ALL hail the age of the bike. With the credit crunch hitting motorists, traffic chaos slowing the commuter, and fuel prices set to rise again, there's never been a better time to switch to riding a motorcycle.

And one the biggest dealers in the country is located in Bristol.

Fowlers has a vast selection of bikes in the showrooms on the A38 inner ring road near Temple Meads mainline railway station. The company features new and used motorcycles, off-road bikes, scooters and mopeds, along with a vast range of accessories.

When you stroll into the store and you'll realise there's an awful lot of bikes on offer with a wide range of marques under one roof. Two actually, as the site includes Fowlers' Honda Centre next door.

The Honda Centre is just to the left of the main entrance and contains the latest Hondas through to a selection of used bikes including scooters. Moving into the main store, the bikes are laid out on two floors, with scooters on the ground floor and most bikes on the first floor. Each marque has its own unique sales area. You can stroll around the various sections: KTM, Suzuki, Yamaha and the rejuvinated Triumph marque, with its range of retro-style bikes and state-of-the-art street bikes.

There's a chunky steel spiral staircase that takes you up to the first floor, where you'll also notice the entrance to Harry's Café – for bikers who like their bacon rolls and mug of tea while looking at the mean machines all around.

The clothing and helmet section is very extensive. There are many leading brands such as Alpinestars, Oxford Products, Prexport, Revit's, Spyke and Weise leather and textile clothing; Arai, Bell, HJC, MOMO and Shoei helmets, plus On Fire and Oakley casual clothing, accessories and eye wear. And of course no bike store is complete without a cavernous parts department covering all the brands sold at Fowlers plus Kawasaki.

With a major presence at the National Motorcycle Show at the NEC last year, and strong support for local bike groups, clubs, ride-outs and performance bikes at the Castle Combe circuit, Fowlers is a company that celebrates the age of the bike.