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EUROPEAN TWINS
AMERICAN TWINS
Brough Superior
Vincent HRD speedo
closed public road near Christchurch, 24-year
old Russel Wright raised the outright world
motorcycle speed record to 185mph (297km/h).
Wright claimed the engine was almost standard,
apart from racing cylinder heads and larger
carburettors. It was the last time the outright
world record would be broken by what could
be described as a conventional motorcycle. It
was also the last time the record was broken
on a conventional road. It was the end of an era
in many ways, that same year all motorcycle
production ceased at the famous Vincent works in
Stevenage in the English county of Hertfordshire.
Black Lightnings left the factory without lights,
kick-starters, or any trappings required for a road
going motorcycle. The pipes, of course, were
straight through. The 998cc 50-degree OHV
air-cooled push-rod V-twin engine produced
a claimed 70bhp at 5700rpm. Dry weight was
172kg. Although nominal top speed was 150mph
(240km/h), the speedo on the one photographed
goes to 180mph (288km/h). The racing pedigree
goes back as far as 1925 when H.R.Davies won
the Senior TT in the Isle of Man on a machine of
his own making, which he called the HRD. He also
1937 BSA Model G14, design debuted in 1926
came second in the Junior TT. An HRD also won
the Junior TT in 1927. In 1928 Davies sold out to
Philip Vincent, so creating the name Vincent HRD.
BROUGH
George Brough began in his father W.E. Brough’s
motorcycle manufacturing business. When he
went out on his own in 1921, not wanting to drop
the Brough name, he simply added Superior to
distinguish his models from those made by his
father. George was said to be a consummate
showman. He was also an accomplished
competitor from an early age, in a variety of
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