Where Are They Now? THREE Classic Motorcycle Brands That Were Revived
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- Wobbly Phil tracks down three classic bike brands that were re-launched in the 2010s. Are they still thriving?
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Credits and links:
1930 Brough Superior SS100 - Jay Leno's Garage
• 1930 Brough Superior S...
Horex Regina 400 004 - Classic Motorcycles
• Horex Regina 400 004
HOREX Treffen Vorchdorf Österreich Juli 2023 - HOREX WERKSTATT
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Fit For A Lord! The Forgotten Classic British Motorcycle - 3Phils
• Fit For A Lord! The Fo...
#classicmotorcycles #classicmotorbike #BroughSuperior #Horex #Hesketh
I had a bike which had mental issues, in the morning i had to talk nice to it, and it would start and then randomly accelerate a peoples and cars. It would do a ton, loved it.
Velocettes need to be talked to nicely, and also say thank you when they get you home safely.
@EbenBransome it was a yammy
Good job brother.
I did spot a running Hesketh parked up outside the National Motorcycle Museum at it's open day. They have a nice example on show there as well. I kind of admire what Lord Hesketh did with the family fortune. FI then build motorcycles, a quick way to blow his wad.
As for Brough Superior, I've never thought their modern interpretation looked as good as the original. I'm sure it's not long ago I spotted one hiding under some Aston Martin styled bodywork at Motorcycle Live. Think they were asking in the region of £93,000 for one 😮
BS did form some kind of hook-up with Aston Martin a few years ago. 100 bikes were apparently being made, but I couldn’t find any confirmation of 100 being produced. There are a few up for sale on auction sites at anything up to £200,000!
Three marques that I've really no interest in, but I watched this anyway 'cuz you make me smarter, Phil!
Ay thankee! It was a bit of a toss-up which three to cover, there have been so many. Feel free to suggest any that you might be interested in that you’d like me to make a video about! 🙂
As a long term Moto Morini owner and rider (not quite in the same league as Brough 😉) it's reassuring to see the Morini marque revived. Designed in Italy and built in China, have you seen the new "3 1/2" due for release later this year? Great channel thanks Phil 👍
That’s very kind of you to say so, thank you! I’ve always had a soft spot for Moto Morini, but its recent history has had ups and downs like the other marques I mention in the video. Still, it does seem to have a great range of bikes on sale now. My only cynical comment (I can’t help myself!) would be that it’s now owned by a Chinese fridge company.
The common theme with many of these once iconic British brand revivals is they seem to be GARNERed with rogue CEOs at the helm.(see past Norton revivals)
I knew a guy who once totalled a Horex VR6 😂
Hesketh doesn't really count because it had no history. Taking 2 cylinders off an F1 engine is not where you start designing bikes.
Your observation about Horex reminded me that when women start remodelling their rear end it's usually a sign of increasing desperation for attention, not a good one.
Brough though. Lawrence of Arabia bought his from DiFazios (a good old Wiltshire name) in Frome, an establishment I occasionally frequented (and occasionally kick myself for not buying the lovely BMW single they once had in). DiFazio wanted to expand into racing front ends but were held up because they couldn't find a production manager in the area. However, Broughs were basically Bitzas - bits o' this, bits o' that - lovingly brought up their standards and assembled. They fell down a pothole when they decided to design and build their own engine, ridiculously expensive in small volume. Which is what all three brands in this video seem to have done, with the same result.
There have hardly been any new small aircraft engines for exactly the same reason. Not enough sales to cover R&D and certification.
Brilliant insight there, as ever. Thank you. I recall Norton taking two cylinders off a Cosworth V8 engine and that didn’t end particularly well either! I’m going to be honest, I’ve never really understood the appeal of Brough Superiors, not to the tune of half a mill anyway!
@3Phils One of my cousins was an engineer warrant officer in the RN in WW2. He had an SS80 which he used to travel from Portsmouth to Hertfordshire, in wartime conditions. It was fast and reliable by the standards of the day, and the use of JAP engines meant spares were available.
Mind you, his thing was Bristol radials, he knew a bit about air cooled engines. And he had access to fuel!
@3Phils Look up the info on the final version of the Norton Cosworth Challenge when Quantel took over the further development......not such a disaster after all.
For 1988 the bike was fitted with an experimental mechanical fuel injection developed by Cosworth and produced 120 bhp (89 kW) at 10,500 rpm.
Graves asked Surtees to find a British rider and Roger Marshall was signed up.[34] At Daytona Marshall defeated Stefano Caracchi [es] on the works Ducati 851 after a hard-fought battle.
Marshall went on to win the Battle of the Twins races at Spa and Assen later that year. Having achieved his objective of winning with the bike and having spent £100,0000 of his own money on the project, Graves retired the bike at the end of the year.
Bit harsh today ain't we ? Harsh but hilarious 😂😂😂.
Hehe! It’s been a tough week. That’s my excuse! 🤣🤣🤣
Correction Phil, the Horex is VR6 powered.
You’re quite right, of course, and thanks for the correction. 🙂 I’ll have a word with myself!
@3Phils don't be harsh on yourself, you just had a Homer moment. D'OH! 😁
@fredtracy3931 Ha! Maybe it was that crate of Duff I chugged while I was writing the script! 🍺🍺🍺
Not a fan of these 'revivals.' Heritage & history should be earned not merely applied with a decal.
I left out the heritage marques that just rebadge Chinese bikes, which seems like the ultimate disgrace to me, on the grounds that at least they seem to earn a crust. Perhaps I was too generous?
@3Phils The Benelli revival doesn't seem too bad, in fact Watsonian are selling a Benelli combination as a product, and they know their stuff. The rest, well, not remotely interesting.
@3Phils I think CF Moto are showing the way ahead, in building their own brand. Motorcycle owners can often be fiercely loyal to & proud of the marque they own. That's kinda difficult when your bike is sold under several different marque names around the globe. Makes them seem generic & disposable IMHO.
@ The only thing about CF Moto is that all their products seem to have been designed by that Discworld god who was really, really keen on cockroaches.
🤣
The French built Brough bikes remind me of Voxans.
I feel sorry for that poor woman at 3:58, who is now immortalised in this video. I wonder who she was? although it`s probably better not to ask
It’s Donatella Versace! Off of Wikipedia. I don’t think it’s much of a secret that she’s addicted to plastic surgery. That was her in 2010, when she was 55.
@3Phils Crikey!
She can charge £920 for a pair of trainers, you don't need to feel sorry for her. Or the rich mugs that buy the ghastly, tasteless tat they make. (Nobody cares about my opinion, it isn't libel.) For less money, you could go to actual Savile Row and get something really good with no logos visible. Tailors put their label on the *inside* of the jcket pocket.
The fashion world is badge engineering, sticking an expensive label on something knocked up in a Bangladeshi sweatshop. To be fair, even the worst bike badge engineering isn't in that class of awfulness.
😀
If I had the kind of money to buy a boutique brand of motorcycle, I'd sooner have a regular bike worked over by a well respected and established custom shop. At very least, one would hope thereafter that replacement mechanical parts wouldn't be like hens' teeth. I see that the firm in France is still doing well producing Egli Vincents though. Others like Wakan come and go very quickly indeed.
I just find it disappointing that these things are announced and often seem to obtain funding without what you’d imagine would be a sensible business plan. Although I’m a cynic by nature, I really don’t have anything against folk trying something and working hard to achieve it. In fact one of the reasons publication of this video was delayed was because I had a sudden (and uncharacteristic) wave of sympathy wash over me, resulting in me editing out two other marques which are trying their best, bless!
A simple bike, no hype or jazz or what ever it is called.
Vespa 500, Honda CB no bullszit bikes.
I just hope some idiots don't try to resurrect Laverda because, no doubt, it will be electric and/or a sad pastiche of a great machine.
At least if it was electric, the electrics would probably be better than on actual Laverdas.