Hatfield Motorcycles roof collapses – 50 motorcycles crushed.
19 December 2024
The owners of Hatfield Motorcycles in Centurion suffered tragedy at 2:30 this morning when the roof of their shop in the Eco Boulevard Shopping Centre collapsed crushing the entire showroom of motorcycles. Reports suggest somewhere close to 50 motorcycles were involved, including everything from Vespa scooters to adventure motorcycles and superbikes.
By Donovan Fourie
To make it worse, it wasn’t just the ceiling that fell but the entire roof structure that was built in a three-storey stylish design came down including tons of bricks, wood support beams, tiles, glass and, of course, ceiling boards. Plus, the roofless building and its contents are now subject to the elements just as the highveld rainy season gets underway.
Thankfully, no one was in the building when the collapse happened.
Hatfield Motorcycles, who specialise in the selling of premium used motorcycles, moved into these premises just four months ago. The cause of the collapse remains a mystery for now, especially as the centre is also fairly new and the buildings appear to still be far from requiring maintenance. The team and the landlord will await the investigation of engineers and the insurance company, but clearly, there was some sort of structural problem with the building.
It’s a big mess right now, it’s unbelievable how powerful nature is…
This is the second tragedy to befall a motorcycle shop in South Africa this year after Bikeshop Boksburg, having moved into its new building, suffered a fire that completely demolished close to 200 motorcycles and an entire floor of accessories.
The silver lining for Hatfield and the entire motorcycle industry is that, unlike Boksburg where all the bikes ended up as metallic puddles, the majority of motorcycles hit by the roof can most likely be salvaged and restored to a good working condition. In fact, preliminary inspections show that many have suffered nothing more than cosmetic damage. Others, like five Vespas and an Indian FTR that were sitting in the entrance area, are not damaged at all.
Like all people in the South African motorcycle industry, the gang at Hatfield Motorcycle are a hardy bunch, and will no doubt already be making plans to return to their feet in the near future…
No caption can describe the devastation. It’s incredibly sad to see…
