carver
2nd July 2006, 18:41
i rode paraparaumu to hamilton on the hyosung.
to start it off, this is as much a story as a review on skelstar's old 2005 hyosung 250 comet.
to cut a long story short, my friend scarwall needed a new bike, being over 6ft tall and 110kgs he needed something to suit his frame.
after shopping around, he worked out he wanted a sport-e sort of a bike.
upon my recomendation he settled on the comet, now we were on a quest to find one.
now the deciding factor was price, the GSX 250 was of a similat price, but lets face it, its ugly and heavy...well for a 250.
so, mr skelstar to the rescue, i must say, he was excelent to deal with.
after settling on skelly's comet, he booked me a flight, because he needed the bike urgently, and he didn't trust a stranger with the cash, and i have a fair bit of experience with buying bikes, and riding them, plus i have the gear.
so, we arrived at the airport at 6 in the morning, doubled up on my honda hack, it was cold, and dark, i was in dri-rider rallycross pants, technic jacket, KBC gloves, and garene MX boots, with a complete set of thermals underneath
on arrival to the airport we heard that all flights from and to welly were delayed due to fog, but that we may land in palmy, so that was all good, fingers crossed.
so 15 min later we boarded.
the flight was great, i was a bit anxious seeing all the snow over the desert.
at the end of the desert we started to decend, we all knew what that ment..
a bus took us from pamly to welly, after txting skelly we agreed to meet up in paraparaumu, so i got off the bus there at 10-20pm.
the comet was a skelly had described it, and to cap it off the good bastard had just had it serviced!
so after parting with scarwall's cash i proceeded to ride off.
i couldnt belive that i had to ride 700km on a bike that i had no exp with, but thats what i had to do.
from first impressions the brakes felt like they were made of wood, and the gear box had no feel of when i it went in to gear, a bit "spongy"
the comet had aftermarket heated grips fitted, and these were good.
the weather was clear, and it was sunny.
after looking at my speedo was telling me that i had only done 50 km in what seemed like 2 hours,
this made me agitated, because i wanted to get to hamilton before it got dark.
so i headed into countdown in a small town before foxton, hit the toilet, and tried to do some shopping, this was ok, i got some food, the spoppers pissed me off because i was in full gear, and i kept bumping into people, because i was in a rush too, and feeling hot.
after heading out into the carpark i kept getting stares, this pissed me off too, and as i walked toward the hyosung.
then some maori girl tapped me on the shoulder, "sir, you dropped your keys"
i was taken aback, here i was pissed off at everyone around me, then some stunning girl does me a good turn...it made me think...
now, down the long straights of foxton, hell yes, i love this country, sticking to the limit due to the fed's partrolling the roads evey km.
blue sky, old houses and machinery everywhere flash by, the hyo is very smooth at these speeds of 105 kph, and sits here happily.
i am happier now, i feel i am making progress, and the heated grips are stopping my hands from numbing.
at low rev's through foxton i notice the hyosung GT250 comet vibrates alot, but one you get to 5 ish it smoothens out noticably.
anyhow, after buying some sunglasses (which turned out to be a good move) in foxton i blated on, the gas gauge on the comet was still reding full.
the road between foxton and wairuru steadily got more windy, and i saw the mountains in the distance.
i gassed up before wairuru, and calculated 21km/lt.
the temp steadily dropped as i approached wairuru, and i decided to take national park, because i love the roads and nature of the county between national park through to otrahonga, especially Tamranui.
anyhow, i stopped in waiuru, ate 2 choc bars, and streched a bit.
the hyosung is comfy, and well spaced out once you get settled in.
the bike is very flicky, and confidence assuring at speed.
anyhow, i zipped the liner in my jacket, and headed off in the direction of national park.
5 km on the road which joins the two roads, helpfull people started flashing their lights at me, hmmm...i was pushing 120-130ish on the nice corners.
sure enough i see 2 feds, in their cars sitting there.
feeling happy and cheeky i rill up, and ask them if there is any ice on the road, nah they tell me, so off i go, sitting at legal speeds.
upon reaching the national park i stop at turangi and take a few shots.
the engine of the hyo is very flexible, and very....relaxed, it takes everyting in its stride.
natioal park over, i blast into my favourite bit, full of green growth, and good corners.
i like SH4, for its lack of cops, its smooth roads, and great sceenery, fuck the desert road.
it becomes aparent to me that i am making good time, and i am going quicker than expected, the hyosung has a tendancy to backfire when you rev it hard under load, then back off.
the bike is happy to sit on 120ish, but that gas gauge is low, so i gas up in a small town before tamaranui.
off again, the last time i did this road was at similar speeds at night coming back from wanganui on a 250 burgman!
it is good to do it again in the daylight, and the bike happily lets me throw it into 65 corners at 110, and i can tell you its a flicky well balanced machice, it never got me scared, its forgiving too.
i start to hit places that have had ice, the signs are out, the grit is down, i see snow in shadowy area's, the comet is steady though.
the unsettling bit is, its very sunny, around 3-4ish now and their are large wet patches where the ice has been, which are hard to see, and usually in mid corner.
i take the bike down to 70-80 on the grit, just to be safe.
at one stage i even smoked a Audi RS4 in road works at 80km, with plenty of shingle.
gravel does on unsettle the comet, it is easy to ride on the shingle.
After cleaning my visor, and gassing up in tamranui i was still wasn't too sore, the hyo is a good bike to ride distances on.
tamaranui to te-kuiti was a blast, riding hard all the way, speeding, but safely.
one bad moment was coming out of a left hander at 120, to have the sun hit my eyes right in the middle, a bit stunned i ran a bit wide, but fortunatly i hadn'd done a "loosebruce" and left no room for error, a little lean and i was good again.
the hyosung had suspension issues, the handling has good, but the ride is hard and bumpy, and the suspension feels like it wont absorb bumps...a bit strange, because mid corner bumps dont upset it.
the sun was getting low as i hit otrahonga, i slowed too, because of the straight roads, it was just a gentle cruise to hamilton then.
upon arrival; i felt as though i had only been riding 2 hrs, upon reflection, had had thought it would have been much worse, but it was great
cheers to scarwall, and skelstar, both true gentlemen to deal with.
i highly recomend the hyosung comet, it is ideal for a learner.:doobey:
to start it off, this is as much a story as a review on skelstar's old 2005 hyosung 250 comet.
to cut a long story short, my friend scarwall needed a new bike, being over 6ft tall and 110kgs he needed something to suit his frame.
after shopping around, he worked out he wanted a sport-e sort of a bike.
upon my recomendation he settled on the comet, now we were on a quest to find one.
now the deciding factor was price, the GSX 250 was of a similat price, but lets face it, its ugly and heavy...well for a 250.
so, mr skelstar to the rescue, i must say, he was excelent to deal with.
after settling on skelly's comet, he booked me a flight, because he needed the bike urgently, and he didn't trust a stranger with the cash, and i have a fair bit of experience with buying bikes, and riding them, plus i have the gear.
so, we arrived at the airport at 6 in the morning, doubled up on my honda hack, it was cold, and dark, i was in dri-rider rallycross pants, technic jacket, KBC gloves, and garene MX boots, with a complete set of thermals underneath
on arrival to the airport we heard that all flights from and to welly were delayed due to fog, but that we may land in palmy, so that was all good, fingers crossed.
so 15 min later we boarded.
the flight was great, i was a bit anxious seeing all the snow over the desert.
at the end of the desert we started to decend, we all knew what that ment..
a bus took us from pamly to welly, after txting skelly we agreed to meet up in paraparaumu, so i got off the bus there at 10-20pm.
the comet was a skelly had described it, and to cap it off the good bastard had just had it serviced!
so after parting with scarwall's cash i proceeded to ride off.
i couldnt belive that i had to ride 700km on a bike that i had no exp with, but thats what i had to do.
from first impressions the brakes felt like they were made of wood, and the gear box had no feel of when i it went in to gear, a bit "spongy"
the comet had aftermarket heated grips fitted, and these were good.
the weather was clear, and it was sunny.
after looking at my speedo was telling me that i had only done 50 km in what seemed like 2 hours,
this made me agitated, because i wanted to get to hamilton before it got dark.
so i headed into countdown in a small town before foxton, hit the toilet, and tried to do some shopping, this was ok, i got some food, the spoppers pissed me off because i was in full gear, and i kept bumping into people, because i was in a rush too, and feeling hot.
after heading out into the carpark i kept getting stares, this pissed me off too, and as i walked toward the hyosung.
then some maori girl tapped me on the shoulder, "sir, you dropped your keys"
i was taken aback, here i was pissed off at everyone around me, then some stunning girl does me a good turn...it made me think...
now, down the long straights of foxton, hell yes, i love this country, sticking to the limit due to the fed's partrolling the roads evey km.
blue sky, old houses and machinery everywhere flash by, the hyo is very smooth at these speeds of 105 kph, and sits here happily.
i am happier now, i feel i am making progress, and the heated grips are stopping my hands from numbing.
at low rev's through foxton i notice the hyosung GT250 comet vibrates alot, but one you get to 5 ish it smoothens out noticably.
anyhow, after buying some sunglasses (which turned out to be a good move) in foxton i blated on, the gas gauge on the comet was still reding full.
the road between foxton and wairuru steadily got more windy, and i saw the mountains in the distance.
i gassed up before wairuru, and calculated 21km/lt.
the temp steadily dropped as i approached wairuru, and i decided to take national park, because i love the roads and nature of the county between national park through to otrahonga, especially Tamranui.
anyhow, i stopped in waiuru, ate 2 choc bars, and streched a bit.
the hyosung is comfy, and well spaced out once you get settled in.
the bike is very flicky, and confidence assuring at speed.
anyhow, i zipped the liner in my jacket, and headed off in the direction of national park.
5 km on the road which joins the two roads, helpfull people started flashing their lights at me, hmmm...i was pushing 120-130ish on the nice corners.
sure enough i see 2 feds, in their cars sitting there.
feeling happy and cheeky i rill up, and ask them if there is any ice on the road, nah they tell me, so off i go, sitting at legal speeds.
upon reaching the national park i stop at turangi and take a few shots.
the engine of the hyo is very flexible, and very....relaxed, it takes everyting in its stride.
natioal park over, i blast into my favourite bit, full of green growth, and good corners.
i like SH4, for its lack of cops, its smooth roads, and great sceenery, fuck the desert road.
it becomes aparent to me that i am making good time, and i am going quicker than expected, the hyosung has a tendancy to backfire when you rev it hard under load, then back off.
the bike is happy to sit on 120ish, but that gas gauge is low, so i gas up in a small town before tamaranui.
off again, the last time i did this road was at similar speeds at night coming back from wanganui on a 250 burgman!
it is good to do it again in the daylight, and the bike happily lets me throw it into 65 corners at 110, and i can tell you its a flicky well balanced machice, it never got me scared, its forgiving too.
i start to hit places that have had ice, the signs are out, the grit is down, i see snow in shadowy area's, the comet is steady though.
the unsettling bit is, its very sunny, around 3-4ish now and their are large wet patches where the ice has been, which are hard to see, and usually in mid corner.
i take the bike down to 70-80 on the grit, just to be safe.
at one stage i even smoked a Audi RS4 in road works at 80km, with plenty of shingle.
gravel does on unsettle the comet, it is easy to ride on the shingle.
After cleaning my visor, and gassing up in tamranui i was still wasn't too sore, the hyo is a good bike to ride distances on.
tamaranui to te-kuiti was a blast, riding hard all the way, speeding, but safely.
one bad moment was coming out of a left hander at 120, to have the sun hit my eyes right in the middle, a bit stunned i ran a bit wide, but fortunatly i hadn'd done a "loosebruce" and left no room for error, a little lean and i was good again.
the hyosung had suspension issues, the handling has good, but the ride is hard and bumpy, and the suspension feels like it wont absorb bumps...a bit strange, because mid corner bumps dont upset it.
the sun was getting low as i hit otrahonga, i slowed too, because of the straight roads, it was just a gentle cruise to hamilton then.
upon arrival; i felt as though i had only been riding 2 hrs, upon reflection, had had thought it would have been much worse, but it was great
cheers to scarwall, and skelstar, both true gentlemen to deal with.
i highly recomend the hyosung comet, it is ideal for a learner.:doobey: