Hyosung GT650S

I know him to be a fan of Japanese machinery, so his reaction was interesting. "Nup - Korea," I replied. A moment of surprise, then the sneer returned. He obviously felt they'd never be able to take the fight up to Nippon. I doubt he'd be so confident if he'd actually ridden the thing.

The irony here is that Japanese motorcycles for years copped the same response from owners of Euro machinery. And now the Japanese are the benchmark.

Hyosung is in a difficult position, in that it probably has some way to go before the punters are going to be convinced. But before you make your own mind up, can I suggest you throw a leg over one of the company's 650 twins? I've ridden three of the beasties now - two nakeds and the semi-faired S - and am here to tell you they deserve to be taken seriously.

The company itself is enormous (motorcycles are only part of the business), well-funded, and has made a lot of progress in a short space of time. You'd be a mug to write them off at this stage.

The bike
So what's it like? The basic architecture is very straightforward: twin-spar frame holding up a four-stroke liquid-cooled 647cc V-twin, with four valves per head and a six-speed gearbox with wet clutch. Fuelling is via CV carbs and the machine claims to meet Euro 2 emission standards with a 79-horse peak output.

Front suspension is USD fork with adjustment for compression and rebound damping, while the rear is a monoshock with preload adjustment. Brakes are three discs with two-piston calipers up front. There's a 17 litre fuel tank and the claimed dry weight is 180 kilos.

No real surprises in that lot. In the saddle, you're faced with an analogue tacho, plus a digital instrument cluster that includes clock, fuel, speedo and tripmeters. It's a green on black display with an adjustment for brightness. It worked fine, though some of the detail in the readout could be difficult to read in sunlight. The important stuff, like speed, was no drama.

Our machine had an Over Racing muffler fitted, which added a fruity note from start-up. Hyosung's own dyno charts suggest that a more open muffler (a Devil in their case) can lift the mid-range urge, though it may not add much to the already strong peak power. All up a good thing in real world riding.

 The powerplant likes to be given a decent warm-up on cold mornings, but once on the boil is pretty close to faultless and would be the highlight of the machine. It has good urge everywhere, with lots of outright performance and would be very competitive with Suzuki's SV series in this area.

Shifting on the six-speed box can be a little notchy on new machines, but tends to loosen up over time. In any case, it's dead accurate and has a swift action that is perfect for sport riding. The clutch is cable operated and is easy to use.

Brakes may not be particularly high tech, but are perfectly capable and have bags of feel, particularly on the front. My only comment here is that an adjustable handlever would be nice - it's probably something you could retrofit without much trouble.

Suspension is well-suited to the machine. Adjustment is limited, but is there. Frankly, it's about right out of the box and should only need a little tweaking to suit personal taste.

Steering is moderately quick, sharp and very neutral on the standard Bridgestone BT56 rubber fitted to our test machine. As a package with the engine, gearbox, suspension and brakes, it added up to a seriously good sports motorcycle without riding like a dray - in fact, it's surprisingly comfortable.

There are adjustable footpegs on board, which is a nice touch and quite a bonus given the price. Finish is okay, but not top shelf. It's no big deal, but I'd be making sure the thing was kept clean and not allowed to deteriorate too far.

Fuel consumption was pretty light: high teens for mixed riding and up to 20km/lt if your were taking it easy.

Undoubtedly the overall configuration of the machine helps, but the GT650S is just great fun to ride. It will happily putter about town, or do a really good impersonation of a sports bike on your favourite backroad. The best news is that it's dirt cheap -- $8999 plus ORC, with a two-year warranty. It's a bargain.

(Our test bike was supplied by Stafford Motorcycles in Melbourne. The gang there is planning a major hot-up project on the GT and we've been promised a spin when it's ready to roll. Watch this space...)

Who is Hyosung?
We swiped this from the company's website: Hyosung is one of the largest and most respected companies in South Korea, and was founded in 1952. Hyosung Motors & Machinery Inc was established in 1978 as a motorcycle manufacturer. In 1979 a technical tie up was established with Suzuki Motor Corp of Japan for producing Suzuki models for some Asian markets. Hyosung established its own R&D centre in 1986 to develop models under the Hyosung brand for export to global markets under the banner "Made by Hyosung, Ridden by The World". Twelve per cent of staff are engaged in R&D to keep pace with aggressive development of new models suitable for export markets. Hyosung produce some models that carry a Japanese brand name that are exported worldwide, and components produced by Hyosung can be found on several other brands of motorcycles.

Hyosung Motors & Machinery:
Are equipped with an annual production capacity in excess of 200,000 motorcycles;

Have ISO9001 certification from TUV in Germany ;

Export to over 60 countries world wide including Germany, Brazil, China, the U.S.A. and most recently Australia .

Hyosung's current Australian line-up consists of 10 models - 2 naked road bikes, a cruiser, a trail bike, four scooters and two ATV's. With Hyosung Motors & Machinery's commitment to release 2-3 new models a year, it is likely the Australian line-up will expand considerably in the years to come.

Dimension and Dry Mass:
Overall Length(mm): 2,080
Overall Width(mm): 760
Overall Height(mm): 1,120
Ground Clearance(mm): 150
Dry Mass(kg): 180
Wheel Base(mm): 1,435
Seat Height(mm): 780
Frame Type: Double Cradle

Engine
Type: 4-stroke, water cooled DOHC 8-valve, V-twin (90 degrees)
Piston Displacement(cc): 647
Number Of Cylinders: 2
Maximum Power: 58.5 kW (79 HP)
Carburetor : 2
Start System: Electric

Capacity
Fuel Tank (l)/ Reserve: 17.0/2.5

Transmission
Clutch: Wet Multi-Plate Type
Gear Shift Pattern: 1-down 5-up

Chassis
Front Tire: 120/60-17 55W
Rear Tire: 160/60-17 69W
Front Suspension: Telescopic, Oil Dampened
Rear Suspension: Swing Arm
Caster(degrees): 25.5
Front Brake: Double Disc
Rear Brake: Disc

Electric
Ignition Type: Igniter
Generator(W): 350
Battery Capacity (V/ah): 12V/12A
Price: $8999 plus ORC
Warranty: 2 years unlimited km