the
Hyosung GV250 Aquila
Trust me the picture doesn't do the bike justice. The fit and finish on the bike is outstanding. It has a pretty surprising amount of power, 26.82 HP (19.6 kW)) @
9200 RPM. It can handle very well due to the exhaust and stuff being tucked up out of the way so the first thing dragging on the ground in a curve is your heel. A friend of mine has purchased this bike 2 weeks ago and has been running the wheels off it. Already has 650 miles on it. She got interested in it because I was planning on eventually getting the GV650 from that company so when I stopped at the dealership to let her see the bike she saw the 250 sitting there and loved it. $3400 was what she ended up paying for it total, not that bad of a deal but it can be had cheaper if you are willing to shop around.
The bike comes with a 2 year unlimited mileage full warranty. As far as I know no other manufacturer is even close to that. We went for a ride today of about 100 miles on 4 lane roads and the bike is really fast for a 250. At a stop light my DR650 is about 3/4 throttle to stay even with it. The DR isn't that fast of a bike but it can't run away and leave the little 250 like you would figure it should be able to. It can totally blow away the Lifan from a stop and it is a 200cc. The top speed of the GV250 is probably a tiny bit over 90mph stock. It runs at 70mph without much effort, going up hills that my Metro is at wide open in 4th, it pulls them in 5th at 3/4 throttle without losing speed. It has consistently been getting 10-12mpg better than my DR when we have been riding together(normal riding, no hypermiliing). It has a 4 gallon tank so it can actually go pretty far between fillups. I think the lowest tank to date was an interstate highway run at 75-85 constant speed and it got 60mpg. Going slow in it I have no idea what it's mileage is but it is probably very good.
It takes a bit of getting used to a bike with a 12k rpm redline that cruises at 7500rpm at 65mph
but once you get over the idea that you are revving the guts out of it and actually let the bike go then it gets real smooth and comfy. It really doesn't like going under 3000rpms. The engine is perfectly smooth revving it and shifting at 12k if you want to go fast. I would say for a commuter bike if the gearing was adjusted so the engine was at the start of it's power ~3500rpm at your normal cruising speed it could easily pick up 10mpg. I think the bike has a the potential to beat pretty much any other 2-300cc bike if someone was to go for max mileage on it. She is a new rider so some of the bad mileage is from lack of experience riding by slowing a lot for curves then going wide open to catch back up to the group. The bike's lifetime average should be at least 65mpg even though she has not been keeping track of it as well as I would have liked to get a real number and not just a good guess.
Overall I am really impressed with what Hyosung is selling, even though they are a new name they are not new to motorcycles. They are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. They have made a lot of bikes for Suzuki and others in the past but now they are trying to make a go of it on their own. They have a decent line up of bikes and after seeing the 250 in action I will probably be buying a 650 this spring or maybe this fall if they give me a good deal on a clearance 07 model. The 08 models coming out after January will be fuel injected so that might give it even better mileage. I have no details of what type of fuel injection they are using so as of now it is all just guesses.