About Meanmachine Pretoria

Kawasaki Motors South Africa has sold the longest-running Kawasaki dealership in South Africa to businessmen Francois de Lange and Eddie Moss. The dealership, since last year one of three flagship outlets owned by KMSA, has occupied the same premises in Garsfontein Road, Newlands, Pretoria, since the 1990s, some twenty years after it was founded. 

Francois, who took over the day-to-day running of Mean Machine on 10 October, is excited about the challenge. He’s been riding bikes since 1975, the same year Mean Machine started selling Kawasakis, and has never owned another brand of motorcycle. “I started with the 350 two stroke triple back then and have moved up through the Kawasaki ranks ever since, ” he says.  “I’ve never once owned a different brand of motorcycle.”  Curiously enough, he also never bought any of his bikes from Mean Machine. Today he rides a ZX-10R and a 1400 GTR, while his son, 17-year-old son, Kyran, is enjoying his first year racing a ZX-6R in the Northern Regions championships where he’s already a consistent top ten finisher.

Francois may have blood that runs green, but he’s also a very astute businessman who owns various Midas outlets. “At our Silverton store I set up a motorcycle accessory section a couple of years ago and it’s gone really well. It started off as a hobby but worked out for me so I decided to make it even better. I’ll run Mean Machine full-time while my wife, Sharon, will handle the two Midas outlets that used to occupy me every day.”

 Mean Machine sells Aprilia, Triumph, PGO, Zongshen and Aeon motorcycles, scooters and quads alongside the comprehensive range of accessories that KMSA also imports, so Francois is going to have to spend some saddle time on brands other than Kawasaki in future. 

Chris Speight, Managing Director of Kawasaki importers KMSA is confident that the future for Mean Machine is rosy. “We do a lot of business with Francois at Silverton Midas,” he says.  “He runs a very good accessory store, he’s an excellent businessman and he’s passionate about Kawasaki in particular and motorcycles in general. We expect to see him grow from strength to strength.”