Dealer Profile - Bowen Moto of Chatham
Mark Bowen started his business in 1986 from a lock-up under the arches at Rochester. He spotted a market for repairing, servicing and providing quality used machinery. He was a successful club racer, including a 100mph lap on the Isle of Man, so had plenty of experience before starting on his own.
The business moved to a unit on the Medway City Estate where they took on the Kawasaki franchise in 1988. This has run for 21 years now, with the company adding Derbi, Aprilia and finally Suzuki in 2006. Bowen Moto moved to their latest premises, previously a pub, in June 2002. The current building features a well laid out showroom with a large selection of bikes and enough space to actually walk around them. Upstairs also holds an extensive range of kit, helmets and accessories with a customer service counter for supplying and ordering spares.
Downstairs the workshop employs three mechanics, one of whom, Dave, has been with Mark since the early days. All the staff ride and enjoy bikes so understand exactly where you are coming from and can offer any necessary practical advice.
They certainly aren’t in the market just to shift bikes as they like their customers to return and take advantage of their high levels of service. The shop has a coffee and snack bar with customers dropping in for a social visit and chat as well as checking out the latest bike and kit. At the rear is a large bike park so you can leave your machine in safety while you wander around. In the summer Bowen has up to 20 bikes on demo, so it’s unlikely you will be disappointed if you’re after a test ride. There’s always a great selection of new and used bikes, mainly featuring Suzuki, Kawasaki and Aprilia, but other manufacturers’ machines are often on offer.
The company prides itself on being an old fashioned bike shop but with forward thinking ideas. Selling around 300 bikes a year, Mark Bowen’s staff make sure they ride the machines and test the kit so they know what they are talking about and that it does the job. We asked what future plans were in the offing and gathered there was the possibility of another upmarket marque being taken on board. Watch this space or maybe drop in and have a look around.