My Hyosung Bikes: Review

Being in Korea I've decided to pick up riding. I started with a 125cc Hyosung Exiv and quickly moved up to the 2007 Hyosung Comet GT250R. This is a great learner bike. There's a lot of debate as to whether this bike is worth buying or not. As far as I'm concerned, if you've ridden before then skip this bike. There's a great rush the first time you get on a motorcycle because it's not natural for you to be moving so fast and the shock is compounded by the fact that you don't have a metal cage around you to desensitize you from the speed. But once you get over those initial days of learning to ride, this bike gets boring really fast. However, this bike is not without its own merits.

Bigger Issues:

This was my first bigger bike and I forgot to keep in my mind that it's not a 4 cylinder race bike. I rode the piss out of it and still do. Here's a list of issues that I've run into:

Kick stand switch going berserk and making my bike die while moving.

Burning out clutch plates.

I think those to are connected as my clutch plates only burned out as my bike decided to die on me at 150 km/h repeatedly for a while. The fix? $300 in parts and labor for clutch plates and fresh oil change and shorting the kick stand sensor wire. And seriously, if you just short that wire early you probably won't have to worry about your clutch plates burning out on you. Checking with a Hyosung Riders' forum, I think I'm the only one who's had such an issue (clutch plates). If you get your kick stand switch fixed early, this entire ordeal could probably be avoided.

Minor issues:

The stock tires are horrible in almost every aspect.

I've had my tail slide out on me on dry pavement. This would make sense if I was riding a 600cc+ bike, but this is a 250cc bike. Albeit, I didn't give the tires the 30 minute warm up time they need, what quality tire needs that much time to warm up? It's not supposed to happen. The fix? New rear tire. The stock one wore out on me within 8000 km anyways. Replacing the stock Shinko tire changed everything about the bike. It instantly became more flickable, the suspension actually seemed to do something, and I could go WOT through turns without worry of traction loss.

As far as I'm concerned, if you are living in Korea, there is no reason to modify this bike. As someone had mentioned to me once, this ain't no GP bike. You can rejet it, put on an exhaust, pay for that $80 BMC filter, drop 10 teeth in the sprockets, and whatever else you can think of, but in the end you'll just be on a 250cc bike. Now, the reason I mention that there's no point in Korea is that the price difference between this bike and the big sister 650cc version is around that of purchasing all those modifications.

Dispelled Rumors:

Going into purchasing this bike, I did my own bit of Googling and found a bunch of supposed problems with this bike. No, I could not find any rust on this bike. A somewhat respected online magazine obviously sponsored by Kawasaki made a claim that there was apparent rust on this bike right from the factory. I'm sitting at 10,000km and still don't see any. The chain sucks, the motor sucks, blah blah blah sucks, it's made in China, blah blah blah. I lube my chain every now and then, by which I mean I don't go overboard with it and it has lasted me 10,000km. That's 10,000km worth of WOT, burnouts, clutch drops attempting wheelies, aggressive downshifting (aka having my rear wheel lock up on me a few times because I downshifted too early), and etc. My chain is still good and I've only moved the rear alignment bolt one tick back. I have overrevved my bike several times. Sometimes it was because I wasn't paying attention (the power delivery on this bike is flat) or because I was going through a turn and upshifting could have been a problem. I almost always go WOT on this bike. This bike has gone through an entire season of this treatment from me and it has not had any issues. And last of all, this bike is made by Hyosung Motors, it's a Korean company. Eat it. There's a bunch of other stuff I could write about this bike, but that's stuff I've read already in other reviews and stories about the Hyosung Comet GT250R. Oh, one last thing about the handling... it's pretty good. I've never been on any other bike, but all I know is that as a beginner I've been able to chase bikes with twice, three, or four times as much power on uphill twisties.

Now, what I'm hoping to make the meat and potatoes of these reviews...

When the Zombies Come:

This bike would be quite handy in the case of a zombie invasion. So long as you leave the tailpipe alone, it doesn't have that, "OMG, FRESH RATIONAL BRAIN MEAT IS NEARBY" noise appeal that zombies tend to go for. It's fairly light and handles itself well enough so you would be able to get away from any zombie parade and weave through the carcasses of abandoned cars and whatnot. The unfortunate part of this bike comes down to the suspension, it does not fair that well over bumps so take it easy when going around corners, if the movies are right, the roads will be strewn with cracks in the asphalt and random debris. The good thing is that the average zombie's top speed should be somewhere between 5 to 12 km/h so you can take the corners as easy as you want. It's pretty good on gas and able to get across Korea on one tank. The bike has a nifty little trunk that will hold at least a decent sized .45 pistol, which is the minimum I would suggest for armament against zombies... a 9mm isn't gonna do crap unless you're an expert marksman and can really make headshots with every shot and account for every wind variance and surprise zombie attack.

(O)verall (R)ating (F)or (Z)ombie (P)reparation:

Necessity: 3/5

Practicality: 4/5

Zombie Killing Ability: 2/5

Zombie Defense: 4/5

Getting Your Motorcycle License

I can only speak for someone who has a driver's license in America. You can trade in your American driver's license for a Korean driver's license after taking a 20-quesition written test. The Korean driver's license you receive allows you to drive automatic transmission cars. You can see all of your endorsements on the top right of your license. 2종보통 means that you have the basic driver's license. The motorcycle license is actually just an endorsement on your existing driving license as it usually is in the case of your American driver's license.

If your plan is to remain on a 124.99cc or less motorcycle (including most scooters), then you don't have to worry about the motorcycle endorsement. The motorcycle endorsement is called 2종소형.

The first thing you need to do is go to the website:
http://www.dla.go.kr/Servlet/Main

The English version doesn't really do much to help you, but I'm going to assume you have a bilingual Korean friend to help you find info on where one is. The easiest way to set an appointment for the riding test is to create a username/login on the website and find your way to set an appointment online. If you can't find anyone to help you navigate the site, then you could always stop by the testing center to set an appointment in person. If you don't know how to find your local testing center, do a naver search for: "운전면허시험장 [insert nearest big city or your city]". Small cities will generally hold motorcycle license testing once or twice a week, but testing centers in Seoul have them every day.

Here is a video of what you will be dealing with:



I would recommend that you practice riding before you go. The bike you will be using to take the test will be a Hyosung Mirage 250cc. The most difficult part is the first section, which is called "The Crank". It's a narrow laned 90 degree left and then 90 degree right. Despite how easy it might seem, this is actually somewhat difficult and where most people fall off. I practiced in a parking lot and simply tried my best to stay on the white lines that marked the parking spaces.

The rest of the test involves a sweeping S-turn, a straight, and a moderately simple cone/pylon slalom. Besides "the crank" the rest of the riding test is extremely easy, my only recommendation is that you keep some speed and don't get nervous. If you go to slow, the bike will lose a lot of stability and it will be shaky through any of the maneuvers. The trick is to be smooth and cautious, but not too cautious.

Now, how do you fail the test? One ways is if you put your foot down on the pavement. The second way is if an entire tire goes over a boundary line. You can still attain a passing score if only half a tire passes over a boundary line and I've seen people pass when they've toe-tapped the pavement for a moment.

Things you should bring to the testing center:
Your driver's license
Your passport
Your foreigner card (Green card)
Some cash (Approx. 20,000 Won)
Passport photos of yourself

Now, the testing center I went to had someone who would take your photo for a small fee and cut you a passport sized photo, but I can't guarantee that all testing centers will have a photographer so I say it's better to be safe than sorry.