2012 Hyosung GT650 - Voted: Fail

[HYPERR]

I thought Hyosung changed their name in the US. Their main problem was despite being from South Korea which is far superior to China, because of the name ending in "ng", many Westerners thought it was another POS Chinese company. Anytime anyone mistakes you for China, that is a kiss of death for any company.

[Grey Thumper]

Seems to be an OK bike, and I tend to like middleweight standards. It just doesn't seem like I'd take a longing look back at it after a ride, y'know? Maybe Hyosung should take a cue from Korean car companies that hired pretty famous industrial designers; Hyundai hired Thomas Buerkle (ex BMW) and Kia hired Peter Schreyer (ex Audi) to be their design heads.

[storysunfolding]

I surprisingly had to go with cool. We have a fleet of their 250 version for one of our training programs since they were all we could find at the end of 2008 due to high gas prices. While there are a few quality issues, the ride is smooth and the responses were crisp. When a student brought his 650 to the advanced class, I got to rail it around the parking lot and had a blast. Upgrade the tires from Shinko, add progressive springs and she's a decent scoot for the price. Great for a first bike if there's a dealer near you.

Also, I hear alot of SV650 clone comments regarding these bikes, but the motor is significantly different (in some cases admittedly stupid) and it looks just as much like a monster.

[jstark47]

I thought Hyosung changed their name in the US.

Hyosung sells under their own name in the USA, but also provides their products to other companies for rebadging. I think Hyosung's current such arrangement is with ATK. Previously United Motors sold rebadged Hyosungs, but UM went belly up in 2010. IMO these arrangements weaken Hyosung's brand, and I'm puzzled Hyosung can't see that.

[totalmotorcycle]

I decided to go with: FAIL

Years ago I really believed in the GT650 when it was introduced but since then Hyosung hasn't really done anything to make it better. It is really starting to feel more of a "Chinese knockoff" thanks to Hyosung taking the road of minor bodywork and instrument changes to copy near-exact the competition from Honda, Ducati and Suzuki. And one of the reasons might be slow sales (from a too small dealer network) reduces R&D. Usually I applaud companies having a motorcycle priced very aggressively (ie, the GT650 is $3000 below Suzuki's SV650!) but in this case Hyosung should re-invest into the GT650 line, charge another $1500 per bike and get a product out that's original and unique.

If you are in the market for a good all around, inexpensive bike, then this wouldn't be a bad choice at all. I'm just giving it a Fail mainly because of what Hyosung has done with the R&D of GT650 line up.

Mike

[Wrider]

I'm gonna go with uncool. Hyosung makes the SV650 motor for Suzuki, and in this model squeezes another 10 HP out of it, but slightly less torque. That said, they copy everything Suzuki does/has done with this model, save for the frame, which they do a horrible job with IMO.
Also, if you ever see these up close, the body panels (the few there are) aren't matched up at all, and in some cases are varying shades of the general color.
I'm with Mike in that they ought to reinvest in their own company, build something of their own, make it decent, and go from there. I thought Hyosung might have had something going when they came out with this thing originally in 06 ( ? ), but it hasn't changed in fit, finish, tech, etc in 6 years now...

[totalmotorcycle]

Wow, we have a 3 way tie!

Your Coolness Factor of the 2012 Hyosung GT650 is...

Awesome 0%
Cool 33%
Uncool 33%
Fail 33%

This is going to a very close finish for tomorrow morning to see where the 2012 Hyosung GT650 fits into the Total Motorcycle Cool Wall!

Mike

[dr_bar]

If there was an epic fail choice, I would have selected it... Poor copy at best...

[totalmotorcycle]

Again, thanks to everyone who voted and put in their :2cents: for the 2012 Hyosung GT650 on our Cool Wall! Please see the current bike up to vote/discuss and remember you can always go back and vote on any you missed over the past weeks/months/years.

Your Coolness Factor of the 2012 Hyosung GT650 is...

Awesome 0%
Cool 32%
Uncool 26%
Fail 42%

Quite an interesting vote. The 2012 Hyosung GT650 is our 1st Fail bike for 2012 but with 32% Cool it wouldn't take much for Hyosung to improve the model and take higher marks.

Mike