Dual-Purpose Desert Stormer

While one doesn't consider Brough Superiors to be off-road bikes, this one isn't the first...

- Alan Cathcart

It's exactly 10 years on since the born-again Brough Superior brand's first all-new model - a modern take on the legendary SS100 launched 100 years ago this year - was unveiled at the 2013 EICMA Milan Show. Since then, while celebrating its centenary in 2019, the company has established a reputation for excellence of design, leading-edge engineering and quality of manufacture, latterly resulting in a joint venture with the equally historic four-wheeled British brand, Aston Martin. This has seen all 100 examples of the turbocharged AMB 001 sell in a matter of weeks, despite a €108,000 pricetag, while Brough's own products have acquired a healthy clientele of discerning owners across the globe.

The ever-growing range of Brough Superior V-twin models has expanded to include, for the first time, a model with potential off-road capability the Nefud. It's a derivative of the Lawrence two-seater roadster introduced in 2021 that is Brough Superior's most popular current model, and the Nefud has now entered production in the Brough factory in Toulouse at the same price of €68,800.

However, we should consider this as a two-wheeled version of the legendary Range Rover, another luxurious British mile-eater with off-road credentials whose owners rarely venture off-road, says Brough Superior CEO, Thierry Henriette. "The Nefud is fully off-road capable, with the correct tyres and detail revisions to the suspension.

"But, as with other companies producing high-performance street scramblers with knobbly tyres, we know that 95% of our customers will use them primarily in city boulevards as chic transportation. They could take them off-road - but we suspect very few will do so."