Long-standing Whanganui business Joe Lett Ltd moves from motorbikes and boats to mobility equipment

Mobility scooters now take centre stage for Joe Lett.

Whanganui's Joe Lett has evolved his business over the years, starting off with motorbike sales and service, moving into boats and now with a focus on mobility equipment.

"I started in business in 1961 - it's always a young fella's dream to work with motorbikes," Lett said.

"As I got older I got into the marine side and that's hundreds of thousands of dollars to carry stock. Boat shops are getting fewer and fewer and the ones there are getting bigger and bigger."

Lett branched into the mobility aid market and sold his first mobility scooter in 1989.

"It was a Suzuki and they were quite small back then - a Japanese domestic market product," he said.

"They didn't suit the Kiwi 'chassis'. We needed bigger ones for our Kiwi customers."

Now the business stocks a range of new and used mobility scooters as well as a wide range of mobility aids.

"Some of the scooters go up to 15 or 16km/h but there are some around that will do well over that. There are also models that don't go so fast but have a big motor and they are capable of going up the Jaffa hill [Baldwin St] in Dunedin."

Joe Lett's different types of walkers are popular items.

Joe Lett also stocks wheelchairs and walkers, and has some available for rental. There are shower stools, reachers, walking sticks, devices for unscrewing jars, kettle pourers for those with unsteady hands and aids for putting on socks and pantihose. A powered commode is one of the more pricey items.

"If you look online there's a huge range of mobility aids available," Lett said.

"We stock just a small amount of the items that are available out there."

Customers come from Whanganui, Marton and Waverley and Lett recently sold a scooter to a customer in Tauranga.

"We don't have many bikes for sale now but we've helped a lot of people with sponsorship over the years and we're continuing to do that," Lett said.

Lett has been a long-time supporter of the Cemetery Circuit and was excited to see the first electric road racing motorbike from Japan at last year's event.

Lett reckons the time may be coming in the next year or so for him to step aside and let son Perry take over the day-to-day running of the business "but I'll still be around helping out".