United Motors 250cc Cruiser

[91CavGT]

2 weeks ago my dad bought a 2008 United Motors 250cc cruiser. For those that have never heard of United Motors, it is a rebadged Hyosung. My dad bought the bike to commute back and forth to work with instead of his quad cab Dodge pickup truck.

He went and took the motorcycle safety course, then got his license. He then went and test drove several differant small motorcycles. He used to ride bikes in the 70's so this is not his first time to ride. He is also a pretty big guy. At 6' and last I knew he weighed in at about 275 pounds.

I went with him and we sat on a Johnny Pag cruiser, a Harley Davidson 883 Sportster, a Qlink 250, and a SunL cruiser (unsure of the size). In the past I have sat on a Suzuki GV250, Honda Rebel, Ninja 250, and a Yamaha Virago. Both my dad and I hands down agreed that the Hyosung 250 had the best ergonomics out of all of the quarter liter bikes. It even had a more comfortable seat than the Harley Davidson!!


My dad called me today to let me know that he finally started riding the bike to work now that he had over 100 miles on the bike. He said that acceleration was not snap your neck fast, but it more than got out of it's own way, even with the large load of my dad on it's back! In 5th gear, at 45 mph he enters one particular enterance ramp near his house. By the end of the on ramp he is at highway speed of 65 mph with never downshifting!!

After 177 miles he filled up with gas. The bike took 3 gallons of gas at $4 a gallon. This ends up being 59 mpg. Now keep in mind that this is during the break in period where he constantly varied his speed and throttle position for the first 100 miles. The next tank of gas will be a better representation of the actual gas mileage this bike will return.


Over all though, he is VERY happy! To go 177 miles in his Dodge truck, it would have taken about 9.8 gallons of gas! Yes, 3 times as much! This bike is DEFINATELY paying for itself!

[Sludgy]

This is good info. I would have expected better than 59 mpg. I get 50-55 out of my XR 650L.

[91CavGT]

Originally Posted by Sludgy

This is good info. I would have expected better than 59 mpg. I get 50-55 out of my XR 650L.

Keep in mind that the break in period was on this tank. The first 100 miles were split between about 7 rides and they were spent constantly changing speed and throttle position while not exactly taking it easy at times.


The next tank of fuel will be a more accurate measure of gas mileage.

[91CavGT]

My dad's 2nd tank of gas came in at 63.7 mpg. Keep in mind that he is NOT trying to get good gas mileage. All he is doing is just riding to and from work at a regular pace. At 500 miles he performed the bike's first service which included changing the oil, adjusting tension on the chain, and lubricating the chain.

[1fixitman]

One of my friends at work purchased a 150 cc scooter similar to a Kymco but another chinese knock-off. After the break in period for his bike with over 1400 miles on the scoot he calculated two tanks recently at 94 MPG and 114 MPG. His speed never gets above 55 mph as his commute is only 8 miles and the speed limit is 45 mph and below. 91CavGT if someone that weighed about 150 lbs drove the same vehicle as your dad then it would increase by about 12-15%. I am a big dude at 225lbs. Great job on the savings for your dad.
Dwayne

[arklatex]

Your dad has a good bike!!! United Motors and Hyosung and the same bike but different labels on them and the GV250 looks great and rus great. The design of this bikes makes others think it is a larger bike. The only other 250 class bike that is faster would be the KYMCO VENOX.

[91CavGT]

Originally Posted by arklatex

Your dad has a good bike!!! United Motors and Hyosung and the same bike but different labels on them and the GV250 looks great and rus great. The design of this bikes makes others think it is a larger bike. The only other 250 class bike that is faster would be the KYMCO VENOX.

Most people think it's a 500 cc bike!! It surprises a LOT of people as to how big and comfortable it is, then they get a bigger surprise when they see how much power it has for just a 250 cc motor!


I'm going over to my dad's house over the July 4th weekend to install a windsheild and some other accessories for it. I'll report back, hopefully with pictures, to see how gas mileage is effected.

[91CavGT]

Well, I talked to my dad yesterday. He now has approximately 2,000 miles on his bike. His last tank of gas was right at 65 mpg. It appears as though the gas mileage is increasing as the bike is getting broken in. At 2400 miles he is bringing it over to my house so we can set the valve lash and do an oil change.

btw, the windsheild still has not yet come in so this gas mileage is for his basic bike with saddle bags on it.

[91CavGT]

After several months, the windsheild finally came in!! My dad installed it last weekend and I'll be posting up gas mileage changes when I talk to him next.

[alvaro84]

We have a Hyosung GV250 too (Ciliegia by name), and I'll put up its mileage log soon. It still has curiosities, as I could get its best mileage in the winter, with low tire pressure and with pretty short city rides just to keep its battery loaded (it had been hardly used for 1.5 years when we purchased it, with 6000kms in the odometer) and at least two freeway top speed test. The average won't be that very useful though, very much of it is practicing in 1st and 2nd gear (my girlfriend's learning for her riding license with this bike).
Now its tire pressure is at the factory recommendations, I've adjusted its chain, and will go on a longer tour with it. Then you'll get some mileage data of long 2-up rides.
The best so far is 3.43l/100km (68.57mpg) anyway. Another guy bought one like a month ago and he wrote that he got some 3l/100km (78mpg) after his first ride. I'm sure I'll have to get the carbs synched soon, hoping for better mileage. Changing sprockets can also help.
(edit: and Ciliegia has a largish windscreen attached. Makes a difference for sure, but I don't know how much and in which direction...)

Update: we went on a 550km (mostly) 2-up trip at the weekend with Ciliegia, and got 3.23l/100km (72.87mpg). Better but could be improved. It was mostly highway ride @~90km/h(56mph), but had a long (over 100km) stage where the road was just too bad for the default legal speed, so we were cruising at ~60km/h (37mph).
I still couldn't remove that damn windscreen, not just to test its air drag. I would have enjoyed some more breeze in the 30-35C hot summer...