By: Deon van der Linde
South African Motorcycles invited us around to have a look at and collect their latest bike to SA shores. We used it to do our daily running around and commuting for two weeks, covering a distance of around 350 km in that period without it missing a beat and barely sipping any fuel. And we did put the Pacer 200 through its paces quite seriously.
The newest edition to Big Boy’s on/off-road commercial bikes has the feel and looks of a very cool retro café racer. The small size of the Pacer makes it fun to ride no matter whether it is on the road or blasting around off-road.
Equipped with rugged tyres we could not resist taking it to the veld and doing a bit of bundu bashing whenever we got the opportunity. It is not a full on, focused off-road bike to take on all kinds of aggressive off-road riding, however it is still capable of having some good fun in the dirt, and if you need to deliver a package to a farmer the Pacer will have no trouble going down the dusty farm roads.
The Pacer is also equipped with black alloy rims dressed in tubeless tyres that makes it easier to repair a flat wheel with less hassle.
The Pacer is small and compact enough to get you to cut through traffic and the 191cc four-stroke counter balanced motor has enough power to get you going. We had the Pacer for a week and with Deon using the little bike to commute to the office and home, there was no need to put in fuel at all, the small bike has an 18L fuel tank and an average consumption of 2.3L per 100km, (that’s around 44 km’s on 1 litre of fuel, and in today’s economy and the current price of fuel – that is a very important selling point to us).
With a top speed of just over 115 km/h makes it fast enough to get the job done quickly, also bear in mind that we received the Pacer 200 with barely delivery mileage on it, so it wasn’t even run in yet. We reckon if once the motor loosens up a bit it should get around 120 km h fairly easily. The Pacer 200’s light weight helps it come to a stop in no time at all with its front disc brake and rear brake drum.
The Pacer comes equipped with sturdy crash bars, reinforcing its off road credentials and a rear top box mount. The seat is comfortable even for long periods spent in the saddle. It has an electric starter motor and if you happen to run the battery flat there’s no need to worry as it also comes with a kick starter to get you back on the road.
To keep things simple the Pacer has an analog speedometer with a LED fuel gauge and battery warning light and on the right of the speedo it has a LED display to show what gear you are in. Out back the Pacer has a small round LED brake light and in the front a big headlight to light the way, both in the popular retro modern design.
With simplicity in mind the Big Boy Pacer 200 is all the fun and seriousness of work rolled into one at the very reasonable price of R22,999.00 and comes with a 3 year/20 000km Factory Warranty. The service interval is every 3000km or 6 months. And considering the rapidly deteriorating condition of the majority of our road network the Pacer 200 seems like the logical choice to get from A to B safely, quickly and using the least amount of fuel possible.
Click here to find out more about the Big Boy Pacer 200 and to find your nearest stockist.
