John Lee Motorcycles
Long-established companies always give potential customers confidence in doing business with them based on their history of service. It was a proud moment for a young John Lee when he opened the doors of the present premises to start his own motorcycle business in 1964. A regular trials rider, John won the South Midland Centre Trials Championship series more than any other rider in the centre’s history — a total of ten times from 1957 through to 1975. Having built the business up through hard graft, he and his wife, Lesley, were more than happy for the business to progress through to their two sons, Jack and Chas, when they retired in 2015. Despite the difficult Covid-19 trading conditions, the two Lee sons have a vision of going forward with further plans to introduce new ideas to the business in 2021, as we are about to find out. Their father’s motto back in the day was ‘Ride on Sunday, and sell on Monday’. You’ll find Chas at the end of the phone; he will tell you there’s ‘always a deal’. Jack keeps his eyes on a bustling workshop supporting the customers’ confidence with excellent after-sales service. Many of them the sons of the father’s that John Lee originally served all those years ago!
Picking up the telephone for Chas Lee is like second nature – even while producing this article. When making a call to the shop to ask some questions, you feel obliged to buy something; he really has what’s known as the ‘Gift of the Gab’. As he will tell you, “Lively, friendly banter is what the customer needs. They want to purchase something from you, so it’s always best to engage with them”. Chas is, shall we say, the front of house; he is the one who takes charge of the sales of new motorcycles from the off-road world, which is where they now specialise in their business.
FAMILY BUSINESS
The business’s grass-roots go back to 1964 when John opened his doors for the first time. He had his first son, Jonathan, from a previous marriage before he married his second wife, Lesley, with their boys Jack, Bryn and Charley (aka Chas) soon arriving into the world.
With a successful trials career tucked under his belt, John changed his focus into building the business up until he and Lesley retired.
Jack and Chas had worked their way into the family business as Bryn went down the route of education at Manchester University studying Architecture — he now has his own business, the Architecture Workshop.
Under their parents’ guidance, Jack and Chas now have good heads for business as they go forward through the difficult Covid-19 and Brexit periods. They were both brought up on a mixture of two- and four-stroke fumes from a very young age as their parents encouraged them to enjoy their motorcycling.
As an apprentice at the shop, Jack worked his way through the workshops to become a fully qualified Honda mechanic. He has covered all areas of the off-road scene, including a period with James Dabill in the early part of his adult career in 2007. He was his minder and mechanic for four years before working alongside Adam Raga, then to Enduro before turning his focus to the business’s future.
Chas joined the business straight from school and concentrated on trials. In 2011, he joined his proud father John as a winner of the South Midland Centre Trials Championship.
IT IS ALL OFF-ROAD
With the business growing more towards off-road, they decided to concentrate their efforts in this area, subsequently moving away from the road-going side of motorcycling.
Established now for close-on 60 years, John Lee Motorcycles are currently authorised agents for Beta, GASGAS, Montesa, Scorpa, Sherco TRRS, Vertigo and OSET. The business can be found in the ancient borough of Higham Ferrers, in the corner of the market square. It is an ideal place to visit with your family (post-Covid-19, of course) with many local shops, farmers’ markets, cafes, and public houses, which are usually busy. Motorway access is also good for out-of-area motorcycle shoppers.
As they continue to expand with the off-road side of motorcycling, they also carry a considerable stock of aftermarket parts and clothing from all the leading suppliers and brands.
SALES, SERVICE AND SUPPORT
The business is really about two areas. The first area concentrates on sales, parts, clothing and accessories. Chas, who looks after this part of the business, has Steve Swanson and Dave Watson supporting him. Steve looks after the parts and clothing areas. Dave’s role covers a wide range of tasks, including sorting parts to delivering machines.
The other component of the business is the dedicated offroad workshop areas, where you will find Jack. The workshop is arranged in three parts: firstly, the PDI of new machines; repairs and servicing; and the fitting of performance and upgrade parts. Jack is a fully-trained technician, graduating from the Honda Institute and attends importer workshops keeping him up to speed with what they can offer to support the machines and the products they sell. His experience has been gained from working in the business since he was 16; he is well known and respected in the off-road world.
Supporting Jack is David King, who has been working at the Lee Empire for 45 years. He knows what he is talking about — you won’t find his extensive knowledge and experience growing on trees.
Investing in their future, you’ll find young mechanic Ben Owen. Looking after all the administration and keeping the wheels turning smoothly is Vicky Abbott.
ALL UNDER ONE ROOF
John Lee Motorcycles operates all under one roof as a dedicated off-road team. After almost 60 years, the two Lee brothers are continuing to give the end-consumer what they need. Investment in such areas as the new GASGAS brand is evident. They can upgrade readily available parts into any new machine in their range.
They sponsor many riders, including good friend Sam Haslam in the BTC on the Montesa.
Just as their parents did before them, they pride themselves on giving all their customers – old and new – the best possible deal in the nicest possible way while serving them with their family-based knowledge gained over the many years of involvement with off-road motorcycling.