Peter Padgett

1931-2026

By Brian Crichton
Patriarch of a three-generation motorcycle-dealer dynasty, Peter Padgett died on 9 March, aged 94.

With his younger brother Don (1937-2017), he started Padgett’s of Batley Motorcycles in 1958 in the West Riding of Yorkshire, taking a gamble on Japanese manufacturers in their infancy in the UK. They all proved to be winners, resulting in Padgett’s creating the largest purpose-built motorcycle showroom in Europe in 1974.

A road racer and lover of the sport, Peter started supporting competitors in 1960, going on to nurture a string of top-flight riders and garnering championship titles and TT wins in profusion. A pinnacle year was 2010, when Padgett’s rider Ian Hutchinson, won five solo Isle of Man TT races. That feat remains unequalled. Padgett’s also prepared the engines that won both sidecar TTs that year, the racing effort masterminded by Peter’s son Clive.

Son of a bookmaker, Peter Padgett was born on 31 December 1931 at Thorne, near Doncaster. On leaving school, he joined motorcycle dealer Watson and Cairns in Leeds as an apprentice mechanic. National Service saw him in charge of a REME unit looking after tanks, other armoured vehicles and motorcycles.

On his return to Watson and Cairns, but now in a more adventurous frame of mind, he secured an AJS-Matchless agency setting up shop in Batley in 1958, aged 26. He borrowed £270 to start the business. His father joined the enterprise, helping with office administration.

Peter’s attendance at the 1960 London Earls Court Motorcycle Show would prove to be a pivotal occasion. Granddaughter Helen takes up the story: “He came down the escalator at Earls Court, turned left, and under the escalator were three small Yamahas. There and then, he took on the agency. He took a punt on the Japanese, as he used to say, adding Honda later in 1960 and Suzuki in 1962.

“He was selling Hondas before officially becoming a dealer, getting them from a Leeds supplier who was selling from a motorcycle sidecar float with a trailer. He worked very long hours and had a massive desire to succeed. He also took some very big risks. Luckily, they mostly paid off. For example, he became a Yamaha parts distributor by independently buying 40ft shipping containers of spares without actually knowing what was inside. This part of the business became key to its rapid growth.”

Being his own boss allowed him to indulge his passion for racing, first on a Royal Enfield, then a Manx Norton, and finally an Aermacchi. He won the British Clubman’s championship in 1961 and competed in the Manx GP (1965) and IoM TT (1967) on Yamahas. Very alert to Yamaha’s sporting potential, he developed a range of performance and café racer parts and created Padgett Yamaha Specials. He also retailed Yamaha race bikes as soon as he could lay his hands on them.

In 1971, Welsh rider Gordon Pantall scored Padgett’s first TT podium with second place in the 350 Junior (Yamaha). In 1972, Mick Grant, who was working for Padgett’s at the time, added two more TT podiums for Padgett’s. A roll call of Padgett-assisted aces, includes McGuinness, Hislop, Hailwood, Anstey, Todd, Ivy, Read, Haslam, McElnea, Fogarty, Cooper, Smart, Camier, Cummins, Richards, Vincent, and Peter’s talented sons Clive and Gary. Padgett’s race expertise was further acknowledged in 1993 when Honda appointed them the first HRC Racing Shop outside Japan.

Peter Padgett never retired, but was slowed by Covid in 2020, then aged 88. He last attended the TT in 2022, aged 90. Today, Padgett’s is run by his granddaughters, Helen and Fiona. On the same road (Bradford Road, Batley), his son Allen runs a Kawasaki dealership.

A pioneer dealer in Japanese marques, Peter Padgett championed Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki for more than 60 years, which must be unique in UK motorcycle trade history.

He leaves wife Audrey, sons Clive and Allen, daughter Cath, seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life will take place at Elland Road (Leeds United Football ground) on 9 April from 12.30pm. All are welcome. It will be preceded by Peter’s final visit to Padgett’s showroom at 10am, followed by cremation to be attended by family only.