First Motorcycle - considering the Big Boy GPR 250CC

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CheeseThief

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Jan 31, 2011
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Hi everyone.

I will be picking up my first motorcycle in a few weeks and need a second opinion. My budget is about 20k and the second hand options don't seem to great at the moment. The Big Boy 250cc GPR is around the 19k mark and comes with a warranty and road side assist. Does anyone here have any experience with that particular model? Most of the things I have read are a few years old and I have been told that the Chinese made bikes have come a long way.

Thanks for your help :)
 
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JulioX

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I personally don't know much about motorbikes but a good friend bought that model about 6 months ago. From what I gather its a very good tool, he was very happy with it until last weekend (totaled)
 
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TheGuy

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CheeseThief said:
Hi everyone.

I will be picking up my first motorcycle in a few weeks and need a second opinion. My budget is about 20k and the second hand options don't seem to great at the moment. The Big Boy 250cc GPR is around the 19k mark and comes with a warranty and road side assist. Does anyone here have any experience with that particular model? Most of the things I have read are a few years old and I have been told that the Chinese made bikes have come a long way.

Thanks for your help :)
Click to expand...

Just find out what they charge for services. My friend bought a Big Boy and the services where so expensive it wasn't worth it just to honor the warranty.
 
D

D3x!

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for a little bit more I would suggest a kawasaki ninja 250R
 
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happynoodleboy

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Hi .
I recently bought a Gomoto Fluxliner 150 cc scooter for commuting to work and back.
I must say it is one of the best purchases I have ever made.
I do about 16 km per day, both ways. Got it September 2013, sitting on 4000 km now, just went for its second service.
I have done 3 services so far, the run in service, think that was on a couple of hundred km, then one on 2000 km and now 4000 km, done last week.
R780.00 per service, at the agents.
Came with a fairly extensive 2 year 10 000 km warranty.
Best thing is the fuel spend. My average petrol spend per month is R240.00.

Main thing to remember is you are not buying a Honda or Suzuki or Kawa.
Mechanically I have had no issues whatsoever.
Couple of small things with loose lights, switches, etc.
Build quality is not up there with the name brands. But still, it is not bad. I have no complaints.
And so far, everything that came loose or went wonky was immediately replaced under the warranty, no questions.

So basically, I would say if you are looking for a cheap commuter, and you keep all the above in mind, they are not a bad buy.

In my opinion.
 
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Ridolfc

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These Chinese bikes are not worth it. The build quality is crap. The engine vibrations with regular use makes all the nuts and bolts come loose. This bike will give you more headaches than enjoyable riding.

If you want a cheap bike look at the Bajaj range. These are not the best bikes but they are better than bigboy.

I use a Bajaj Pulsar 180 about four days a week to travel to work and home. I do about 82 Kms per day on this thing and i'm on 25000 Km already and she is still holding strong.
 
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D3x!

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Ridolfc said:
These Chinese bikes are not worth it. The build quality is crap. The engine vibrations with regular use makes all the nuts and bolts come loose. This bike will give you more headaches than enjoyable riding.

If you want a cheap bike look at the Bajaj range. These are not the best bikes but they are better than bigboy.

I use a Bajaj Pulsar 180 about four days a week to travel to work and home. I do about 82 Kms per day on this thing and i'm on 25000 Km already and she is still holding strong.
Click to expand...

you sir, are either effing mental...
 
Baxteen

Baxteen

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I owned a big boy superlight.
Stay the F away. seriously stay away. sure there are some individual bikes that are not bad. but its not the norm. Vuka, Big Boy, gomoto, Bajaj and Jonway all do the same thing.
brand comes to SA, cheap bikes, few good models gets praise, bad ones drags the name though the mud. 4-6 years later the brand is gone completely and the replacement is there, repeating the process.

Find a Vuka dealership around to prove me wrong.
Jonway is next on the list, slowly slipping into obscurity they got replaced by BigBoy, and the replacement for BigBoy is already here, Gomoto.
Bajaj being indian is slightly different, but I still dont trust them, no fault of theirs though.

before you buy a bike, ask yourself, could my dad have bought this bike when he was my age. if the answer is no, then stay away, the brand has not proven itself in SA yet.


but I do understand the budget constraint. that is what made me get the superlight.
here are 2 quick search options to help you start looking

http://bikes.autotrader.co.za/used-...makemodel/make/kawasaki/makemodel/make/yamaha

http://bikes.autotrader.co.za/used-...makemodel/make/kawasaki/makemodel/make/yamaha

just look around dude. you can do better do not fall for the Chinese hoaks. sure some people have ones that are not terrible, but at the same time, some people get good service from telkom, think about that...
 
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Rowen1982

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Aug 9, 2014
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Stay away from big boy crap bike I had one always problems first clutch issues,then vibrations on the handlebars was crazy.chain snapped 2 times in less than 1000km first time it happened was in the run in period then at the 3000km mark.i rather put a little extra and get a decent second hand 250 like a Kawasaki or Honda.Dont buy that cheap ass Chinese crap u will regret it the same day you bought it.i did not even sell mine I just scrapped was not worth even advertising it for sale.
 
konfab

konfab

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I have had a great experience with my 150cc Motomia. Going on five years and it has yet to give me any trouble. The only thing that has gone wrong is the brake fluid indicator started leaking a bit. The mechanic had to epoxy it up.
If you keep it nicely maintained, they should give you lots of mileage.
 
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Kierenblade

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May 21, 2015
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A bit late to the party here, but I wanted to say this if anyone else wants to get the BigBoy GPR 250R

I bought mine as my first bike in 2013, while it was in warranty, it was doing pretty well. Now it's out of warranty and it's now starting to give me hassles with less than 7000kms on it.

First the clutch cable snapped, then the bolts that hold the back sprocket against the back rim stripped on the inside (had to replace the inner rim piece), and now the choke is giving me problems.

So I would agree with most of what people are sayin here, spend a little extra and get a proper 250 from Kawa, Honda or KTM (Duke 200).

Seriously, it's not worth buying he BigBoy in the long run.
 
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sybertiger

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