Residents asked for quiet bikes. Checkers bought another BigBoy.
- About half the Checkers Sixty60 bikes on our street are now BigBoy Pacer 200s, not Velocities.
- Residents were told the bigger engine would be quieter. To our ears, and in our recordings, only the Velocity is louder.
- The extra power has made one difference: riders now race up the incline and overtake cars even more.
- The Honda and Hero bikes on the same street are far quieter, and cost only R500 to R2,000 more at list price.
- The fix that matters most is still the simplest: keep riders off residential shortcuts.
Date: 8 October 2026
For months, residents have named the BigBoy Velocity as the main source of the Checkers Sixty60 noise. Checkers' answer is another BigBoy. About half the bikes passing our window are now BigBoy Pacer 200s.
Residents were told informally that the bigger 200cc engine would make the bikes quieter. It has not. To our ears, and in the camera's audio recordings, the Pacer is the second loudest bike on the road, after the Velocity it is replacing. It is nowhere near as quiet as the Honda and Hero Eco 150 bikes we hear on the same street.
The bigger engine has changed one thing. ZA Bikers found the Pacer has "a lot more performance than the Velocity 150". On our street, that means riders racing up the incline and overtaking cars on a residential road.
The quiet bikes cost almost the same
List prices in South Africa, October 2026:
- BigBoy Velocity 150 Cargo: R17,299
- BigBoy Pacer 200: R22,999
- Honda ACE 125, which Honda sells as a delivery motorcycle: from R23,499
- Hero Eco 150 Commercial: R24,999
Checkers is already paying close to Honda money. A quieter bike costs R500 to R2,000 more. For the Shoprite group, that is a rounding error. Whatever keeps Checkers on BigBoy, it is not the price. If there is a supply deal with BigBoy, Checkers should say so.
What would actually help
- Keep riders off residential shortcuts. This matters most. Even quiet bikes are a problem at well over a hundred passes a day. Checkers says riders are blocked from our street. They are not, and it shows no sign of controlling how they ride.
- Retire the Velocity and the Pacer. Quiet delivery bikes exist, and they cost little more.
- If you live with this too, stop ordering from Checkers Sixty60 until it keeps its riders off residential streets. Tell it why, and choose a service that uses quieter bikes.