Herald confirms production-ready Brute 500

The ‘first British designed, engineered and manufactured motorcycle’ from Cambridgeshire-based Herald Motor Company is now on sale.

Herald has gone from strength to strength over the past few years since its inception in 2012, as it continues to turn out an extensive range of retro-styled 125cc, 250cc and 400cc motorcycles that hark back to the glory days of British motorcycling. But it reckons its new Brute 500 street tracker is its biggest and best yet.

Herald made a name for itself by doing things slightly differently to other UK-based importers. The initial part of the process is similar. They work with an exclusive partner in China to create each bike, but once they arrive at Herald HQ, they get overhauled with a range of higher specification aftermarket bits and pieces, before being checked top to bottom by the team of dedicated on-site mechanics.

It’s a successful formula, with its range of bikes proving popular with style-conscious youngsters and city commuters looking for something different. But the firm had big ideas ‘to bring manufacturing back to the UK’. The first step was its Brat 125 which was released in 2020, designed and (partly) assembled at its Huntingdon base (although it did still feature mostly Chinese parts).

The Brute 500 goes further still. While its 43bhp liquid-cooled single cylinder engine and parts of the chassis are still coming from China, pretty much everything else has been looked after in the UK.

The design and tuning (using Herald’s own dyno) have been done in-house, while the wheels and suspension are from its sister company Racetek. The frame castings, aluminium swingarm, yokes and spindles are all machined in-house; the front four-piston radial brake comes from Devon-based HEL (although the rear is from J-Juan); while the seat, wiring loom and other plastic mouldings (excluding the fuel tank) are also made in Britain.

“It’s definitely been a challenge,” said a Herald spokesperson. “We’ve tried to design as much in-house as possible to establish the Brute as a British designed and made bike, which it is. We machine a lot of the components of the bike here from billet.”

It’s a cracking effort from the ever-growing brand, and we can’t wait to get the chance to put the new Brute through its paces. Priced at £6950 (plus £250 of on-the-road fees), it’s not a cheap bit of kit, but when you consider some of the quality British parts that are fitted, it’s easy to see why. Interestingly, Herald is planning further models using the base of the Brute 500, and we’re told there’s a Scrambler version on the way in the not-too-distant future.

For more information, visit www.heraldmotorcompany.com

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