Schwieso

https://www.facebook.com/SaltboxMCC/photos/a.208409839228869.48324.202324603170726/782195671850280/

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7sem6APL70QC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=schwieso+brothers&source=bl&ots=xby_mj4brh&sig=kabM2Csz8-L7Spa9RJoue0VWhRY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjwueKm_arRAhVsKsAKHZioB0kQ6AEIJDAC#v=onepage&q=schwieso%20brothers&f=false

Liquidated as details: Name of Company : SCHWIESO BROS. LIMITED. Nature of Business : MOTOR CYCLE WHOLESALERS AND RETAILERS. Address of Registered Office : 177, Lowfield Road, Dartford, Kent. Liquidator's Name and Address : Gordon John Mayor, 52, High Street, Chatham, Kent. Date of Appointment : 19th December 1973. By whom Appointed

BTW even Lowfied Road has gone now...

Never heard of them myself

Les

Hopefully someone might have some more interesting information so back to the top with your request....Les

A close friend of mine in my village is Josh Schwieso, and it was his father's and uncle's business. As a teenager, Josh would help in the shop and move the bikes around for them to be worked on.

I'm happy to find out any information from him that would assist you.

Philip Ham

Richard,

I've met Josh Schwieso and chatted about the father's and uncle's shop. He certainly hasn't got any of the records; all of this happened whilst he was away at Reading Uni, so is just something that happened in the background. He suspects the Receivers took everything in case they they could sell it on to an interested buyer.

One of the main reasons for the shop to close was because of the local council designating the land in that area for development and the brothers were getting towards retirement age. Part of the package to sell up was alternative housing. As there were so many motorcycle dealers close to this area there was a lot of competition, so they decided to sell up.

So another chapter closed in the British motorcycling world.

Philip Ham.

Bob Lewis has emailed the club from Australia with some more information:

"Hi.

I was just looking at some Schwieso Bros history when I stumbled on Richard's comment about his Norton Commando purchased from Schwieso's. I worked there behind the parts counter from 1969-72 and have great memories of the bikes and times of that era. One of my jobs first-up in the morning was to help get the display bikes out the front. All had to be runners, so a quick blast around the block was called for (the mopeds & scooters I'd take out the back on the waste ground....street cred was important back then!).

I remember Les Schwieso was the "hands-on" workshop manager and Harold ran parts & sales. Don Overall was head salesman then before moving across the road in Lowfield Street to Morrissey's Honda shop that then became Overhill Motorcycles when Dartford council issued a compulsory purchase order on Schwieso's shop. I don't know what happened to all the spares & left-over bikes, but Josh Schwieso might know more.

He used to help-out in spare parts and getting bikes in order whenever he had time off from college. We sold a few Commandos back then, as well as Triumph, BSA, Puch, Jawa, & Suzuki. Richard's bike was probably first registered at Bexleyheath (in the Greater London Council area) as it wasn't far from Dartford; Maidstone was an hours drive back then!

Les Schwieso was one of the early riders at Brands Hatch and had quite a racing history, which is why Colin Seeley was keen to work with him! I hope that gives Richard some background on his bike and answers some his questions.

I live in Australia now (Victoria) and miss the classic bikes enormously. There's a small scene here, but just not the same! I had a '66 Triumph Trophy that I'd reconditioned and put a few thousand miles on until a couple of years ago, but getting too old to avoid all the kangaroos on the country roads where I live; a Ford Ranger with bull-bars is my chariot now! Keep biking!!

Cheers! Bob Lewis"

Previously richard_woolnough wrote:

I have just learned that my 1969 Commando is actually a June 1968 build and sent to Schwiesco Bros Dartford, being from S/E kent I have never heard of this company so I'm enquiring if any member has any information re the firm?, the bike was actually registered under a London number some 10mths after its build which I would have though unusual, kind regards

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Re Hallets motorcycle dealers. demolished and not even an article about it's history in the Canterbury papers!

https://www.abbottconstruction.co.uk/hallets-of-canterbury-1952-2011/

Also

Description

1956 Norton 348cc Manx Model 40MFrame no. 10M 70782Engine no. 70782 (see text)

Believed Ex-Derek Minter and Geoff Duke Seeley PGT 5 speed gearbox Four leading shoe front brake Enclosed valve springs Bosch magneto

Norton factory records show that this machine was despatched to Hallets, Canterbury on 11th November 1956. It was the final 1956 model 40 Manx to leave the factory. The records for this machine, in the section for Agent/Dealer/Remarks, state 'Hallets Wincheap' and it is believed that this bike is one of the two Manx Nortons (a 350 and a 500) despatched to Hallets for Wincheap Garage who sponsored Derek Minter for the 1957 season. erek Minter began his road racing career in 1953, and by 1956 was riding a BSA Gold Star provided for him by his employers at the time, Hallets of Canterbury. By the end of the 1956 racing season Derek found himself without a ride for the forthcoming year. At that stage he was still a privateer without a factory contract, trying to make his name on the race circuits to attract the attention of the big boys in the business. Out of the blue, a local motor dealership, Wincheap Garage, offered to fund a pair of Manx Nortons, a 350 and a 500, for Minter to race the following season. These machines enabled him to further demonstrate his natural talent on the racetrack. The machine offered here is believed to be one of those two bikes.

http://ariel-square-four.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/hallets-of-canterbury.html

Pretty sure that Roland Pike of BSA fame, had something to do with them too!

Cheers

John H

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