Move over Hyosung, here come the Chinese

[crshbndct]

yamaha scorpio 225 is a far better bike, and cheaper too. imho.

[ZeroIndex]

yamaha scorpio 225 is a far better bike, and cheaper too. imho.

agreed, plus they don't lie about the engine size

[Mr. Peanut]

It's not lying, it's marketing.

[Bonez]

It's not lying, it's marketing.

Too right SR250s are not 250cc either. And look how long they've been around.

[James Deuce]

Nothing is what it says it is. My Z750 is 748cc, and the Katana is 399cc. Thus has it always been.

[Sanx]

...with the stopping power of a brick wall

Dunno how many brick walls you've run into, but usually they do a pretty good job of stopping someone.

[ZeroIndex]

Dunno how many brick walls you've run into, but usually they do a pretty good job of stopping someone.

but at what cost?

[90s]

but at what cost?

Generally its free to ride into a brick wall.

[nudemetalz]

Bikes which are either 400's that are 399's etc are that way to allow for a first and/or second rebore and new pistons. This always increases the capacity for obvious reasons.

[FkNAmerican]

I've ridden on a Hyosung 650 R that I was momentarily considering as a possiblity........it really wasnt all that bad as a first bike considering but: It was used and straight away I noticed some quality control issues with the bike (mirror plate fell out, Hyosong labels pealing off, brake feel not so hot, clanky sounding engine, not the best fuel delivery on planet earth). THEN, I called around looking for places that would service the thing and had parts. Not so many!!! Mind you the price of the thing was $3,000!! Not bad for a 650cc bike. But perosnally I'd rather pony up the few extra G's for something really nice like a Kwaka Ninja 650 or even a GS500.

Either way I've been rather severly put off by the experiences of a friend of mine who bought a "legit" korean scooter about 8 months ago. He works with me and still, eight months later, we bust his balls daily over it hehe. He was looking into a scooter as a cheap way of getting to and from work. I told him to get a Yamaha or if Honda makes a scooter get one of those. He found some dealer selling korean scooters out of a storage shed. I told him this guy should not be trusted. He bought a scooter from him anyway for $900. Within two weeks the headlight had failed, then the brakes started failing and he almost rear ended a truck, then the thing wouldnt start and he had to re-wire it. The brakes, by the way, wouldnt have been sufficient for a 3 year olds pedal go-kart!!! I think they were actually made of eraser tips and saw dust. It was hilarious. Turns out in the end that this wasnt just any korean scooter, it was an illegally smuggled in North Korean scooter that local police were calling a death trap. Apparently, a few people had bought the things and plowed into cars at traffic lights after the brakes went to shit.

So basically that whole episode made me cautious of Korean motorcycles in general.....not to mention I couldnt stand getting laughed at every sunday up at the local bike meet. If being different was important to me I'd pony up and show up on a Triumph Daytona 675 rather then a Hyo. Of course, I'd have to completely ignore cost concerns with the Triumph hehe.

[James Deuce]

So basically that whole episode made me cautious of Korean motorcycles in general.....not to mention I couldnt stand getting laughed at every sunday up at the local bike meet. If being different was important to me I'd pony up and show up on a Triumph Daytona 675 rather then a Hyo. Of course, I'd have to completely ignore cost concerns with the Triumph hehe.

Interesting how people ignore the quality control issues with the 675 engine assembly. They can run out of oil between services if not checked religiously and there have been documented reports of pistons meeting valves in well looked after machines.

[ZeroIndex]

Too right SR250s are not 250cc either. And look how long they've been around.

Nothing is what it says it is. My Z750 is 748cc, and the Katana is 399cc. Thus has it always been.

At 248cc, rounding up 2cc isn't a problem. Eg. VTR250
At 399cc, rounding up 1cc isn't a problem. Eg. Katana 400
At 748cc, rounding up 2cc isn't a problem. Eg. Z750
At 998cc, rounding up 2cc isn't a problem. Eg. GSX-R1000
At 230cc, rounding up 20cc IS A PROBLEM. Eg. Zongshen SZ250GS














And finally...
At 1352cc, rounding up 48cc IS A F**KING PROBLEM. Come on Kawasaki, it should be marketed as a Kawasaki ZX-13.5 (George Foreman Edition)

[James Deuce]

20cc as a percentage of engine capacity is still less than the likely speedo error on the average motorcycle from any manufacturer.

[MSTRS:Me]

20cc as a percentage of engine capacity is still less than the likely speedo error on the average motorcycle from any manufacturer.

And over-priced, underpowered crap is still crap, esp when it's Chinese.

[FkNAmerican]

well, any bike can lose a bit of oil. I check my oil level religiously anyway so its not an issue

No bike is perfect and no company has a perfect record with any model. There will always be lemons and little niggles in the works. Thats just a fact of life. BUT, if the bike in general is of poor quality because of design or because of poor quality materials then they makes a difference.

One MAJOR problem with Hyo's, at least in the United States, is that they arnt very popular at all and there is hardly anywhere to service them. Most shops wont even touch them, let alone take them in as a trade in. All this leads to really poor resale value on them. Case in point is the one I test rode. It was sold new for well over $5,000 OTD and the guy offered it to me for $3,000 so he lost quite a bit there......and he may not have even sold the thing yet because I didnt buy it.

In contrast, I bought my Kawasaki Ninja 250R for $3,600 brand new including an expensive helmet, jacket, pants, gloves, tire preasure guage, chain lube, chain cleaner, tax, tags, and doc fee's.....plus a full tank of gas hehe. I just sold the motorcycle (not including my gear which I need for my CBR 600) to a friend for $3,000. So basically I lost a few hundred bucks. The lesson here is this:

Shop around and buy smart. If you look for a good deal then you can buy a brand new bike, especially a starter bike like a 250R, then sell it for something bigger/better and not get taken on depreciation. There is no way in hell I could have ever got that much $$ if I had, say, a Hyosung 250R by comparison. I'd prolly be begging people to buy it. Instead I bought one of the best sellers in the entire world: the Ninja 250R....and people have been lining up to buy it as there first bike......and I get to sell it for $3,000 because its really really hard to find one brand new for less then $3,800 out the door.....so people save $800 and they get the first service taken care of by buying mine......and because I took my time and got a great deal I dont lose too much......its a win win situation really.