In this short interview, Jon Stevens — founder and Managing Director of Franks Motorcycles in Colchester — shares the story behind the brand.
From his personal reason for starting Franks, to a few of the standout bikes in the showroom, and the charity events that matter most, this video gives you a real insight into what Franks is all about.
It’s not just about selling motorcycles — it’s about building a community, supporting great causes, and keeping the love of classic and future-classic bikes alive.
Franks is located at:
Moat Farm Business Centre, Turkey Cock Lane, Colchester, CO3 8ND
www.franksmotorcycles.co.uk
#FranksMotorcycles #ColchesterBikes #MotorcycleCommunity #ClassicBikes #MeetTheFounder #JonStevens #MotorbikeLife
[Music] Yeah. So Franks was uh my father that was done in memory of him. So he passed away 26 years ago and I wanted to do something in memory to keep his name alive. Um, I was in the corporate world traveling all over, you know, all over the place, different countries. Decided after co working 20 hours a day behind a laptop probably wasn’t for me. Um, had the opportunity to have a a few pounds to sort of get something going and um sort of decided to either climb a mountain or do something in memory of me father and uh did this and the bike shop was created really um met here and basically had uh found an old I think it was a pig farm or chicken shed or something like this. we converted into the bike shop it is today and really wanted to just sell things that were unique, classic, um, oddball, just stuff that probably I was the only one interested in, but then realized actually we’ve got a few more people that like the same sort of stuff. And it was all about really creating something, as I said, to remember my father, but really to build that community- based business. Um, our bike nights attract a lot of people. Um, and it is really everyone’s welcome with two wheels. So, yeah, the community feel here. We know our customers, we talk to every single one of them. Um, we’ve got the cafe here as well. [Music] So, obviously comes from the 916 which is sitting next to it there. It’s the like a normal basic standard 916. This one itself is the foggy rep. Only a few made. Um, what’s really nice about this, most of them have got about three or four miles on the clock left in crates or in people’s lounges. This one’s actually been used. So, this particular one, yeah, 14,700 miles. Um, so it’s something that is highly collectible, but you can still use it on a day-to-day basis. Yeah, I think there was 201 on this one. This one’s actually number 64. This particular one, this is the Bonavville T120. Um, normally comes with a 650 engine. This one’s got a 750. It was homologated from, I believe, the race. There’s only 204 of these made, and this is one of them. Um, the only other one that I’ve seen is at I believe the Brit the British Motorcycle Museum. Um, which I I I beg to differ. This one is actually probably the better one. This particular one um is this one’s it’s done 18,775 miles, but it did have a £25,000 restoration. Yeah. I mean, this one is actually a Thruxton R. Um, these originally, I think around about 80 horsepower. This particular one is running out 169 horsepower and I believe is this is one of three that were actually produced by the factory. Um it’s a supercharged um engine in there. Pistons have all been changed as well. But yeah, Triumph I believe built three and I believe they’ve still got two of them in this one. I would say we are events really we have a bike night 500 people turn up to do track days. We do European tours, but really one of the things that really stuck out for me was the distinguished gentleman’s ride last year. Um, incredible. You know, we had, it was our first one, culture to become a city. Uh, police escort all around the town center, people cheering on the side of the roads. It’s absolutely fantastic. Um, that again, we’ve been awarded it for this year. So, we’re looking forward to that in May and we’ve also been awarded it for the cars as well, for the classic cars in September.
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