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Webbs of Lincoln is a long established family business and many customers will remember "Webby" who was actually Eddie Jago and his wife Betty, who retired from the business in 1984. The business originally did repairs, rebores and crank rebuilds and a vast range of "British" spares. Hepolite piston kits and assorted con-rod kits hung around the counter in the converted house at 111 Portland Street.
Japanese bikes though became the only way to go during the 1970's and Webbs had to follow the market and Yamaha spares and machines supplied by Len Manchester's a dealer in Melton Mowbray started appearing in the store although Webbs was not an authorised dealer to begin with. Complaints from the official dealer led to a visit from Yamaha who found that Webbs were doing a good job of providing an excellent spare parts backup to the Yamaha owners around the county as well as supplying a reasonable quantity of new machines too. The agency was offered to us and Webbs became one of the first completely solus Yamaha retailers in the country. In fact to this day Webbs are one of the longest standing single Japanese brand supplying motorcycle retailers in the network. The name was changed to Webb's Yamaha Centre on 31st. August 1977.
Webbs continued to build its reputation as Yamaha retailer and the almost legendary showroom "out the back" without any heating whatsoever began to overflow with bikes whilst the rather small shop at the front continued to be a hive of activity with the spares and an increasing amount of clothing and accessories being sold.
 Kangol, Belstaff and the "new on the market" Frank Thomas were all doing well in the first half of the 1980's. Times were moving on though and the cardex stock system and the Smiths Crisps tins were superseded by the computerised version, Frank Thomas had an ever expanding range, helmet and boot s always take up a lot of space and the motorcycle market was needing to give an increasingly more upmarket image. This meant that a bigger store was needed and there just happened to be the place a few doors away.
It had to be done, but at great cost Webbs was on the move to the present location. A much larger showroom, centrally heated for the comfort of staff and customers and all the space you could ever need!! Webbs closed the old shop at 111 on Saturday November 16th. 1988 and opened on the Monday morning in the new store with preparations being made for the official opening in December which was performed by Debbee Ashby of Crossbow calendar fame.
Things were tough at Webbs for a time with huge expenses, high interest rates and the recession but the customer service had improved to a new level and the formula of providing great choice and value to our customers with exceptional customer service was going to be a winning combination. Our catchline of "the leading edge" was introduced as we felt that we could provide a service which was better than our competitors and up with the best available to the motorcyclist. Customers in the modern marketplace were becoming less likely to buy from the "pile it high and sell it cheap" suppliers and were looking for something more from their suppliers, Webbs were there to supply that "leading edge" when it came to customer service.
Triumph were also looking for retailers to supply their new range and Webbs were chosen in 1992 to be their outlet in Lincolnshire leading to the next name change to Webbs of Lincoln. Yamaha, at that time were pleased to have the Triumph range alongside theirs as a whole new range of customers would be brought into the store. This combination has worked very well for Webbs and with the massive revival of the scooter and commuter market, the addition of Piaggio and Gilera to the brands stocked leaves us with a great range of choice for our customers.
The opening of the used showroom upstairs and the largest stocks of motorcycle clothing and helmets ensure a complete range of services to the motorcyclist. New and used machines, clothing and accessories, servicing and warranty and even WOLTS the in store training school to complete the picture.
Webbs have been voted by readers of Ride as the leading dealer in the area and customer surveys by Yamaha and Triumph prove that we are giving amongst the best available service which makes us all very proud. The team at the store do their best to solve problems and keep customers happy and we all know that without their efforts we could not achieve the results we do. Regular customers will know all of the team here and new customers soon benefit from the friendly atmosphere we try to maintain in the store as we move through the early 2000's .
Our new Website is going to keep you in touch with things here and interesting updates will be posted regularly. You can buy from our mail order section and you can contact us at various email addresses for information.
We hope this long but very shortened history puts you in the picture about our store and that if you have never visited us before you soon get the chance and if you are a regular we look forward to welcoming you back soon to.......... Webbs of Lincoln.
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