SIDEVALVE SUPERIOR

One of my schoolmasters rode a Triumph Bonneville – he rode to school every day in a Belstaff Stormcoat, gauntlets and a reversed flat cap. If I’d suffered from heroes he would have been one. He also taught Latin and told seriously filthy jokes – all the boys loved him, while most of the staff disliked him, not least because he was some kind of war hero and could put the letters ‘MA Cantab’ behind his name, rather than a mundane ‘BA’ or the like.

He also owned a Brough Superior, but I never saw that. As an amateur swot, player of combat bridge and juvenile motorcyclist, I once asked him, cleverly, as lads do, what made the Brough superior to the Matchless Model X, with which it shared an engine. I knew about this because my buddy Jim worked at the local bike breakers and they had broken an X. Sad but true. Pompey (for that was his nickname) turned to me and said ‘It’s called the Brough Superior because it’s entirely superior to a Matchless.’ He turned to walk away, paused, turned back and added ‘and to everything else, pretty much. ’Then he stalked off, as schoolmasters did in 1969 or so.

I should reveal at this point that ever since those cheery days I coveted a Matchless X, and eventually acquired one – which still resides drippily in The Shed. It is an…ah… interesting machine to ride. If I remember, I’ll park a picture of it somewhere nearby, so you can compare and contrast the handsome red machine with the plainly more aristocratic Brough Superior. The X is relevant here, because when I was offered the opportunity to reacquaint myself with a Matchless engined Brough Superior, I simply had to grab it.

They are always stunning machines to look at. Our Matchless is pretty decent eye candy, but the BS attracts every single admiring gaze. Just like that. The bike’s packed with delicious detailing, too. Just look at that silencer’s twin entries! And the forks! The toolboxes. Also the