The Hawkins British Motorcycle Museum
Hawkins connection with Motorcycles all started in 1933 when William Henry (Billy) Hawkins used to ride his Scott Squirrel motorcycle from Truro to the clay village of St Stephen for work. Billy Hawkins sold his beloved Scott motorbike to fund his new venture of founding a business which today, thrives as Hawkins Motor Group. Over 50 years later Billy’s motorcycle was found in the hedgerow of an orchard in Goonhavern in the 1980’s. It took many years but eventually this historical bike was fully restored. Billy’s bike is from 1928 now takes pride of place in the Hawkins British Motorcycle Museum at St Stephen.
When Hawkins was first established in 1940 we were retailers for tractors, cycles, motorcycles and cars. In 1946 we then became agents for multiple British Motorcycle brands such as Arial, BSA, Norton, Vincent, Scott and AJS. Towards the late 1960’s car ownership became ever cheaper and many bikers part exchanged two wheels for four, some of these bikes were then put into storage by John Hawkins. Hawkins then concentrated solely on cars and in 1971 were appointed main dealers for Peugeot in Cornwall which lead them to expand beyond St. Stephen and across the county.
The motorcycle museum opened its collection of bikes to the public below Hawkins Peugeot St Stephen in 2002. The Hawkins collection features of over 50 classic British motorcycles, many of them were either supplied new by Hawkins, or part exchanged in over the years and many have been subjected to painstaking restorations. The bikes range from the early 1900’s to the late 1960’s. One of the latest additions to the collection is a stunning 1938 Triumph Speed Twin which was part exchanged as several boxes of parts against a new Peugeot 2008! This magnificent bike was lovingly restored by Les Willis who is an experienced motorcycle restorer and still continues to work with Hawkins to bring these bikes back to their former glory.