of the 680 continued to 1936 with 547 examples built during its production run.

By that time, Brough had moved to Matchless engines and either Norton or Burman 4-speed gearboxes for its larger models. Although Brough experimented with a 4-cylinder engine and a sidecar-only three-wheeled machine, production ceased in 1939 as the company took up manufacturing wartime materiel. Post-war, there was not a new Brough Superior motorcycle, but the name became synonymous with quality built, luxury machines. Broughs maintained their status for their riding performance and, ultimately, their collectability.

Enter Pete Gagan

One ardent admirer of Brough Superior machines was the late Pete Gagan of British Columbia, Canada. Pete was the founder of the Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group in 1968. Among other roles, Pete was a treasurer of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America (AMCA), and then in the early 2000s, he became the seventh president of the AMCA (see sidebar on page 60).

“I got hooked up with the Oregon Trail chapter of the AMCA, and Roy Burke became a good friend of mine,” Don says. “Roy would call me every year and tell me I’d have to come down for a ride. He told me I could just fly in, he’d get me a bike to ride, and that I could stay at his house. I did that for about 10 years, and Pete Gagan was always a part of that group and that ride.”

He continues, “Every year, Pete would show up with something very different, a road-legal Manx, a Zenith, always something weird he’d come up with. One year, Pete says, ‘You need a Brough.’ And I said, yeah, I do, but where do you find one? ‘I’ve got one,’ he says. ‘We’ve sold my storage place in the U.K., and we’re not going to go over there anymore to ride.’ But, he’d shipped back to his home in White Rock a Brough 680 Black Alpine and a Morgan.”

That was in July, and Pete suggested Don come and look at the Brough Superior later that year. As part of a trip to California, on the return, Don flew into Seattle-Tacoma airport, rented a car, and drove north across the border to Pete’s in White Rock, B.C., on Canadian Thanksgiving Day where he was treated to turkey dinner with the family.

The following day, Pete showed Don the Brough Superior 680 Black Alpine, one of 69 such examples that left the Brough works for 1930. It had once been owned by Sammy Miller in the U.K. and a continuation logbook indicates the Brough was first registered on February 19, 1930, and VX3333 is the original registration number.

In 1971, the Brough Superior Club verified the 680 was complete with correctly numbered parts, such as frame, engine, gearbox, and tank. The club indicated the machine was equipped from the factory with a Klaxon horn, dual headlamps, tank top lighting switch, Jaeger speedometer, detachable rear carrier with rectangular bags, and a prop stand. The logbook also indicates Miller was the fourth owner, who traded it to Pete in exchange for a Crocker speedway bike.

“Pete fired it up and told me what he wanted for it, but I thought it was pricey, and he said that’s a pretty good price for a Brough,” Don recalls. “He asked what I had to trade. It happened I had a 1917 Indian Power Plus I wasn’t going to do anything with, and he said that’d be fine. I crated up the Indian, included a check for the difference, and that was that. I got the Brough.”

Pete Gagan: A legacy of vintage motorcycles

Born and raised in Ontario, Canada, Pete Gagan was 14 years old when his dad “borrowed” a 1950 Francis-Barnett Merlin 125cc 2-stroke. He fell off the bike, bending the frame, and then felt obligated to buy the motorcycle. Not mechanically inclined, Gagan Sr. pushed the bike into the family garage. Pete took an interest and stripped the Francis-Barnett to the frame, which he had straightened. Once reassembled, Pete rode the Merlin illegally until stopped by the police. It was suggested to his parents that he shouldn’t be riding until he turned 16, and with that time, Pete took the Merlin apart — again — and restored the bike with fresh paint and some new parts ordered from England.

Soon, Pete was acquiring more motorcycles, including a 1912 Indian and a 1908 CCM. He enjoyed tinkering, and he loved riding the old bikes. At 19 in 1959, Pete joined the Antique Motorcycle Club of America, and then in 1968, he started the Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group. From Brough Superiors, including the 680 Black Alpine he traded to Don, to Zenith Graduas, in his lifetime Pete said he’d owned more than 150 interesting machines. Although Pete passed away October 23, 2024, his enthusiasm for old motorcycles lives on in organizations dedicated to preserving and sharing antique powered two-wheelers, including the AMCA and the CVMG.

What next?

Don shipped the Brough to Anchorage where he says that he simply stared at the bike for a long time. The machine was an older restoration in “rider condition” but was showing its age. While Don says he appreciates originality, this wasn’t in original condition, “And I like really nice stuff.”

Busy at the shop, and not a restoration specialist himself, Don called Dave Smith in the Chicago area. Dave had just restored a Velocette for Don, and when asked if he’d tackle the Brough Superior, he said he’d be happy to. “Dave was a perfectionist, and it took him a long time, and then he ran into some health problems,” Don says. “Dave had done the engine work, the wheels were done, the forks were done, and the gas tank was painted, but it just kind of stalled. So, I was able to get John Young to take it on. It took him about three years, but he finished putting it together.”

John, who passed away early in 2022, wrote about his time with the Brough, and said, “There was some scarcity of parts, [and] while this is true, it doesn’t address the fact that parts that are available are often very poor reproductions and unusable. I did in fact have to fabricate the front fender [and] I’m pleased with the result.”

The largest obstacle for John, however, was dealing with all the fasteners used to bolt together a British machine from the 1930s. Many people assume the Whitworth thread form is prevalent in an English motorcycle, but only a few on the Brough were Whitworth. Instead, the thread forms often found in machines such as BSAs, Triumphs, and, yes, Broughs, is British Standard Fine, British Standard Cycle in 26 threads per inch, and British Association, which is used for smaller threaded screws, such as tank badges and levers.

“The replacement fasteners were hand turned on a lathe from stainless steel,” he continued. “Most of the bolt heads were domed for appearance and originality, and all were polished to a chrome-like shine.”

As the restorer, John put the Brough Superior 680 Black Alpine through its paces. He described the experience like this, “I rode the machine several times and am amazed at how well it performs. It is easy to kick start, never smokes, even on initial startup. The clutch does not drag or slip, the steering is precise and crisp, and the brakes are quite effective. The hand shift operates through a gate that is properly spaced and selects the desired gear with minimal effort. Even neutral is easily found. The 3-speed Sturmey-Archer gearbox has wide ratios, that perfectly suit the torque characteristics of the JAP engine.”

Of the finished Brough, Don’s delighted with the motorcycle, but apart from hearing it run, he’s not ridden it. Instead, drained of gasoline, he’s left it as John last rode it, and it’s John who gets the last word on the 680 Black Alpine.

“Once on the highway and into top gear, the machine settles into a nice leisurely lope, seemingly eager to gobble up long distances. The exhaust note is pure joy, with just enough bark from the fishtail exhaust tips under load to show off the V-twin burble, yet not harsh at cruising speed,” Young said, and concluded, “When one considers that this machine was built at the same time as the Model A Ford, it emphasizes just how far advanced these Brough Superior machines were!” MC