The John W Groombridge Motorcycles site at Cross in Hand has been a landmark on the A267 Eastbourne to Tunbridge Wells road since 1951 and has been an official Suzuki dealer since 1963. Since the new owners took over from the Groombridge family in 2006, there has been a programme of change in order to offer customers from far and near a one-stop shop for eveything they could want for their bike and for themselves to wear, but without losing the friendly feel of being a small business with many loyal customers who come in again and again.
2009 saw the opening of a new two-storey building to house the Suzuki showroom and workshop on the ground floor with a massive Clothing and Helmet showroom above where all shapes and sizes are catered for as well as a dedicated section for the Lady Rider. Key brands on display include AGV, Arai, Buffalo, Caberg, Dainese, Duchinni, Draggin Jeans, Forcefield, Furygan, Richa, RST, Sidi, Shark, Shoei, Spada TCX and Wolf.
The developments continued with being appointed with the Kawasaki franchise in 2010. The NEW Kawasaki showroom is the ONLY Kawasaki showroom in East Sussex and also covers West Kent. Other developments at this time included some remodelling of the original building into a modern MOT testing station and Tyre fitting bay to increase capacity for these tasks on a while you wait basis: plus another 'State of the art' workshop.
Our service operation boasts technicians with a wealth of experience on all major brands and they keep up to date through manufacturer sponsored training to learn the latest techniques and requirements to keep all models running to perfection. The service department is open from Tuesday to Saturday inclusive for all repairs including tyres fitting and MOT tests. We do have a selection of courtesy bikes for customer convenience, subject to availability and licence status.
The final stage of redevelopment was completed in summer 2015 when a second two storey building replaced the front of the original building on the northern part of the site. This modern building has a very impressive road frontage, designed to offer maximum line of site from either direction. This building houses the latest in design for the Kawasaki brand on the ground floor and from this to the rear can be accessed the Service Reception area and Royal Enfield showroom. This iconic brand franchise having been taken on in 2014. On the second floor is a massive display of Luggage, custom accessories, lubricants and a host of bike maintenance materials plus a parts counter where parts for both modern and classic bikes can be obtained.
Alongside the development of the site, has been expansion into more e-commerce whereby customers can access their requirements from a number of different websites and items are dispatched to all parts of the UK and beyond. These include specialist sites for Kawasaki parts and accessories.
A rider Training company was set up in 2012 which offers tuition from CBT to Full and A2 licences plus Advanced and refresher training tailored to customer requirement.