Quote Originally Posted by ollyjg View Post
Had my licence for an age and been looking at bikes for the past 7-8 years in the hope that 'one day' id have a bit of cash to spare.
At this rate it doesnt look like it'l be anytime soon so I figured its time to just jump on in there.

The qaundry; and yes it is an age old question....

Cheap and new?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/moto...-560586598.htm

or cheap and ancient?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/moto...-558739402.htm

The thought of buying a 20+ yr bike with 60-140ks scares me a little. To my eye the old f1-3s are particularly pretty either. Crazy how they hold thier value

Hyosung? no top end, steel frame (akin to the f1,f2), terrible reviews etc etc and no aftermarket value.
I think I could live with a slower bike. I'm not out to set any records and if I made it to the track it would still be ample for me.

Would appreciate any comments. I'm just trying to gauge what its likely to cost in the long term.
Ideally I'd like something that I can put 20k on without having to send it down to the shop to spend what amounts to an F4.

Then again in another few years I might be able to afford that 600rr I've been drooling over

Cheers all,

Great forum
The Hyo's have a 'bad rep'.. once again I'll remind the young masses the Japanese made some HUGE fuck ups in the late 60's to the 80's and STILL have to recall bikes for repairs, modifications even today... so lets get THAT into perspective.
Hyosung were involved with Suzuki on the SV650, but the hyo isnt an exact copy, but they used a lot of the japanese 'know how'.. yes the early bikes had some issues, they have improved, and there are people even on here who have done some good mileages on them, even the 250's. Once a bike has a reputation? it never shakes it, and it's finished.. Classic example of this is the horrendous fuck up of the Yamaha TX750, it was a brilliant piece of engineering thought, but 'poorly executed'... basically it used a chain driven counter weight to prevent vibration found on parallel twins.. they didnt make it adjustable and it ftotheed up the oil, seizures galore, Yamaha fixed the problem's and if you read up on the final version it was a sorted, reliable bike... too late it's goose was cooked! There were several jap bikes in the 1980's with fork seal issues... didnt stop them selling in big numbers, in fact a lot ofYamaha's TODAY still can do the fork seals at low k's.. my MT? has a known issue with the steering head bearings, they get water in them and nearly all end up replaced by 30k. Honda in the 80's fitted all their bikes with FVQ shocks... fade very quickly, didnt stop hundreds of thousands buying bikes with shit shock absorbers. The Hyo may not be 'quite' japanese standard, but like Daiwoo, Kia, Hyundai they are catching up bloody fast.
yes I will agree the hornet seems to be one of the better 250's for durability and ability... but you answer your own question really.... high revving, old, and a lot of previous owners more than likely, Vs a lower revving, newer, lower K's bike that is unlikely to have gone through a series of 'enthusiastic' riders with dubious maintenance schedules.

I doubt there will be a lot between them for performance. The edge would have to go to the 650, but it will pull better in mid range, and it will be cheaper to service and repair................. caveat emptor