SteveRocker62
Full member
- Location
- Bucknell,Shropshire,UK
UKs oldest motorcycle shop closes after 120 years..
- Thread starter Exmoor beast
- Start date
rocketonarail
Hero member
- Location
- Gloucestershire,England
Don’t get me on how I asked Alan Bell for a job at Muira’s either
Come on , you can`t leave it there ........... What happened with Alan Bell ? ..............
...............
rocketonarail
Hero member
- Location
- Gloucestershire,England
Fowlers left their original Grosvenor Rd site after being targeted during the Riots of 1981 ......... clothing and boots taken , although I don`t recall seeing any locals walking down the road wearing HondaStyle full leathers in the days afterwards .......
They are now a big supermarket style shop in their new location , featuring many different brands ...... Their spares service for the main Japanese brands is pretty good ..............
I had a 2018 Triumph 1200 Bonneville Bobber which left me stranded up near Cirencester when it`s ABS pump / diverter called it a day and threw up about a million warning lights and disabled the starter circuit ........
The bike ended up at Fowlers eventually for the repairs to be done ... ( still under warranty luckily ) .........
Seeing they are now a big carpets and coffee machine type of dealership I wasn`t quite sure how it would go ...... but the work was done quickly and efficiently .... as it should have been , of course .......... the rear half of the bike had to be more or less dismantled to fit the replacement pump ........ and they also replaced the battery when they noticed it was losing charge during the time they had the bike .......
Lost faith in the Triumph a bit after this though , and swopped it soon afterwards for an R1 ...........
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rocketonarail
Hero member
- Location
- Gloucestershire,England
No Steve , I haven`t seen this ....... will make a point f checking it out though ............
Cheers , Tony
SteveRocker62
Full member
- Location
- Bucknell,Shropshire,UK
Ahh Tony, great little film of its time. Good social and historical look back. Some nice tunes and actors who later became very famous. May seem very dated to some and full of teen angst/emotions. Can you remember long ago to teen angst !? Also try ‘Live it Up’ ,an everyday tale of Bantam mounted telegram/post boys. Plus the follow-up ‘Be my Guest’. Both films feature among others a soon to become famous musician. View with your teenage frame of mind though.
Steve.
jko_78
Full member
- Location
- The ever windy Northwest of Europe
Occasionaly during my lunch break walk, I pass by where a bike shop used to be where I went with my dad, back in the 1980s as a little guy. It had cool bar stools, a bar annex counter, brown tiled, with a big microfiche reader, and huge bookshelves with workshop manuals, part catalogues & microfiche folders. The owner always wore a blue dust jacket, glasses on the tip of his nose. Workshop was at the front, they probably had to dig a mile deep to clean the soil after it closed, showroom a the back, Japanese bikes by then (1980s) but also the occasional Trident or Bonneville. (Dad bought a new 1974 Trident there, but was quickly cured!)
Nowadays mostly big coffee maker & carpet shops logo-ed as required by the marques in the area, however, some came from little beginnings and still have some people remembering those days so they're still good shops. Fortunately there are still a few specialist little shops with poor coffee, 2nd hand furniture & stained old carpets in the coffee corner in the area as well catering to a different clientele.
Nowadays mostly big coffee maker & carpet shops logo-ed as required by the marques in the area, however, some came from little beginnings and still have some people remembering those days so they're still good shops. Fortunately there are still a few specialist little shops with poor coffee, 2nd hand furniture & stained old carpets in the coffee corner in the area as well catering to a different clientele.
SteveRocker62
Full member
- Location
- Bucknell,Shropshire,UK
Hello ‘Beast’
Not sure which of George’s passengers was your apprentices dad ? I had a lot of dealings with his World Championship winning passenger Cliff Holland from the late 70’s onwards who co ran Wylie and Holland M/Cs in Shropshire ( now defunct ). Graham Wylie was a lovely bloke who unfortunately died of leukaemia in his early 50’s, who I bought several bikes off. He also supplied at cost and sponsored the Triumph Speed Triple my brother raced for a couple of seasons in the Triumph Speed Triple Challenge Series you may recall in the mid 90’s. It’s a shame Kenny Arthur who chaired the first half of the championship winning season never really gets remembered. I think they split over money issues ?
See below……. It’s orange, its got three cylinders……. But no mate ‘it ain’t a Jota’ !
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Exmoor beast
Hero member
- Location
- Minehead,Somerset, ENGLAND OF COURSE
Bill Boldison was Andy’s Dad , rode with George on the Konig outfit at the TT amongst others.George was notoriously ruthless where passengers were concerned, probably why he was so sucessful. Bill went on to win the Citroen 2CV championship years later.Trevor Smith at Sprint manufacturing owns several Triumph speed Triple challenge bikes, may have your brothers one? Trevor Hopkinson was my passenger for a while who went on to be runner up twice in world F1 sidecar championship with Steinhausen.
Exmoor beast
Hero member
- Location
- Minehead,Somerset, ENGLAND OF COURSE
When I was sixteen I lived within walking distance of Muiras in Hayes, I asked Allan for a Job on more than one occasion but he couldn’t help me. Fast forward thirty years and I was introduced to Alan at a Laverda meet- I reminded him of teenage me asking for a Job..we had a good laugh and he said he still didn’t have a #@%£ing job for me! I could put his eBay stuff out on his green blanket for him!Come on , you can`t leave it there ........... What happened with Alan Bell ? ..............
SteveRocker62
Full member
- Location
- Bucknell,Shropshire,UK
Well, Cliff Holland was shall we say somewhat of a curmudgeon so they probably hit it off ! My brother’s Speed Triple was returned to road use for many years and used by my other brother. It was then returned to my brother who raced it and now resides in large lumps in his garage, hopefully to return in anger one day.
a14rgs
Hero member
- Location
- Wiltshire, UK
Haha, the infamous green tarpaulin!When I was sixteen I lived within walking distance of Muiras in Hayes, I asked Allan for a Job on more than one occasion but he couldn’t help me. Fast forward thirty years and I was introduced to Alan at a Laverda meet- I reminded him of teenage me asking for a Job..we had a good laugh and he said he still didn’t have a #@%£ing job for me! I could put his eBay stuff out on his green blanket for him!
oldiggy
New member
- Location
- west london
Was that Ride on motorcycles Rayners Lane Harrow ? I bought my BSA A7 and sidecar from them, it snapped a chain once and dad towed me home a couple of miles with his BMW 2002. I worked opposite HGB and Daytona for years at BMW’s I wondered what happened to the boss at Daytona they just said he disappeared never saw him again. I broke down when I had a Honda 50 going to Windsor college my mate pulled up with his green puch 50 and tied my scarf to it and took me all the way to Windsor. I borrowed his bike to go to Sid Morams in slough to get parts and going flat out down Windsor relief road the ht cap came off and without thinking I reached down to put it back on, the coil desperately looking for an earth found my hand yeeeeeowwww ! I was trembling all day.
oldiggy
New member
- Location
- west london
I think there was a bike shop near you down pield heath road I used to stop there and drool over a JPS Norton in the window. I bought two Lavs from Miura a Jota then after I got over a few gsxr’s I went back for more punishment with a mirage. I remember in his shop he had a RGS painted white and black stripes like a zebra I wonder who owned that ?. Sid morams also had a comp shop in Windsor down from the college I fell in love with the yam dt175 but never had the dosh to get one so stuck with starfires proudly wearing a Pride and Clarck Dunstall decibel silencer.Coopers bought a branch at Hemel Kempstead that had a Dyno and later bought Kawasaki Colchester which ironically sold Guzzis- I had a Guzzi and parked it outside our Honda/ Kawasaki shop much to my boss’s annoyance. Harrow had Machs and for a short while Roger Etcell ran the Honda project shop- this was a boutique shop, no discount like a car dealership that was designed to show us how to do it….went bust in 18 months. I used to nip over Rev Judds to get parts- they were bought out ( can’t remember name ) and shop burnt downmysteriously.It was a listed building with a clock tower, turns out the clock was removed and sold before fire..redeveloped for big bucks.
Bill Bunns was old school , I used to got to “ downstairs” Kay’s of Ealing to buy Triumph spares & my first bike job was Saturday boy at Misdemeaner Motorcycles ( spelt correctly) that was next to Show& Go run by Snob and his mob. Hammer Gouge & Bodgett ticked along ( Kev Campbell was salesman for years) and Daytonas were our Arch enemy! We could undercut them which they hated- still friendly to me and we could get spares if we were desperate. Boss man Carter got caught shagging au pair and it went through a big change and was never the same. They sponsored Rod Pallant ( who built my Kawasaki grass track engine) drag bike “ L.A Hooker” .Dont remember Knights.
Les Harris ( that bought Triumph ) used to be Saturday boy at Rex Judds. Don’t get me on how I asked Alan Bell for a job at Muira’s either
Exmoor beast
Hero member
- Location
- Minehead,Somerset, ENGLAND OF COURSE
Pield heath road would have been Abbey Garage, Triumph dealer. Nick Hudson worked there as a mechanic ( later worked for Barry Sheene) and I ended up working with him at PDQ years later. Windsor Comp shop sponsored Simon Wigg - mates of mine worked at Morams but I luckily avoided the place.
Dellortoman
Hero member
- Location
- Tasmania, Australia
Reminds me of a shop in Melbourne that many older Australian motorcyclists would remember - Modak Motorcycles.
In this case the human encyclopedia wasn't an old geezer, but an old woman. The late Jean Beanham must have been in her mid 80's the last time I saw her behind the counter, but she could rattle off from memory the part number of pretty much any part of any old British bike that ever existed. You could walk into the shop with some obscure part, she'd glance at it and tell you exactly what it was, what bikes it fitted and whether she had one in stock.
She worked full-time behind the counter until her death in 2016 at the age of 91 (although I saw another article that said she was still working at 92, so perhaps she was coy about her age).
Rally to honour motorcycle shop icon - webBikeWorld
Motorcycle riders will gather in Melbourne in October to honour Mrs Jean Beanham who worked at Modak Motorcycles right up until her death in June aged 91.
www.webbikeworld.com
I'm pretty sure the shop has closed now but Modak still appears to be in business selling old British bike parts on eBay.
oldiggy
New member
- Location
- west london
Ah Abbey garage that’s it. My mate also worked at morams slough last name Marshall. The old guy who mot’d at morams always wore a skullguard helmet roadtesting cb750 fours used to look hilarious to us.PDQ Taplow used to be a jaguar garage we used to go into their skip after school and get the hot rod American car magazines. Just down the road from there was station garage Taplow I nearly bought a MHR Ducati from them but bought a jota and a 1969 Camaro for the same price, just off topic there was a field in front of SGTaplow after school we used to taunt a ram in the field and make it jump over a butler sink as I was rolling the sink over to make it higher unbeknowing to me the ram was charging at me at full speed and crashed into my head sending me flying I was rolling around seeing stars my school mates were bent in double laughing their heads off.
piranha-bro2
Hero member
- Location
- Melbourne
I think it was next door to Mota Bitz, Cam - I bought the rear wheel and sprocket for my Villiers powered mini bike from there as am 11 or 12 year old.Reminds me of a shop in Melbourne that many older Australian motorcyclists would remember - Modak Motorcycles.
In this case the human encyclopedia wasn't an old geezer, but an old woman. The late Jean Beanham must have been in her mid 80's the last time I saw her behind the counter, but she could rattle off from memory the part number of pretty much any part of any old British bike that ever existed. You could walk into the shop with some obscure part, she'd glance at it and tell you exactly what it was, what bikes it fitted and whether she had one in stock.
She worked full-time behind the counter until her death in 2016 at the age of 91 (although I saw another article that said she was still working at 92, so perhaps she was coy about her age).
Rally to honour motorcycle shop icon - webBikeWorld
Motorcycle riders will gather in Melbourne in October to honour Mrs Jean Beanham who worked at Modak Motorcycles right up until her death in June aged 91.www.webbikeworld.com
I'm pretty sure the shop has closed now but Modak still appears to be in business selling old British bike parts on eBay.
The old bird at Modak was amazing.
CLEMTOG
Hero member
well I was brought up during the Pride & Clarke era, when more than half of Stockwell road, Brixton, was their red painted shops, I tried to PX an 18 month old SF1 with them and they had never heard of them, running to find information from books, around the corner from them was Gus Khun motors, Norton as ever and (at the time) MV, which is where the PX was going, they claimed the 750 was good for 160MPH (yeah right oh! but I was unaware at the time and beleived it) a little further away was two shops on Brixton Hill called George Clarke Motors, they had old British bikes on a high level shelf around the outside edges of the shops, the for sale ones on the floor, which at one time including Hal kendalls 750 American Eagle, (later badged Laverda) chassis no 1222, but without sidecar, Heading SE (for home) was "Myers motors" at Sydenham, just about the best motorcycle breaker that I ever encountered, then their was Hockliss m/c and Boyers of Bromley, Plus Fran Dunstall at Elmers End, I think still going (was he related tp Paul Dunstal?) Lexport was in West Wickham, who went bust under manager "Paul" as did Slipstream in Sevenoaks, also bust under the same "Paul" Cray motorcycles was in Orpington, not forgetting local dealers TC Hillier in Oxted, and of course Sevenoaks motorcycles where Roger (Wobbly) Warburton worked, a friend of Toddys and a Jota rider, in later life wheelchair confined due to diabetis, dont know what happened to him, but I can tell you he is no longer in the house that was 500 yards from the shop and he drove their in a car every day! I have missed out loads but they have all very sadly gone., close to 60 years of motorcycling summed in in 4 inches of script.
CLEM
CLEM
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Andy J
Hero member
- Location
- Isle of Man
Kenny Arthur was elected as President of the TT Riders Association not so long ago, so his piers have given him the recognition he deserves. And a thoroughly nice guy as well.
Tippie
Hero member
- Location
- Dr?bak, Norway
The bike shops still here are really sales outlets for new and a few used bikes, and accessories, besides the workshop. If you want parts you order them, the shop then orders them, and you go back and collect them, maybe find out they are wrong and go through the process again. Or you order online from a detailed parts list from somewhere that has them in stock and get them in a few days. It is the same for car parts from major dealers, don't even have a spare parts counter as reception handles it on the computer. The last genuine bike shop here, MC Artikler, closed over a decade ago, could chat with the helpful blokes who worked there and every time I went there I met people I knew and had a catch up. The modernists are hoping they can close every type of shop (even clothes, food etc) in this brave new world of online, a great pity.