BICKERS F0R BAT TERIES

from British Dealer News April 2023

Market Watch

Wheels

business side of things started a bit later, “with a humble Honda CBR600FM, in Benetton colours with white wheels, which I spent many hours cleaning with cotton buds in the dining room. I bought the CBR with some minor cosmetic damage from a local salvage guy, repaired it and happened to take it to my local bike shop, only to be offered a £500 profit. That was three weeks’ wages at the time, so I soon realised I could buy and ride motorcycles and make a profit on them. That was it. I then bought and sold damaged repairable bikes for the next couple of years, mainly from the same guy.”

At this stage, Steen’s day job was as an electrician, but he soon stumbled on the fact that you could buy damaged, repairable bikes in France and make a decent profit by flogging them on this side of the Channel. “I teamed up with a mate, borrowed £10k from a loan shark, and headed to Paris at 4am, a journey we did together every Friday for the next two years, working around my day job. I then gave up the day job at the age of 21.”

First Premises

“Next, I bought a house that had a shop at the front, so I used this to sell my bikes, progressing to a small unit on an industrial estate. At around this time, the French connection faded out, and I became a fullyfledged salvage and parts dealer, buying and selling bikes and parts bought from all over the UK and still dealing a lot with the original salvage guy.”

Moving from an industrial estate site, Steen bought an old petrol station with forecourt, pumps and a shop, which he renovated, and then launched Rider Motorcycles Ltd, selling, breaking and repairing bikes with a small team of friends. “I can honestly say these were some of the best years of my life,” says Steen.

The next step came in 2005. The original salvage dealer and Steen’s best friend, who by then owned Taz Motorcycles, one of the UK’s largest motorcycle grey import companies, was in financial difficulties and asked Steen to help out, which he did by taking a 50% stake in the business.

“I sold the garage and focused on selling new and quality used bikes. The franchises soon followed. First came Aprilia, who basically begged me to stop importing and to buy from their UK distributor. Next came Kawasaki after the local dealer closed. We added clothing from both Oxford and Alpinestars, relationships that we still have today.”

Moving swiftly on, the Peterborough site was added in 2014, followed by Leicester in 2016. Then, in 2018, Steen’s business partner unfortunately passed away and Steen became the sole owner.

Time For A New Name

It was Suzuki that was responsible for creating the Wheels name. “We bought the local Suzuki shop two miles down the road as we were desperate for stock – the exchange rate had killed our imports. But when the recession hit in 2008 and things got a bit tight, we asked Suzuki if it was okay to close that store and move the brand into the Taz building. They weren’t keen on the thought of being known under the name ‘Taz’, which was always associated with import bikes, but with a name change, they agreed, and Wheels was born.”

So what of the future? Well, Steen accepts that Cradley Kawasaki is looking a bit tired around the edges, so a refresh is on the to-do list. “I think that the workshop and aftersales will become a very big part of the business as we advance. It takes a lot of effort and hard work to establish a good workshop and make it profitable. There’s plenty to sort out – parts, prices, and labour. It’s proving extremely difficult to recruit at the moment.”

Steen says that the Peterborough site is the proverbial ‘one-stop shop’ with all the brands, including Honda, clothing, accessories, refreshments and generally providing for the motorcycling lifestyle. “With Cradely there’s always someone on the end of the phone with decades of experience who knows what they’re talking about. Not only do they have a computer, they also have a microfiche [remember them?] for the older parts.” ■

Cradley Kawasaki 01384 633455 parts@cradleykawasaki.co.uk