I raced a few meetings with Retford back in the early '80's, think they also did the occasional meeting at Snetterton as well
I got my first Ducati (the Darmah SD featured above) with about 2,000 miles on the clock from George White Motorcycles in Swindon. Sadly, George White (an ex-Swindon Speedway rider)died a few years back. George White's was a Kawasaki dealer and was the "go-to" place to go in Swindon: Z900, z1000, KH400, etc, etc to ogle at. Cue loads of people coming in and telling me that they went there! Oh, just remembered! I had a Saturday job there cleaning bikes! Thinking about it, I must have worked at the majority of bike dealerships in Swindon back in the day: ArtDeans (Honda) George White's (Kawasaki) Swindon Motor Co (Suzuki)!
Oh yes - Staverton. I "raced" there in '75 & '76 on my Aermacchi and TD2B Yam. Steve Parrish, Trevor Nation were regulars too. Anticlockwise circuit.
That's right BMW as well. I forgot about that as I was never particularly turned on by BMWs and they would be well out of my price range new. I think that the place is a supermarket now.
That's right- Staverton. Now, they've gone all posh and call themselves Gloucester Airport. I took my Mum there a few years ago to fly to the IOM. Dunno if they still do it but I'm tempted - and then I wake up up and think WTF don't you ride there! Which I will, once I get my licence back and get riding again. It will probably be on one of my Ducatis as my sol has got another two years expectancy of the case panning out. God knows how much I'll get, but her fees will be through the roof! She is a partner with about 10 people working for her. The only fun I get out of it is writing emails to her and knowing that to answer will put up her fees by God knows what. I have to get my kicks wherever I can, these days!
Went bust a few years ago.... suddenly closed... Some folk had their bikes locked in by receivers for a while.....
So now, are there any dealers between Swindon & Bristol? Chippenham has been expanding, I think, but Bath to too posh! Even Bath Road Motorcycles is in Bristol!
I've got a vague memory that they used to be involved in racing. Maybe only at club level or maybe they had something to do with Castle Combe - which is so,so vulnerable to housing - especially with Boris' "let's scrap all the planning rules". I think that it is owned by the Strawford family and it must be so, so tempting to turn a race track making practically nothing into flogging off the land for millions if you got pp for housing - and Boris would probably make you a Lord!
I grew up just outside Swindon and bought my GP100 from George White, er, some years ago when I was 17. GW was the place to nose about at the big bikes. They all seemed so unobtainable when I was barely out of shorts. Lots of great roads and lovely villages all around Wiltshire. It still feels like home whenever I'm back in the county even after all these years. I could see RAF Fairford from the back bedroom of our house. I remember the day a friend and me to took our bikes (push - too young for motors) down to the perimiter road of Fairford to see a 747 land to refuel, carrying a space shuttle (Enterprise) land on the back on its way to the Paris Air Show.
Three Cross was always the place to go when they were a Ducati dealer back in the 80’s great ride from Shaftesbury to I see they went bust recently & reopened under another name ,,,
I remember going to Paul Smart’s shop in Maidstone and gazing at the bikes when I was a lad. I lived on the isle of Sheppy and used to stay at my best pals house in Bearstead at weekends. We used to go to the swimming baths at Moat park on a Saturday morning then go into town on the afternoon to look at the bikes. Sadly my best pal died age 43 of an undiagnosed heart condition but I still have some sales brochures that I’d picked up from the shop somewhere in the loft.
I was at Uni in Southampton and a regular visitor to 3 Cross, I came within a gnat's cock of buying a new Guzzi V50 off them, but I thought that they back- tracked on the part-ex deal. I'm guessing that this was when I was trying to get shot of my CX500 POS and before I got the Darmah. Funny how life goes round in circles - now, I am after a Guzzi. And don't tell me anyone did my private race track ,on the road past the White Horse at Uffington!
I know 3x have gone bust. In my day, I think that they did Ducati, Guzzi and most of the jap makes. I did get a test ride on a demo V50 - god, it was fun!
Taylors were into motocross..... But One of the sons rode in the ngmc 400ss class he was on a rgv250.... The daughter rode motocross I think.... And showed up on TV moto ike show as presenter....
