Working in a bike shop

Working in a motorcycle dealership has got to be every bikers' dream hasn't it? It's a dream that I was lucky enough to realise myself, albeit for a short time, many years ago.

Back in the 70s and 80s, Roy Smith Motors, based in New Malden, was very well known around the area of South West London and Surrey. In fact, Roy Smith's, Tippets (Tolworth), Lamba (Carshalton) and Hartgate (Mitcham) pretty much had the area sewn up between them - and lucky old me went to work there in 1984, having trawled all the local dealerships by letter for junior sales positions. At 18 years of age, it's where my real biking education began.

Roy Smith's was a Honda/Yamaha main dealer and the largest (at that time) carrier of Yamaha spares in the country. It also stocked a large clothing and accessories range and had a very decent workshop - so, being the complete package, the showroom became a popular meeting place at weekends. This was a time when the big Japanese manufacturers held almost total market dominance. If it wasn't a brightly coloured Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha or Kawasaki the youngsters simply didn't want it. The most popular bike that year was the Yamaha RD125LC - the learner legal version of the fantastic 350 Power Valve - we couldn't get enough of them (or indeed the 350 version).

The dealership is where I learned about the importance of presentation and attention to detail - after all, no-one wants to look at grubby displays and dirty bikes. Similarly, if the sales paperwork isn't right then trouble is not far away and it could cost the dealership money. In a business where margins are small, this stuff matters. It is also where I learnt practical stuff such as how to manoeuvre big bikes, how to assess helmet and clothing fit and how to deal with people.

Away from the busy times, the job was fairly routine, as you might imagine - cleaning bikes and adjusting displays, stock control, restocking etc. Roy Smith himself kept a fully working 1926 Velocette in the showroom so that was great for someone like me who was new to biking but he was not a particularly generous or gregarious man and was a difficult guy to gauge - and at a basic £60 per week with no commission, it paid badly for the number of bike and other sales I made for the shop. That said, what more can a wet-behind-the- ears 18 year old really expect? I got to know the guys in the workshop, all about the workings of the parts department and found out that I could sell. It was good experience and retail is good grounding in a lot of ways - sadly, customer service seems to be a dying art these days. Anyway, I enjoyed it so much that 7 months later I left to become a civil servant!

Today, the showroom remains, though Roy Smith himself has long since departed

• instead, it is now owned by the biking chain J&S Accessories. Living close by, I go there regularly and every time I walk through the door, the memories come flooding back - and they are very nice memories to have...