Hyosung GD250N

As far as new model development is concerned, Hyosung – owned by the massive S&T industrial conglomerate in South Korea – has just about come to a standstill in recent years, and it’s now slipped outside the top 10 biggest sellers in the Australian market.

So when a new bike comes along, it’s reason to celebrate. In this case, we’re talking about the angular-looking GD250N, which was first unveiled in prototype form at the 2012 Intermot show in Cologne.

The GD250N – which originally had the ‘X-5’ working name -- is all about compactness and mass centralisation, which puts it in the same zone as the KTM Duke 200 in terms of its design, size, power output and agility.

The bore and stroke are 73.0mm x 59.6mm, and Hyosung claims about 28.4hp at 8500rpm and peak torque of 25Nm at 7000rpm. There is a six-speed close-ratio transmission.

Suspension is via a 37mm upside-down fork and a lateral-mounted preload adjustable KYB shock absorber, which pivots directly onto the aluminium swingarm. There are 10-spoke wheels while the discs are 300mm and 230mm, mated to four-piston and twin-piston calipers. The instrumentation is LCD.

Weight is about 145kg wet, which is in the KTM Duke zone. Mass has been kept down by such measures as the plastic fuel tank.

Seat height is 780mm and the wheelbase is 1340mm.

Hyosung will be expecting big things from the GD250N in markets like China, India and Malaysia. We’re yet to hear whether the machine will make it to Australia, but you’d think that it would have to be sold at a keen price point to attract widespread interest. KTM's decision to ditch its Duke 200 in favour of just the Duke 390 in Australia may also come into deliberations.

A faired version of the GD250N will also be unveiled in due course. If one or both do make it Down Under, it (they) will retail for appreciably less than Hyosung’s current quarter-litre, 75-degree twins: the GT250 naked, fully faired GT250R and GV250 Aquila cruiser.