For seven years, owning an Aston Martin motorcycle meant owning a very expensive sculpture that needed a racetrack and a trailer to do anything useful. The AMB 002 Roadster changes that. It’s the first bike from the Aston Martin–Brough Superior partnership meant to wear a license plate. The press release is mostly about gills, strakes, and “kinetic form,” but the spec sheets and the fine print on Brough’s own website tell a more interesting story, and it isn’t entirely the one Gaydon is selling.
The Short Version
Aston Martin and Brough Superior announced the AMB 002 Roadster on September 9 as the partnership’s first road bike, following the track-only AMB 001 and AMB 001 Pro from 2019 and 2022. Production is capped at 300, orders are open now, and deliveries are slated to start in Q3 2027. The official announcement doesn’t give a price, and neither does Brough. Aston Martin
That 300-unit run is notable on its own. The original AMB 001 was limited to 100 examples, and the Pro was capped at 88. The road bike is triple the size of either earlier run, which matters for anyone buying it as an investment. More on that later. Aston Martin
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Some quick lineage. George Brough founded Brough Superior in Nottingham in 1919, T.E. Lawrence owned seven of his bikes, and designer Thierry Henriette revived the name in 2013, starting with a modern SS100, according to Aston’s 2019 AMB 001 release. So you have a century-old British motorcycle badge, reborn in France, now carrying a second British badge on the tank. Aston Martin
The “All-New” Engine Has Family Resemblance
Both companies insist the bike was engineered from a clean sheet with no carry-over parts. The spec sheets suggest a more nuanced reading. Aston Martin
The AMB 002 engine is a 1,083cc liquid-cooled DOHC 88-degree V-twin with four valves per cylinder, a combined chain-and-gear cam drive, and a 98mm x 71.8mm bore and stroke. It makes 130 hp and 110 Nm and uses a six-speed cassette gearbox with a hydraulic APTC slipper clutch, per the Brough spec sheet. Brough-superior-motorcycles
Now look at Brough’s existing Dagger roadster. It uses a 997cc DOHC 88-degree V-twin with four valves per cylinder, the same chain-and-gear cam drive, and a 94mm x 71.8mm bore and stroke. It’s rated at 102 bhp at 9,600 rpm and 87 Nm at 7,300 rpm, with Euro 5 homologation, a six-speed cassette gearbox, and an APTC slipper clutch, according to the Dagger’s page. brough-superior-motorcycles
So Brough kept the vee angle and the stroke and opened the bore by 4mm. The math checks out: two 98mm cylinders at 71.8mm of stroke give 1,083cc. Both claims can be true at once. New billet cases, cylinders, and internals can mean “no carry-over componentry” while the architecture is still a clear descendant of the 997. That isn’t a criticism. It’s how good engines grow. But “all-new” is carrying some marketing weight here.
The gains over the Dagger are real: about 27 percent more horsepower and 26 percent more torque. Specific output rises from roughly 102 hp per liter to 120. Keeping the stroke and widening the bore leaves room for bigger valves without raising piston speed. Brough says the engine is tuned for low- and mid-range pull, which on an oversquare twin comes down to cam and intake work. What Brough hasn’t published for the AMB 002 is peak-power rpm, compression ratio, or an emissions certification standard. It lists all three for the Dagger. Expect those numbers to matter once homologation paperwork shows up.
There’s also no turbo on the spec sheet. For context, the AMB 001 used a turbocharged, intercooled 997cc twin rated at 180 hp and 180 kg dry, and the AMB 001 Pro raised that to 225 hp, or 1.28 hp per kilogram. The road bike is the least powerful AMB so far, at roughly 0.68 hp per kg. That’s not a flaw. It’s what happens when a bike has to pass noise and emissions tests. Aston MartinAston Martin
Why Billet Makes Sense at 300 Units
Brough designs, machines, and assembles the engine in-house in Toulouse, with engine cases CNC-machined from billet. This is more than a luxury flourish. At a 300-bike volume, the tooling for sand- or die-cast cases would never pay for itself, and machining from solid bar avoids molds entirely. The downside is on the owner’s end. A cracked case isn’t a part pulled off a shelf. It’s hours of five-axis machine time in southern France. Aston Martin
A Frame You Could Carry Under One Arm
The titanium backbone frame is milled from solid billet, weighs 5 kg, and helps produce a 50:50 weight distribution. Brough quotes a total weight of 190 kg. That’s about 11 lb of frame and 419 lb of motorcycle. Neither company says whether 190 kg is wet or dry, and the difference on a bike with a real fuel tank is significant. The AMB 001’s 180 kg figure was explicitly dry. Aston Martin
The more important detail for owners is in the chassis spec. The engine is a structural member, the rear subframe is aluminum, and the CNC-machined swingarm pivots in the engine crankcases. In practice, the engine isn’t just carried by the chassis; it is part of the chassis. Any crash that loads the swingarm pivot loads the engine cases. A low-side that would scuff a conventional frame could mean inspecting the engine as a chassis component. Engine-out service also means the bike comes apart in the middle. Brough-superior-motorcycles
The geometry is tighter than the Dagger’s in every direction. The AMB 002 has a 21.3-degree caster angle, a 1,472mm wheelbase, 100mm of front travel, 124mm at the rear, and an 875mm seat height with the suspension fully extended. The Dagger has 22.8 degrees of caster, a 1,491mm wheelbase, 120mm and 130mm of travel, and an 810mm seat. That 875mm seat height is 34.4 inches before sag, so shorter riders should test-sit one before signing anything. Brough didn’t publish a trail figure. Brough-superior-motorcyclesbrough-superior-motorcycles
One practical win: the AMB 002 uses a 120/70 ZR17 front and 190/55 ZR17 rear. Those are mainstream supersport sizes, unlike the Dagger’s 200/55 rear. Tires won’t be the hard part of owning this bike. Brough-superior-motorcyclesbrough-superior-motorcycles
The Fior Front End, Explained
The front suspension is the most unusual part of the bike. It’s a double-wishbone “Fior” setup that separates steering forces from braking forces, evolved from the AMB 001 Pro’s system, and Brough says its anti-dive behavior keeps the bike stable when braking while leaned over. Aston Martin
A telescopic fork does steering, springing, and braking all through the same two sliding tubes. Under hard braking the fork compresses, geometry shifts, and suspension travel gets used up just keeping the nose off the ground. A wishbone front end puts the wheel on pivoting links and hands springing to a separate shock, so braking loads go mostly into the links instead of compressing the spring. That’s probably part of why Brough can run just 100mm of front travel.
The trade-offs are proprietary parts, a steering feel that takes some adjusting to, and very few suspension shops that have seen one. Also note the adjustability: both front and rear shocks are listed as adjustable for preload and rebound only. No compression damping adjustment is listed on a bike at this level, which is surprising. Brakes are twin 320mm discs with four-piston radial calipers up front and a single 230mm disc with a two-piston caliper at the rear, the same layout the Dagger uses. Neither company’s materials mention ABS, traction control, or riding modes. Brough-superior-motorcyclesBrough-superior-motorcycles
Where Aston Actually Shows Up
Aston’s contribution is design and detailing. The Aston Martin Design Studio shaped the carbon fuel tank and side fairings, added crescent-shaped cooling gills, and ran the signature side strake through the fairing and forward around the headlamp. The twin oval exhausts use ribbed heat sinks that reference the Vanquish, DB12 S, and DBX S. The rear light blades are the same type used on the Vulcan, Valkyrie, and Valhalla, and there’s keyless ignition, a backlit start button, and saddle-leather seat pads. Keyless start on a motorcycle is lovely right up until you’re at a gas pump patting down six jacket pockets. Aston Martin
The American Asterisk
“Road-legal” needs a country attached, and neither announcement names one. Brough’s dealer page is unusually direct about the U.S. market: “Only non-street-legal collector motorcycles are sold in the USA.” Those are sold only factory-direct from France, Brough says it has no U.S. representation, and it warns that a U.S.-based website and associated people are unauthorized and can’t accept deposits or orders. brough-superior-motorcyclesbrough-superior-motorcycles
That’s awkward, because Aston Martin’s U.S. website already promotes the AMB 002 as a bike built for road use on its partnership page. Brough could certify the bike for the U.S. before deliveries start. As of now, no one has said it will. Aston Martin
If it isn’t certified, the federal route is painful. A vehicle under 25 years old that wasn’t built and certified to FMVSS generally can’t be imported permanently unless NHTSA rules it eligible. It must also come in through a registered importer, with a bond of 150 percent of its declared value and modifications completed within 120 days, according to NHTSA’s guidance. Customs also notes that emissions compliance is a separate hurdle, usually handled through an EPA-authorized independent commercial importer, and that the process gets far harder when no similar U.S.-certified model exists, per CBP’s import rules. The 25-year exemption would free up a 2027 build in about 2052. Worth the wait for some. NHTSA U.S. Customs and Border Protection
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The practical takeaway: U.S. buyers should only place deposits with Brough’s factory directly. And one more oddity from the dealer list: it covers France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Australia, Japan, and Portugal. There’s no UK dealer listed for a pair of British heritage brands. brough-superior-motorcycles
Owning One: Insurance, Service, and Value
This is analysis rather than reporting, but the ownership picture is fairly predictable. A bike with a billet titanium frame, carbon bodywork, and a stressed billet engine is a candidate for an agreed-value policy, not a standard motorcycle policy that pays book value. A tip-over that cracks a carbon tank or scars a billet case could become a total-loss discussion faster than on a mass-produced superbike. Parts come from a single factory, so repair time will be measured in shipping schedules. Before paying a deposit, get answers on warranty terms, where routine service happens, and how Fior front-end parts are supplied in your country.
On values, 300 bikes is a much bigger pool than 100 or 88, and road bikes collect miles. Anyone buying purely as an investment should factor in both. It’s also worth noting that Brough’s online pre-order form still lists the AMB 001 Pro as a selectable model. That means either Pros are still available or nobody has updated the dropdown. brough-superior-motorcycles
For Aston, the logic is straightforward. The company’s first-half 2026 gross profit rose 68 percent to £213 million, with gross margin up to 34 percent, per its H1 2026 results, and it completed a new £550 million debt financing in July, according to its regulatory announcement. For a company in that position, putting its wings on a bike that someone else engineers and builds in Toulouse costs very little capital. Stefano Saporetti, Aston’s director of brand diversification, called the partnership a “long-term driver of brand value”, which is about as plain as a press release gets. Brough, meanwhile, has become a specialist in luxury tie-ups: its lineup includes a Richard Mille model alongside the Aston bikes. Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc +3
None of that makes the AMB 002 less interesting as a machine. A 5 kg titanium spine, a wishbone front end, and a big-bore twin machined from solid bar are real engineering, not decoration. Just get the price, the homologation markets, and the wet weight in writing before you hand over a deposit.
Images Via: Aston Martin
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