E C Bate began in 1895 as a cycle shop. A long heritage in the Kent motorcycle industry began in the 1950’s selling Raleigh and BSA, by the 60’s NSU and the first Honda motorcycles which had just begun to appear. The 70’s bought Puch, Triumph, Norton and Suzuki & Yamaha’s from Japan, by the 80’s following the demise of the British bike industry we were agents for Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha. More recently 2010 saw Suzuki reorganise their network and along with many other loyal dealers we part company in 2011after 40 years as a Suzuki dealer. In January 2011 we joined Proton to add their affordable Malaysian built cars to our showrooms.

So, today we are a franchised Yamaha & Kymco motorcycle & scooter and Proton Car dealership, our showrooms are at the rear of the old bicycle shop in “Bate’s Yard” (see map).

We sell new and used cars & motorcycles, displaying the current range of  Proton cars and Yamaha & Kymco bikes, offering our customers a comprehensive range with lots of different styles of machine, chose from an ultimate ‘race bike’ to ‘adventure’ to ‘custom’ not forgetting reliable ‘go to work bikes’ or an affordable, reliable city car, sports hatch or family saloon / hatchback.

Finance is available from Black Horse, one of the countries leading providers and with many special offers available to help spread the cost of ownership there’s nothing to stand in the way of your hearts desire.

We recommend genuine parts, aiming to have available from stock all Proton, Yamaha & Kymco service parts. We can usually quickly obtain non-stock items direct from the manufacturer when required. Our experienced parts team have access to the latest parts catalogues and parts ordering systems from our franchise partners, and offer pattern parts for most other Japanese motorcycles.

Our aftersales department offer servicing, repairs, tyre supply and fitting, accident repairs and annual checks for low mileage riders. We also service Suzuki, Honda & Kawasaki motorcycles to the same high standards, and now of course Proton Cars.

Our technicians are Manufacturer trained and in 2004 we won a converted award from Suzuki for our commitment to staff training. The award was collected at the dealer conference in Brighton that year by our Dealer Principal, Mr Colin Pearson.

No dealership would be complete with out a comprehensive motorcycle clothing and accessories department. Product lines such as Buffalo and Raven clothing, Marushin and Caberg helmets, Sidi boots, Givi racks and top boxes, Optimate battery chargers, Yuasa batteries as well as Haynes manuals for the DIY enthusiast. We recommend and use Shell Advanced Motorcycle lubricants & Yamalube  but also stock Silkolene oils. We are an authorised Datatool security stockist.

E C Bate is a friendly, family-run business aiming to offer our customers a quality service and great value-for-money. Barry (sales), Ken (Service and parts) will serve you well!

Showrooms open 8.30 to 5.30 (Wednesday Open April to Sept. Sorry-closed in the winter months) Saturday 8.30 to 5pm, Closed Sunday’s and bank holidays.

Copyright E C Bate (2011)