Dearden Motorcycles is moving a short distance from the village of Holbury to nearby Hardley, has parted company with Yamaha and has taken on the Suzuki and Piaggio Group franchises.
“It’s exciting times,” said Letitia Howell, motorcycle sales and part of a team of five headed by dealer principal Kevin Hayter.
The new 7000sq.ft showroom - plus workshop and stores - on Hardley Industrial Estate (so close it shares the same postcode) will open on 2 January, with an official opening nearer the main season.
The company has been converting the premises, a former print shop, for several months and will be taking on more staff, including a new sales person, early next year.
Dearden Motorcycles has been on the main street in the village of Holbury for a couple of decades, located in a converted house (pictured), and was purchased by brothers Andrew and Nigel Hewett in 2008.
Howell continued: “We are moving so we can build the business. We have changed franchise and it’s quite a major undertaking.
“It was a mutual agreement to part company with Yamaha as we weren’t travelling down the same track and we needed more brands. It’s a good move. We're looking forward to it.”
www.britishdealernews.co.uk
A major Motorcycle Sales, Service, MOT and repairs (including PCA) outlet – established in 1981
Combined turnover of £4m, with two well established, long standing franchises (both CI approved), sales of 400+ units (new & used) and PCA of approximately £750K. Well respected family business, profitable, with freehold available (approximately £490K) and all stock. The current owner is happy to do a transition or transaction over the next 12-24 months and is happy to assist any new proprietor/management.
SERIOUS ENQUIRIES ONLY PLEASE, apply to: Andrew Wood on 07774 834166
CORNWALL KAWASAKI CENTRE UP FOR SALE
Cornwall Kawasaki Centre in Lanner, near Redruth, is up for sale. An advertisement reveals the asking price is £775,000, ex-stock. It is described as a “highly profitable” 40-year-old motorcycle dealership with a roadside location and “a genuine retirement sale”. Turnover in 2016/17 was over £1.5million.
Formally Keith Parnell's Motorcycles, Cornwall Kawasaki says on its website that since it was acquired by Ian Bradley in 2004 it has “rapidly become one of the best known and favoured bike shops in Cornwall”.
Bradley was not available to provide an update when BDN called the dealership.
The advertisement adds: “The business continues to be ranked among the top Kawasaki dealerships in the UK, based on sales, customer service levels and market share and our clients have exclusive rights for Kawasaki within the county.
“Our clients oversee the day to day running of CKC with the assistance of several highly skilled and experienced full-time staff and a full hand over/training package will be included at the point of sale.
“Turnover for the year ending 31 May, 2017, was £1,558,277.”
The 16mx15.3m open plan showroom is said to be well presented with space for up to 100 motorcycles. The usual stock holding is around 80 units.
www.cornwallkawasaki.co.uk
TORIES RIDE ON TRIUMPH MONEY
Satirical magazine Private Eye has just revealed Electoral Commission data showing Triumph Motorcycles supremo John Bloor was the Conservative Party’s largest donor in the third quarter of 2018.
One of his companies, JS Bloor (Services) Ltd, made three donations to the Tories in July, totalling £570,000. The magazine also reported that JS Bloor (Services) Ltd has gifted more than £2m to Conservative funds since 2015. This latest contribution is the biggest so far.
Private Eye insinuated that such largesse was associated to the recent rapid growth of housing-building operation Bloor Homes, thanks to the Tories’ Help to Buy scheme. Recent accounts for this outpost of John Bloor’s empire report annual revenue climbing by 27% to £917m and pre-tax profit 58% up to £152m — substantially exceeding Triumph’s performance.
Back in the Tony Blair era, Bloor was a donor to the Labour Party. During that period, the UK Construction & Use Regulations for road-going motorcycles were amended to permit plastic fuel tanks. Triumph debuted a plastic-tanked Triumph Tiger adventure-sport bike shortly afterwards. Obviously, there was no connection between these two events.
STEVE MELLOR: LEGENDARY ENGINE TUNER
Legendary engine tuner Steve Mellor passed away on 8 December. Steve’s tuning expertise brought huge success in the British championships and in road racing events in the Isle of Man and Ireland.
He was best known for his partnership with former drag racer Jack Valentine. The pair formed V&M racing in 1982 and, in 1990, when Valentine decided to quit his career as a rider, grew the V&M name working on the engines of Carl Fogarty, James Whitham [both pictured] and Robert McElnea.
Then Valentine and Mellor established V&M as a high-profile team with a good partnership with Honda UK. This was interrupted in 1999 when Valentine opted for Yamahas and the rising star David Jefferies.
In the book Guy Martin: My Autobiography, the Grimsby-born lorry mechanic/motorcycle racer wrote that the ETI Ducati team in British Superbikes was “a very successful Rochdale-based tuning and race team firm started by Steve Mellor and Jack Valentine. They'd had TT wins with David Jefferies and John McGuinness but split to run their own projects.
“Mellor was a clever bloke when it came to engines … his bikes always went like shit off a shovel."
SUZUKI STAND VISITORS AT NEC DONATE £4K TO CHARITY
Suzuki raised more than £4000 for charity at Motorcycle Live, which took place from 17-25 November at Birmingham’s NEC.
Voluntary donations for free hot refreshments at the manufacturer's hospitality area raised over £3000 for the automotive industry’s BEN fund, while the Vintage Parts display and race bike build raised over £1000 for the Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
The pop-up coffee stop, situated on Suzuki’s show stand, has become a Motorcycle Live mainstay in recent years. Providing an area for show-goers to enjoy a break from wandering the halls, grab a hot beverage and take the weight off their feet for a few minutes, it served 8500 cups of tea and coffee over the nine-day show.
This year Suzuki raised a total of £3527.50 for BEN, an independent charity and dedicated partner to the automotive industry, providing support for life for its people and their family dependents, whether that be financial, physical, mental or social.
Meanwhile, Suzuki’s Vintage Parts Programme always provides visitors with an impressive array of classic road and race bikes, and this year rebuilt the very first RG500 race bike built in 1973, before it was raced in Grands Prix in 1974. Collecting for Birmingham Children’s Hospital during the restoration, £1036.61 was raised over the course of the show.
Suzuki GB head of marketing Fiona Cole commented: “Every year Suzuki takes the opportunity to raise money for charity at Motorcycle Live. The hospitality area always proves to be incredibly popular with visitors to the show and while the drinks are free, we encourage visitors to make a donation to our nominated charities and we’re incredibly thankful to everyone who made kind donations to help us raise as much as we did for the two superb causes.”
RAIDERS STRIKE, THEN LEAVE, CLOSING THE DOOR BEHIND THEM
Raiders broke into the Shrewsbury branch of Complete Bike Training (CBT) recently, stealing two DAS machines (Suzuki Gladius 650s), the owner’s Harley-Davidson Breakout, jackets, helmets, gloves and tools, and the company van.
Having been defeated by CBT’s security, the thieves broke into the next door premises where they found a Stihl saw, which they used to access the training school at the second attempt. They cut through a lock then ripped off the door using a chain attached to a vehicle.
Once inside, they prised the key safe off the wall and cut into the rear to steal vehicle keys before piling everything into the training school’s van and making off.
Complete Bike Training is run by John Taylor and Kevin Byrne, who told BDN: “When the little sods left they closed the roller shutter door behind them, which was nice of them – so it looked as though no-one had been in there!”
When the business – which also has a branch in Telford and is “the biggest training operation in Shropshire” - posted news of the break-in on Facebook it was inundated with offers of help.
“People –many of our old customers - have been very, very good,” said Byrne (pictured left), “bringing in old gear and everything, so if any of our customers do need a jacket we can supply it. The thieves stole some helmets but we still have other helmets there. We have been training for nearly 10 years now so we have built up a fair bit of stock so we were pretty lucky.”
CBT has 40 machines, 10 instructors, plus trainee instructors, operating between its two sites.
Anyone with any information about the break-in can contact CBT on 01743 624125 or 01952 794125.
HIGHWAY CODE TRIUMPH UP FOR AUCTION
If you learned to ride a bike in the late 70s or early 80s you will have seen this motorbike while studying the Highway Code! It’s now coming up for sale with H&H Classics on 2 March 2019 at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham. It is estimated to sell for £4500 to £5500.
It may not be the most expensive bike sold next year in Britain but it is without argument the one most of us, of a certain age, will have seen as we studied for our driving licences. This is the bike that the graphic designers who created our Highway Code book used to illustrate the publication.
Mark Bryan, head of motorcycle sales at H&H Classics, said: “This modest bike is part of our collective automotive history. You could say it is an Urban Legend, a bike used to teach us how to stay safe and keep bike riders safe.”
The 1973 Triumph TR6R Tiger 650 was owned from new by the Ministry of Transport and featured in the 1978 Highway Code.
Only ever pictured from behind to show signalling while riding a motorcycle, its number plate is clear to see. It was sold at auction by the Ministry and bought by a traffic police officer in 1978, and has been owned by the current seller, Nick Searson, since 1982.
The motorbike has been kept in its original and running condition all these years. But now Searson is selling as he uses it less and less.
The bike comes complete with a copy of the Highway Code and a Road Safety magazine featuring an interview with the police officer where he states he owned the featured bike.
'MONA LISA MASTERPIECE'
Nmoto of Miami, Florida, has unveiled the new Nostalgia Project motorcycle. Inspired by the legendary “unicorn” BMW R7 – the 1934 one-off prototype considered by many to be the Mona Lisa of motorcycles – the new Nmoto is a wholly modern limited production motorcycle based on the current BMW R NineT.
Consisting of more than 90 handcrafted parts, the sleek, streamlined profile exudes character and distinction, while performance has actually been enhanced.
Its designers say: "Incorporating all the aesthetics of one of the rarest and most iconic motorcycles in history without sacrificing – and indeed improving upon – performance and rider experience, the Nmoto is an inspired piece of functional art."
Appearing as if it came from pre-Second World War Bavaria, the Nmoto possesses BMW’s state-of-the-art 110hp boxer engine, six-speed gearbox, traction control, anti-lock braking system, front and rear suspension, and keyless ignition, among many other features, while the ignition lock and speedometer have ingeniously been incorporated into the headlamp housing.
“It offers all the style of the original vintage model with all the peace-of-mind of the new model,” says Nmoto founder Alexander Niznik. “It’s the perfect combination that makes a statement unlike anything else on the road.”
The Nmoto, which will cost $49,500 (about £39,000), was given its public debut at the New York International Motorcycle Show which took place between 30 November and 2 December.
Take a look: HERE
FOR SALE WITHIN THE NORTH WEST
A major Motorcycle Sales, Service, MOT and repairs (including PCA) outlet – established in 1981
Combined turnover of £4m, with two well established, long standing franchises (both CI approved), sales of 400+ units (new & used) and PCA of approximately £750K. Well respected family business, profitable, with freehold available (approximately £490K) and all stock. The current owner is happy to do a transition or transaction over the next 12-24 months and is happy to assist any new proprietor/management.
SERIOUS ENQUIRIES ONLY PLEASE, apply to:
British Dealer News Box 125,
10 Daddon Court,
Clovelly Road Ind Est,
Bideford,
Devon,
EX39 3FH
