Hyosung Motorcycles???

[gasser]

Anyone heard of these bikes, Hyosung 250 or 600? My son is thinking about buying one because they're cheap. I'm trying to steer him in a better, well-known direction. Need your feedback. Are they any good?

[Boffin]

Anyone heard of these bikes, Hyosung 250 or 600? My son is thinking about buying one because they're cheap. I'm trying to steer him in a better, well-known direction. Need your feedback. Are they any good?

 

They have had some good press in the UK. Korean built they look well made but I have not spoken to any owners to get the customer end of the story.

Here is a link to the UK Hyosung web site's press reviews pages. There are quite a few re-printed reviews here.

 

Andy

[Jim VonBaden]

From what I have seen, they are decent enough bikes, but not THAT much cheaper than comparable UJM bikes.

 

I would give them a pass for a while. Like Hyundai cars in the early days. OK cars, really cheap, but not really worth the cost difference. NOW they are though.

 

Jim

[upflying]

Your post made me think of the Vento V-Thunder "tattoo" edition no less.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Other-Mak...117514106QQrdZ1

I know it's Chinese but I agree with others, pass until it has proven itself. I would surmise the Hyosung products are similar to the Japanese bikes of the '70's and 80's. Good bike until it needs a rebuild at 20,000 miles.

[John Bentall]

I would rather have a used UJM than a new Hyosung.

[Marty Hill]

I saw 4 of them last week at the portland auto auction. Looked like crap to me.

[markgoodrich]

25 year old company, as of 2001 had shipped 2 million units, was contract engine maker for Suzuki SV 650, and by pure coinkidink, the Hyosung 650 engine looks perzactly like the Suzuki, on the outside. Suzuki took all their engine manufacture in house a couple or so years ago, I think.

 

I believe they're running in the 8-hour endurance twin series across the country, see the new Cycle World for a Kevin Cameron story on AMA and possible alternatives for a sketch of the series.

 

I'd be much more likely to buy one if I was just going to stay close to the dealer...meaning not travel across the country...as I doubt their network is very large yet.

 

I'm neither fur 'em nor agin' em. Last brand new bike I bought was in 1970. Most bikes are bulletproof these days, used is great.

 

If your son is new to motorcycles, PLEASE steer him to something with low power/high reliability. 600 sportbikes and kids equal death. I think the Hyosung is a relatively low-hp torquey motor.

 

That 1970 new bike? Walked into the local Triumph dealer, was gonna get me a REAL bike, after ruining a Yamaha 250 commuting, took the salesman about two minutes to steer me over to the Suzuki 500 Titan twin, told me I would never be wandering the bar ditches looking for lost parts. He was right. $900 out the door, took me and SWMBO all over the country. Suzuki was the Hyosung of 1970, no? Small dealer network, small company for that matter, Honda was king, Triumphs, BSAs and Harleys littered the bar ditches. Guys on BMWs were TOTAL dorks. Hmmm. I guess not everything changes.

[smiller]

From what I have seen, they are decent enough bikes, but not THAT much cheaper than comparable UJM bikes.

That seems to be the rub. For just a little more money you can have a probably better built and considerably better backed UJM, or for the same money a top-shelf UJM that's just a few years old. The latter seems to me a much better way to go to me.

 

The only experience I have with Hyosung is that a family member of a friend owns a 650. When viewed close up and the fit and finish aren't so great, looks like some of the parts came from a hardware store, but it was passably OK. My friend rode it and said that it seemed OK on the road as well. When I saw it it was on a trailer... sucked a valve in its first week of ownership. But it was repaired (new engine) under warranty without hassle. Just a single data point, don't know how they fare in terms of reliability on the whole.

 

Regardless, get a good two-year old Jaapnese bike with low miles... they're all over and seem to represent a lot more for the money

[outpost22]

Motorcyclist magazine did a test on the two 650's and liked the Cruiser style better than the sport bike. They pretty much said save your money and buy a used "higher technology" Japanese bike.

[drharveys]

I actually had a Hyosung 250 for a couple of years. Not a bad bike -- only problems were with the vacuum operated "petcock". The bike was fun around town and surprisingly good in the twisties. It could also hop on the expressway and keep up with traffic.

 

There's an excellent internet community at www.korider.com, so if you want to learn more, start there.

 

It's surprisingly popular in Australia, partly due to license restrictions. The biggest problem, in my mind, is that the parent corporation has been playing musical distributors in the U.S. IMHO they need to price their bikes so there is a noticeable savings over the Japanese competition, yet a notch above the current crop of Chinese imports. Also, keep the parts reasonable -- right now there's an active grey market in repair parts which are cheap in Korea.

 

 

Why don't I have it any more? Mainly because it was tough having the nearest dealer about 90 miles away and because the seat height was just a tad too much for my wife and daughter. It's replacement was a Suzuki 650 single:

 

[Ken H.]

Most of the reviews I've seen say in effect, OK bike, front suspension is its weakest point. Especially for the sport bike.

[TowJam]

Why don't I have it any more? Mainly because it was tough having the nearest dealer about 90 miles away and because the seat height was just a tad too much for my wife and daughter.

Which answers the question: What do Hyosung and BMW have in common?

[hANNAbONE]

pER yOUR hANDLE...you are joking - right??

 

Think "parts" ... everything from oil filters to cables...will the network of dealers be there for the buyer - uh...nope..!