Every once in a while, the makers of high-end cars and motorcycle builders like to get in bed with each other to collaborate on a single ostentatious motorcycle. Many luxury carmakers and tuners have slapped their names on bikes, including Lamborghini, Bentley, Brabus, and even Lotus. Aston Martin is a repeat offender and has slapped its name on not just one bike, but three. This is the Aston Martin AMB 002. Built with Brough Superior, this new motorcycle is Aston Martin’s first road-legal motorcycle, and it’s unlikely you’ll ever see one in real life.
The world of boutique motorcycles is a wonderful and strange place. Boutique bikes are often more about the art than they are about performance, practicality, or really anything else. There’s no shortage of people who would buy a Janus, Bimota, Arch, or Curtiss when they could just buy a cheaper and faster mass-produced motorcycle with a better service network. But these people do it anyway, because these bikes offer something you can’t get in a Honda or Harley-Davidson.
Since 2013, Brough Superior, a modern spiritual successor of the famed British motorcycle company of the same name, has been building stylish motorcycles by hand in France. Brough is known for its heavy use of titanium, solid blocks of aluminum, and weird double wishbone Fior forks. The marque’s motorcycles aren’t the fastest steeds in the land, not even close, but they do look like nothing else. Apparently, Brough’s work has impressed Aston Martin enough to collaborate with it not just once, but now thrice. The fruit of that labor is what Aston Martin is calling its first road-legal motorcycle, the AMB 002.
Brough Superior
Brough Superior isn’t exactly a well-known name here in America, so I’ll give you a quick history speed-run. Skip ahead if you’ve read my previous coverage. Otherwise, here’s what you need to know, from my last article:
The Brough story starts with William E. Brough. According to most sources, Brough was a coal miner who, like many inventors of the era, began experimenting with slapping motors on bicycles and tricycles. William Brough’s first motorcycle was built in 1902 and by 1908, he turned his passion for motorcycles into a business. William’s son George Brough grew up helping out in his father’s business, where he learned the ins and outs of building motorcycles. The young Brough also became a motorcycle racer, winning the London to Edinburgh and back trial in 1910, 1911, and 1912. Also in 1912 was a first-place finish in the Scottish Six Days Trial. After World War I, George Brough partnered up with his father in the motorcycle business. However, it was reportedly an argument in 1919 that changed the course of motorcycle history.
The alleged disagreement revolved around how best to move forward in the motorcycle business. William was fond of flat tanks and parallel-twin engines while George was smitten by the sorts of V-twins served up by Harley-Davidson. But the young Brough wasn’t going to copy the Americans. Instead, he wanted to build a motorcycle that was better – superior, even – to anything that had come before. His motorcycles would have great power, handling, and quality, not unlike the grand luxury cars of what would become the Roaring Twenties.
To make his luxury motorcycle a reality, George cashed out on the family business in 1919 and in the same year constructed a shop on Haydn Road in Nottingham. Brough Superior Motorcycles was born. Brough produced just a handful of models over the years, and like other builders, he equipped his motorcycles with the engines and parts of other manufacturers. The first Brough Superiors had 986cc JAP (J.A. Prestwich) V-twins, Amac carburetors, ML magnetos, Sturmey-Archer transmissions, and Montgomery forks. Other engine options included a 999cc sleeve-valve V-twin from Barr & Stroud, or an F-head engine from Motosacoche in Switzerland. How did he stand out? Even though Brough was using components from other manufacturers, he treated his motorcycles like they were bespoke cars. Those components were custom-ordered and most Brough Superior motorcycles were custom builds. Brough was so obsessed with quality that he built his motorcycles twice.
The most famous Brough Superior was the original SS100 (Super Sports), which entered production in 1924. A fully custom motorcycle built to the exacting tastes of the buyer, all examples came with a guarantee that they were capable of hitting the ton (100 mph). The motorcycles were hotter than advertised, with George Brough taking one to 130 mph in 1928. Brough didn’t really have a “standard” SS100, as the first thing he asked of every customer was their idea for a dream motorcycle. Famous SS100 owners included Orson Welles, “Lawrence of Arabia” T.E. Lawrence, and playwright George Bernard Shaw.
The original company would cease motorcycle production in 1940 to aid the Allies in World War II. After the war, Brough found no suitable engine, and instead of just trying to make something work, Brough Superior closed up shop while it was still considered to be on top. For decades, Brough’s machines have been regarded as the “Rolls-Royce of Motorcycles.”
The Brough Superior name was passed through several owners before eventually landing in the hands of famed French motorcycle builder Thierry Henriette in 2013. Henriette came into the picture when vintage motorcycle enthusiast Mark Upham, who owned the Brough Superior name since 2008, approached him with an idea for a Brough Superior revival.
The new Brough Superior teased a reborn SS100 (above) in 2013 before putting it into production in 2016. If you’re interested in reading about that titanium and billet aluminum art piece, click here.
Aston Martin Gets Into Motorcycles
In 2019, Aston Martin entered the picture and decided to collaborate with Brough Superior to make a motorcycle that would get its inspiration from the engineering behind the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar. The result was a turbocharged, 180 HP track-only bike donning Aston Martin’s beautiful green paint. The spec sheet read like a bill of materials for a spacecraft, from Aston Martin:
POWERTRAIN
A DOHC 997cc 8-Valve 88-degree V-twin, water and oil cooled, short stroke measuring 94mm x 71.8mm, kicks out a turbo-charged 134 kW (180 hp) at just 180 kilos dry weight. The AMB 001 represents the first Brough Superior model to be presented with a turbo-charged engine. The powerful turbo gifts the rider with a motor that has an incredible response and huge torque over a wide range of RPM. The variable geometry turbo is intercooled for increased efficiency and its modern low inertia turbine is specifically designed to avoid turbo lag. The Transmission includes an extractible 6 speed gearbox an APTC clutch, and a final chain drive. The timing is driven by a compact short Morse chain and a gear train to ensure precision and reliability. The engine covers are machined from a solid billet of metal. The exhaust manifold is manufactured from Inconel, a superalloy chosen for its excellent thermal and mechanical properties.CHASSIS
The AMB 001’s high-tech chassis combines stiffness with lightness comprising a structural carbon fibre rear sub frame and machined titanium supports. The AMB 001 rides on exclusive wheels that are machined from forged aluminium. Featuring machined components and ball bearing action on the radical master cylinder piston, a custom racing brake system has been developed to give the AMB 001 excellent feel and feedback. Developed from a Machined form billet aluminium, the double wishbone fork dissociates steering and braking functions, resulting in precise steering and stability. The CNC-machined rear swing arm includes a progressive damping system with rocker hinges, which allow greater travel on the shock absorber, resulting in incredibly precise damping.BODY
The body panels on the AMB 001 are all manufactured from the latest carbon fibre technology, minimising weight and where feasible the panels are structural to further reduce weight. The leather saddle and matching handlebar grips are handcrafted with high quality automotive leather and stitching. Developed for the latest Aston Martin hypercars, such as the Aston Martin Valkyrie, the iconic Wings badges are made from incredibly thin, ultra-light laser cut metal and are included under the lacquer for a perfect surface finish.
In 2022, Brough Superior and Aston Martin were back at it. This time, they made the AMB 001 Pro, which had a power bump to 225 HP and a power-to-weight ratio of 1.28 hp/kg, or roughly similar to a Formula One car. Only 100 AMB 001s were made, followed by 88 AMB 001 Pros.
Aston Martin’s Bike Hits The Road
Obviously, the only place to go from there is to build an AMB that can ride on the road, so that’s what Brough Superior and Aston Martin did for their third collaboration.
Aston Martin says that the AMB 002, as this new one is called, takes design inspiration from the track-only machines, but adds proper lighting, turn indicators, and mirrors. Apparently, while this motorcycle is supposed to be a nod to the earlier Aston bikes, designers redesigned most of the visible components.
Like other modern Broughs, the AMB 002 sports a hand-made titanium frame. In this case, Aston Martin says, the frame weighs only 11 pounds and has a perfect 50:50 weight distribution. Strapped to that frame is a 1083cc four-stroke water-cooled V-Twin, which produces 128 horsepower and 81.1 lb-ft of torque. Draped on top of all of this is a body and fuel tank made of carbon fiber. All up, the bike weighs just 419 pounds, though Aston Martin doesn’t say if that’s dry weight or wet weight.
The AMB 002 also has Brough Superior’s signature double wishbone Fior fork. I’ll let Brough explain:
The double wishbone Fior fork machined form billet aluminum dissociates steering and braking functions, resulting in a precise steering and stability that gives a securing feeling. The motorcycle is not diving when braking and remains really stable while cornering with brakes.
Aston Martin says that the smaller details like the bike’s lights and exhaust are supposed to be nods to its hypercars. Maybe my eyes are tired, but I don’t really see an Aston Martin hypercar here, but a Decepticon that got stuck partly through transforming back into a robot.
This machine also appears to be one of the least comfortable motorcycles I’ve seen in a while. That seat looks little better than a park bench, and being slumped over at the controls would probably make any ride longer than 10 minutes pain-inducing. But that’s just my butt and my experience riding bikes with paper-thin seats.
The bike’s spec sheet also isn’t particularly impressive, either. A Yamaha MT-10 puts out 164 HP, weighs 469 pounds wet, and goes silly fast without any of the tricks found here. The Kawasaki Ninja H2 has even crazier numbers with its 240 HP and wet weight of 524 pounds. The Ninja H2R and its 322 HP even beat the AMB 001 Pro on paper.
But I suppose criticizing the potential for a bike like this to be uncomfortable and not the fastest thing in the world would just be me being obtuse. That’s not the point of the Aston Martin and Brough Superior AMB 002. It’s not a commuter, almost certainly won’t be used for any distance riding, and probably isn’t going to be setting top-speed runs. This machine is going to be for the person who already owns an Aston Martin and wants some Aston-branded eye candy to be parked next to it. The AMB 002 is what you ride over to a fancy gala or to some local car show. As it is, only 300 of them will be made, so your chances of seeing one in real life will be low.
As for how much such a creation will cost you, Aston Martin doesn’t specify – but it does say that deliveries will kick off sometime in late 2027. Considering that the old AMB 001 was €95,000 back in 2019 (which is about €120,423 or $140,057 in 2026), I wouldn’t expect this to be under six figures. But again, affordability isn’t the point here, and neither is making a mass-market bike. The AMB 002 is for the kind of person who thinks having an Aston Martin on four wheels isn’t enough.
So, I actually respect this bike. It doesn’t make much sense, looks horrifyingly uncomfortable, and could probably be outrun by something a third of the cost, but the Aston lovers who pick up an AMB 002 will have a piece of functional art. It’ll be something that’ll spark up conversations and could be displayed with pride in a collection. If you took it on the road, I bet the Ninja H2 owner would be the one asking you the questions.
Dare I say? The world would be boring without wild projects like this, so I can’t seriously complain. Good on Aston Martin for coming out swinging for the fences with its first road-legal motorcycle. Now, that reminds me, I should go look for a comfort seat for my Indian FTR.
Top graphic image: Aston Martin
Aston Martin has its brand name on everything this side of sex toys and frozen pizza. But to be sure, let me pop in my Aston Martin glasses while I sit my ass in this Aston Martin sofa.
Shit! While walking around my Aston Martin high rise condo I stepped on an Aston Martin LEGO cause I was so hammered on my Aston Martin whisky. Or maybe I was distracted by my Aston Martin headphones?
What time will the ambulance be here? Let me check my Aston Martin wrist watch. Oh, fuck it, I’ll just ride to the hospital on my Aston Martin bicycle. No, that’s too hard. I’ll take my Aston Martin Submarine.
Wait..No, the Aston Martin helicopter is a better idea. Lance! Get the Aston Martin powerboat warmed up, I’ll be back later!
This is all possible btw, not satire.
Does this mean we now know when the next Bond movie drops?
It’s this kinda stuff that makes me like Erik Buell all the more – he could have gone this route (and his final-for-now bikes went a little this way) but instead tried to make his motorcycles if not mass market, at least down the track from mass market, within the bounds of affordable for what you’re getting. Everyone complains about the Harley days, sure, but it was a smart idea that didn’t work out well, not a dumb one.
If I were in the market for a silly overpriced motorcycle that would turn heads everywhere, it’d be a Bimota Tesi.
But this is ok, I guess.
No one will ride this expensive piece of garbage in anger. It’s just destined to be currency for money launderers.
Probably the seat gets custom molded for comfort. Dropping that much coin on a bike, I’d definitely pay for a custom to me seat.