Show Report: Kev Walsh Parts Fair

Our man Stu meets up with Kev as he kicks off the season with his first of many parts fairs.

Stepping off

Kev Walsh’s Bradford parts fair is his curtain-raiser for the scootering season ahead, which provides scooterists with a final opportunity to grab those hard-to-find parts at the best possible prices before hitting the road.

When I arrived at the venue it was a hive of activity with numerous vans parked outside and dealers busy unloading their parts, items and scooters ready for the sale. Inside, Kev was working hard making sure all aspects of the operation were running smoothly to ensure that the day ahead would run perfectly. Once most of the dealers, traders and jumblers were set up I managed to grab a quick couple of minutes with Kev. He explained that because of the success of the 2017 parts fairs, Bradford being the year opener for 2018 made it one of the most popular on his calendar. So this year he’d decided to hire out three halls rather than just the usual one. “It was a little bit of a risk but I filled all the available spaces almost immediately,” he said. The support I’ve had from dealers, traders, jumblers and customers has been excellent, so I thought I’d see if I could go bigger than normal. There’s approximately 30 stalls here today; the usual number is around 16 and hopefully the extra numbers will bring a wider variety of opportunities for the customers and the sellers alike.” While we were chatting the opening time was drawing ever closer and a few eager customers were trying their luck with Kev to get a sneaky look round the event before the doors opened, but Kev wasn’t having any of it. In his un-phased laid-back style Kev simply engaged in humorous banter with them and politely directed them to the nearby café upstairs.

Kev continued: “The staff have been great and the support from the new manager has been brilliant. It’s little things like that, which are so much help because they just simply make the day run so much smoother for everyone.” In the meantime, the corridor outside the main door was building up with customers eager

to get ‘first dabs’ on the bargains available. When Kev opened the doors I took the opportunity to have a browse round the hall and see what was going on.

Opportunities

The first stall-holder I spoke to was Dave from Madspeed who’s been responsible for producing some fantastic custom, chopper, cut-down and street-racer scooters, and his knowledge is encyclopaedic. The Madspeed stall was busy and had a wide variety of old and new parts for sale. Next to the stall was a chopper build, which is one of several projects Dave’s currently got on the go.

Next to Madspeed was Stephen Robinson from Robbospeed who was selling a wide selection of new Lambretta parts at excellent prices. Stephen explained that Robbospeed is a family run business based in Mansfield and has been developed from a passion for scootering. “We attend all Kev’s parts fairs, we’re a relatively new business, we like our scooters and we decided that we wanted to get involved a bit further,” Stephen added.

Variety

Among the parts stalls were traders selling modern and vintage clothing, and footwear. There were also a good number of accessory dealers selling scooter-related items such as badges, pins and reproduction Lambretta and Vespa advertising boards and associated items. The variety of jumblers’ stalls was particularly interesting, providing exciting and unexpected opportunities for those customers who were willing to get their hands dirty and have a good rummage in the boxes of items for sale. Jumbler Steve Clark of York SC had a small stall, which offered such a variety. He said: “I’m here selling all the odd and sods I’ve built up over the years and I need to make some space at home. What better way to do it than to sell off my unwanted items at rock bottom prices? Everyone’s a winner; I’ll hopefully make a few quid and hopefully a few people will bag a few bargains.” While I was talking with Steve he sold two white-wall tyres at £3 each! And a PX flyscreen for the bargain price of £7!

Banter

Just a short walk away from Steve was Paul from Runcorn (aka ‘Goofy’) who was

selling a good selection of new Lambretta body panel badges, nuts and bolts and specialist fittings. While we were chatting ‘Goofy’ was visited by Lee Wilkinson who, while negotiating a deal with ‘Goofy’, gave him an opportunity to engage in his ‘unique’ style of selling, which created an amusing set of exchanges! In the centre of the hall was Martin Pashley, who was being supported by his son Liam.

Martin’s stall was the biggest at the event and offered every item imaginable from engines to full scooters and all the parts you could think of. Just across from Martin was Simon Carswell of ‘Mod n’ Classics’ who was selling, among other items, a wide variety of helmets at bargain prices.

More and more

Further down from Martin was Andy Francis of Franspeed Scooters. Andy explained that he’s known Kev since 1978 and always attends his parts fairs. Enthusiastically Andy said: “With the larger arena area we’ve been given the amount of additional customers here today is unprecedented.” Next to Andy was Dominic of New Generation Scooters, Burntwood. Dominic is no stranger to the scooter scene and explained that he’d been established as a dealer for around 17 years. Dominic had an interesting and wide selection of old, new and used Lambretta parts available sale.

Also from the Midlands, just along from Dominic was ‘Kit’ of Scooter2000 who was also selling a wide variety of old, new and used original Lambretta parts along with a variety of 7in vinyl records. Near to Scooter2000 was independent trader Nicola Scarpellini. Nicola explained that he lives in Wembley but is originally from a small town near Rimini. Nicola had a modestly sized stall, which was made up of items he’d personally imported from Italy, among which were a Series 3 Lambretta scooter and Series 2 frame.

As I was taking a final look through the arena my attention was drawn to Settle Scooter Club pals John, ‘Spanky’ and Paul’s stall who were selling an appealing variety of used scooter parts and accessories, which included lights and seats along with footwear, exhaust pipes and tyres. John, ‘Spanky’ and Paul explained that they were all scooter owners and riders and were selling the unused parts they’d accumulated between themselves over the years.

Success

With over three hundred visitors to the event throughout the day, it’s clear that once again Kev Walsh has put together another very well organised parts fair. As always, entry to Kev’s parts fair is excellent value for money and there’s always a good, healthy and pleasant level of banter among the customers and traders alike. The Richard Dunn Sports Centre is just a short distance from the motorway network; the parts fair is held in the main hall and throughout the day refreshments are available. The location is easy to find, parking is free and under-cover scooter parking is available immediately next to the parts fair entrance.