S.Korea Road Riding Scene

**Korea** · 28th November 2005, 23:03

Well, I have been riding in Korea for a couple of years now and having finally upgraded to a REAL bike I have been able to discover a lot more of Korea.

Once you get out of the congested city streets there are some nice twisty B-roads to blast about on, which is all you're getting because motorcycles are banned from the open highways; keeping riders in the twistys where they belong.
No matter, the quality of the B-roads are generally great - long, wide open in parts, twisty but with concrete barriers on both sides; they haven't been designed with motorcyclist safety in mind.

One thing that surprised me about Korean riders is that most of the guys I've met have super-trick, late model sports bikes - and they know how to ride them too! Most ride seemingly without fear of loss of life and limb and the standard is generally stupidly quick. Enough to lose you your licence faster than you can say "Kim Chi" in New Zealand. Strangely, the police presence is minimal outside of town and I rarely see a single car on a weekend ride to the Cheon Wang Jae mountain region just an hour southeast of Daegu city.

This mountain range has a pass through it reminiscent of the Rimutaka hill, and the riders from Daegu, Pohang, and Busan regularly gather on a Sunday afternoon to blast up and down repeately until someone writes their bike off.

This happened two weekends ago, when the ZXR750, just 10 odd-metres in front of me, turned way too early for one corner, drifted to the outside of the curve and bounced off the guardrail. I remember thinking as he initiated the turn in "Hmm... seems a bit early..." and I backed off in time to see him go into a wobble as he panicked and laid it down into the barrier. Luckily he was okay, but the bike lay broken and bleeding its guts out right on the breaking line for the sweeper going up.

So here are some photos and a little video clip (see if you can spot me) of the Cheon Wang Jae mountain road: No big brother to tell you off, definitely great fun, but ride like a plonker/ride beyond you or your bike's abilities and you pay the price.

Have fun and ride safe everyone...

**Korea** · 28th November 2005, 23:23

Here are some photos from riding in Korea - once or twice, when pulling out I forgot to ride on the right hand side (for a split-second). The last photo is some crazy road I haven't been yet...

**Brian d marge** · 28th November 2005, 23:52

Man that corner has to be one of the best ones I have seen ...we should send detailed drawings to the LTSA or transit nz who ever is in charge of the roads here ...
Offering that one up as a blue print for all future road constuction!!!

Stephen

**onearmedbandit** · 28th November 2005, 23:53

Get good deals on R1's in Korea?!?

**SlowHand** · 29th November 2005, 00:04

Man that last one looks kewl - may need to come ride it, i mean visit the rellies....

I remember a rd/hill called 66turns or something when I was little. it got tunnelled apparently. sob.

**skelstar** · 29th November 2005, 07:36

That looks sensational (last photo). Nice test piece I imagine.

**WRT** · 29th November 2005, 09:03

Very cool, dunno how keen I would be to have my bike parked up with the rest on the outside of those corners tho . . . would only take one guy to stuff up his line through there and he could wipe out a whole heap of machinery!

Otherwise tho, that looks like a whole lotta fun!

**tracyprier** · 29th November 2005, 10:13

I had the same thought

Same as those dick spectators at WRC rallies that hang around on the outside of corners... YIKES!

Originally Posted by WRT

Very cool, dunno how keen I would be to have my bike parked up with the rest on the outside of those corners tho . . . would only take one guy to stuff up his line through there and he could wipe out a whole heap of machinery!

Otherwise tho, that looks like a whole lotta fun!

**Korea** · 29th November 2005, 12:57

Originally Posted by WRT

Very cool, dunno how keen I would be to have my bike parked up with the rest on the outside of those corners tho . . .

No kidding~ I thought that was a bit stupid too; parked my bike well before the corner and was just waiting for someone to low-side into the bikes and set them off like dominoes.

Yeah, see a lot of R1s over here - they're pretty popular.
...and Blades, CBR600s, GSXR750s, scooters galore...

**Marmoot** · 29th November 2005, 12:57

ｂｌｏｏｄｙ＇ｅｌｌ．．．．ｉ＇ｍ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｗｒｏｎｇ　ｃｏｕｎｔｒｙ．　Ｎｏｗ，　ｗｈｅｒｅ＇ｓ　ｍｙ　ｐａｓｓｐｏｒｔ　ａｎｄ　ｃｒｅｄｉｔ　ｃａｒｄ，　ｈｏｎｅｙ？

**skelstar** · 29th November 2005, 13:24

Originally Posted by Korea

Yeah, see a lot of R1s over here - they're pretty popular.
...and Blades, CBR600s, GSXR750s, scooters galore...

How popular are the Hyo 650R's? Are they regarded as a cheap bike and with some scepticism? I know they arent in the same league as the CBR600RRs etc but not everyone needs an R1,R6,CBR600RR.

**Korea** · 29th November 2005, 14:08

Yeah, I have seen a couple about ~ but not as many as you'd expect.
Performance-wise they're still no match for the Japanese 600cc rockets, but you'd be comparing apples with oranges.
Think about the Hyosung Vs. Suzuki SV650. You don't get fuel injection with the Hyo, but apparently there's a smidgen more power. The Hyo is heavier but offers comparable performance at a great price. I've heard that the Hyosung's brakes are a bit wooden and don't have much bite.
In the end, you get a lot of bike for not a whole lot of money.
I'd have one.

**Korea** · 29th November 2005, 14:22

Just out of interest... How do you pronounce 'Hyosung'?
Over here the Korean characters "효성" translate to "Hyo - Song" (Hyo rhymes with Toe). I saw a US video where it was pronounced "Hi - O - Sung".

**skelstar** · 29th November 2005, 14:28

Originally Posted by Korea

Just out of interest... How do you pronounce 'Hyosung'?
Over here the Korean characters "효성" translate to "Hyo - Song" (Hyo rhymes with Toe). I saw a US video where it was pronounced "Hi - O - Sung".

Yeah I think Im pronouncing it the right way...getting the 'song' bit as 'sung' though.