The Brough Superior Dagger S isn’t really a cruiser, and calling it one almost does it a disservice. Cruisers are supposed to let riders lounge around with their feet out, their engines thumping away, and their owners pretending they definitely weren’t looking at touring windscreens online at 1 a.m.
This thing is different. It’s more of an English bruiser bike, a low, carbon-wrapped streetfighter wearing a hand-crafted suit and carrying very expensive anger issues.
That matters because Brough Superior sits in a strange little corner of the motorcycle world. It isn’t chasing the same customer as Harley-Davidson, Triumph, Ducati, or even most boutique builders. Modern Brough exists in that deeply unserious but technically fascinating space where motorcycles become mechanical sculptures, carbon fiber becomes a personality trait, and pricing is treated like classified information. The Dagger S slides right into that world with zero shame and a very serious face.
The "regular" Dagger (if you could even call it that) already looked like someone tried to build a naked sportbike after spending too much time around vintage British motorcycles, superyachts, and carbon fiber espresso machines. The Dagger S takes that formula and leans harder into the angry bit. The biggest change is the riding position, with lower bars set farther forward to put more rider weight over the front. In normal human terms, Brough took its already weird luxury roadster and made it more committed, more aggressive, and probably less interested in your lower back’s long-term wellbeing.
Mechanically, this isn’t some big new powertrain moment. The Dagger S still uses Brough’s 997cc water-cooled V-twin, good for a claimed 102 horsepower at 9,600 rpm and 64 pound-feet of torque at 7,300 rpm. That isn’t superbike power, but that also isn’t really the point. This bike isn’t trying to win a spec-sheet argument against a literbike. It’s trying to make every exposed bracket, machined surface, and carbon panel look like it was designed by someone who owns both a torque wrench and an art gallery membership.
The chassis is where the Dagger S gets properly weird. Brough sticks with its signature Fior-type front suspension, a CNC-machined aluminum setup with titanium links that looks like it was over-engineered on purpose. The frame and subframe are titanium, because of course they are. There are 17-inch machined aluminum wheels, big brakes, and a 200-section rear tire, which gives the whole thing that compact, muscular stance without pushing it into feet-forward power cruiser territory.
Visually, the S model doesn’t rewrite the Dagger formula as much as sharpen it. The small front nose cone gets more aggressive shaping, the tank gets a honeycomb-style carbon finish, and there are extra fairing pieces around the radiator. The “S Sport” motifs make sure everyone knows this is the more focused one, in case the riding position and carbon-clad death stare weren’t already doing enough of the talking. It’s subtle by boutique motorcycle standards, which is to say it still looks like it was built to intimidate a private members’ club.
And then there’s the price, or rather, the lack of one. Brough Superior doesn’t list it openly, because apparently numbers are for people who ask too many questions. The brand does say the Dagger and Dagger S will cost the same regardless of how you order one, which is helpful in the same way a waiter saying “don’t worry about it” is helpful at a restaurant where the menu has no prices. Translation: expensive. Probably extremely expensive. Possibly “call your accountant before your dealer” expensive.
That’s what makes the Dagger S interesting. It’s not a cruiser, not a conventional naked bike, and not a normal streetfighter either. It’s an English bruiser bike with old-money posture and new-money materials, built for someone who wants performance, theater, craftsmanship, and just enough discomfort to prove they’re serious. It’s ridiculous, but it knows exactly what kind of ridiculous it wants to be.
