Alan Taylor

A MAN famed for being the youngest BSA motorbike dealer in the country and who then went on to introduce Honda machines to this country has died on the Isle of Man aged 77.
Alan Taylor, who ran motorcycle dealerships in Rochdale, Oldham, Middleton and Manchester, also made a name for himself racing in the TT on the Isle of Man in his younger days.
His passion for motorcycle racing developed during his National Service in the RAF.
At the age of 19 he entered the 1949 junior clubman’s event on a Norton. He recorded the fastest practice lap first time round and finished third in the race.
After that Mr Taylor rode in successive Manx Grand Prix events and also in the 1952 North West 200, in which he finished third again.
When he left the RAF in 1949 he set his sights on motorcycles, starting as a mechanic then investing family money in a business in Middleton.
Two years later he opened up a larger depot in Oldham. He opened the Rochdale branch in 1961.
It was about this time that he latched on to the idea that there was a future in Britain for the Honda motorcycle, then little known here commercially.
Mr Taylor had sold most of the leading British motorcycles, including BSA and then he switched to Hondas, throwing all his efforts behind the Japanese machines.
Mr Taylor set up the family home in a sprawling house which was later to be converted into the Norton Grange Hotel.
He stored his motorcycles in the stable block.
He left Rochdale in 1988 and made his home in the Isle of Man. He leaves three sons, Mark, Howard and Simon.
Mark said of his father: “He was very much a Lancashire man – very blunt. In business he wouldn’t take any prisoners and he was quite a competitive person, hence his involvement in the TT races.”
The family hope to have a memorial service in Rochdale after Easter.