The motorcycle manufacturer Big Boy holds a significant place in the South African commercial segment. Yes, Big Boy has created a massive stir in the market—they’ve built a good reputation and have been labelled “the brand that offers more ride for your rand.” What this means, is that in the current rand rolling downhill times, start-up companies, major players and independents can all keep the ball rolling with affordable, reliable, and well-backed motorcycles from Big Boy.
Big Boy has made many business decisions easier, but also run a whole lot smoother. One of the freshest hotcakes Big Boy sell, is their Velocity 150. Now, the Velocity does so well because it looks good, it rides well, it comes with a three-year/20 000 km warranty, it’s backed by SAM’s (South Africa Motorcycles) great after-sales support and it’s priced to go from R16,799.
So, with arguably the best-selling commercial bike in the country and a host of Big Boy models following suit, what is there left to offer? That’s where the updated Velocity 150 Cargo and Legend 125X come into the picture.
2023 brings a new Velocity into town, the Velocity Cargo—engineered to carry even more than before. Although the Cargo rolls on the same chassis and motor, we see a softer and thicker seat, an 11.5 L tank, a wider box bracket, and stiffer rear shocks. In all honesty, the standard Velocity never lacked the essentials and if it did to some, it was always justified by how affordable it was compared to the rest. But, what the Cargo does is uplift Big Boy into a new playing field where riders don’t need to justify the price, because the Cargo isn’t just good for its price but just good, period.
On the rear of the Cargo, we see four mounting points for the luggage rack, two on either shock and two on the elongated mudguard bracket. It’s such a simple thing, yet with the design of most motorcycles the majority of brackets cover the rear seat relieving all functions of the rear seat and in turn putting a lot of weight over the rear axle. On the Cargo, you see almost an equal weight distribution with the weight being moved more mid rather than to the rear.
On the road the Cargo handles the urban commute as it did before, but with a stiffer double spring setup on the rear, which allows more weight and also better handling. The 2.4 l/100 km (41 km/L) fuel economy is greeted with an 11.5 L tank which is 3 L more than the base Velocity—allowing riders to go further with peace of mind.
In summary, the Cargo offers more bang for your buck than before with a longer range, more cargo space, stiffer suspension and a comfier ride. This sounds like a big price increase is about to get mentioned. That’s what I thought too! However, in typical Big Boy fashion the Cargo will cost you R17,299, that’s just R500 rand more and a no-brainer at that.
With the Cargo stealing the spotlight in the first half of the piece, we take a closer look at Big Boy’s Legend 125X. So, what, where and who is the Legend 125X built for? Well, we think the Legend cruises on the hybrid line of commercial and agricultural—a bike that can do them both.
When paying attention to the looks of the Legend we start to see a more off-road bias design. We see spoked wheels, a dirt bike mudguard, straight bars, a flat seat, handguards, a centre stand and dual-purpose tyres. Along with the hardware, Big Boy has gone with the smaller air-cooled, single-cylinder 125 cc motor and has coupled it to a 4-speed box. To further enhance its agricultural and commercial potential Big Boy has fitted a USB charge port, engine protection and a luggage rack.
On the road, the Legend feels agile and stable, even with its dual-purpose tyres. One thing you do need to get used to, however, is the ‘one up’ and the ‘rest down’ shifting order on the Legends gearbox. Once that has been embedded into the back of your mind, the little legend really is an easy and comfortable lane splitter. The 4-speed box is more suited for low-speed applications in the thick of town, but in the same sentence, you can sit at a comfortable cruising speed of 75 km/h, with a top speed of just over 90 km/h.
The Legend really comes into its own once it is pointed out of urban sprawl and into the more rural areas. The suspension soaks up all the acne scars our b-roads have to offer and its low gearing allows you to manoeuvre around obstacles at lower rpms. Tipping the scales at just over 100 kg the Legends 9.5 Nm and 6.2 Kw are more than sufficient to help you get from point A to B.
With its good power-to-weight ratio, you can expect to see an economy of 1.7 l/100 km. This economy figure is manageable at lower speeds of 60 km/h and with a medium to light load. So, with some decent road manners, you should be able to get just over 500 km out of the 10L tank, that’s 500 km for R216! If there were any reserves about the Legend because of its 4-speed gearbox, I think the good fuel and cruising speed figures might change your mind.
All in all, the Big Boy Legend 125X is a bike you could comfortably use as a delivery or farm bike, where the terrain is less suited for road-going machinery. The Legend will set you back R21,999 and comes with a 3-year/20 000 km factory SAM warranty. With all that said, we think SAM have got two winners in hand, whether you’re looking for a commercial workhorse in the Velocity Cargo or a go-anywhere do-anything workhorse in the Legend 125X, you can’t go wrong.
Big Boy Velocity 150 Cargo & Legend 125X
For more information on the bikes featured in this article, click on the links below…
