O/T - HYOSUNG COMET GT125

[RichP]

Toying with the idea of getting a bike - anyone any experience or thoughts on these things (for sale at work)?

"Hyosung Comet GT125, 2003 (03), 4000 miles, Black,  Learner legal motorcycle based on Suzuki GS500 and SV650, 15hp 75deg V-twin four-stroke engine capable of 70 mph, 12 Months MOT, 12 Months Tax, Recently had full service, Rides like new. £950."

I'm sure they depreciate like mad and are clearly less well known than the normal small bikes, but it has a V-Twin which must be better than the normal 1-pot offerings? Plus it looks nice! Logic would be to get some road experience before going for a direct access course and moving up to a bigger bike. At least then I'll be concentrating on what the instructor says rather than on not falling off the bike!

Thoughts appreciated.

Cheers

Rich

[And]

Not being one to beat around the bush, I'd say - don't touch it. As you say, depreciation would be horrible, but I would also be very concerned about reliability, build quality and spares. Buy something Japanese.

Sorry.

And.

[ACW]

well normally I'd say dont touch this with a barge pole cos of depreciation etc, but someone I know in spain has one, and its a cracker really for the money.

remember cheap bikes are always gonna be cheaper second hand. recon its maybe done plenty of depreciation.

If you ought like when I had a 125, youll throw down the road a few times any how.

[DanB]

QUOTE

based on Suzuki GS500 and SV650

Presumably that means 'blatant and entirely illegal copy of someone else's design'?

[gixermark]

be one of those bikes that if you buy - you will end up keping for a very long time...

for all the wrong reasons !! you'd never get shot of one of those.....

to say its based on those bikes is a pretty loose statement..

at a grand i wouldn't even say it was cheap for a starter/hack..

[ASB]

not made for british weather, on a quiet night you can hear them rusting!

[Boomy]

I recently decided I would do my CBT and get a year or two of 125cc biking under my belt to see if i got the bug for it.I will then do the full test later on if I enjoy it (although the test is changing shortly - more off road stuff around cones etc, but it's not as bad as people make out) I looked at many bikes as I didn't want new and I asked several biker pals about the Chinese bikes like the Hyosung.They do some lovely looking bikes, as do other Chinese manufacturers and the one I liked the look of looked more like a 600cc GSXR or summat!

However, without fail, everyone I spoke too suggested not to bother and that an older Jap bike would be the way to go really.It was not so much to do with reliability, but all to do with quality of parts used, rust and niggles after only a short time etc.

I needed a big framed bike and didn't want a 2 stroke track weapon, this was after all just an introduction to biking for me, so I wanted comfort, semi-decent performance, big bike looks, road presence and something I could commute on and not ache.One bike stood head and shoulders above everything else in that regard and that bike was the Honda Varadero 125 V-twin.

It looks more like a 400cc + bike to the untrained eye and even at around 6 foot tall, my feet are not flat on the floor when I sit on it.It will do just over 70 mph with me on it once it gets going (could do with a 6th gear mind) and is sooo easy to ride.I use it quite regularly for work now and have been 'filtering' my A*** off in traffic and slowly building up my confidence.Approx £15 of juice will get me around 200/220 miles riding it sensibly.

It may not have a sports bike look about it, but I'm not a lover of those bikes which try to look like their bigger faster Brothers.They just look odd to me as they have a similar shape but tiny wheels and pea shooter exhausts etc.

You do have to pay a bit of a premium for the Varadero though, I picked up my example on a 51 plate with two owners and just under 7k miles for £1400.I then serviced it myself, gave it a good clean up, added a tank protector and a few girly stickers and I am well chuffed with the result.Many still go for around £1700+ though depending on the year etc, so if you do see one in great condition (as I did on ebay a while back and it sold 10 mins later with a BIN) for around £1300, just buy it and sell it on for a profit if you don't like it.Even ropey ones with 20k miles can make as much as I paid for mine!

Here she is..

Some people even remove the front fairing for that street fighter look and it then starts to look more like a Suzuki Bandit or something

For the record, this is the type of Hyosung I was looking at...

Great looking bike, and they are getting better in terms of quality etc, but you only have to google and read forums etc to begin to understand why many are put off.

[Blatman]

QUOTE

It looks more like a 400cc + bike to the untrained eye and even at around 6 foot tall, my feet are not flat on the floor when I sit on it.

This is a bad thing! You wantn to be able to get a foot/your feet planted on the floor firmly if it all gets a bit wobbly. Not being able to get your feet flat on the floor at a standstill means that if you do *need* to prop the bike up with one leg on with some degree of stability, it'll be leaning over all on it's own by the time you get the whole of yer foot down. If it's heading down with some force anyway, you don't have the height or the strength to get it back upright, so you'll be hitting the deck...

[Boomy]

Oh aye, with a small lean I can get my foot down no trouble though.I haven't had any problems anyway at slow speeds etc.I know what you are saying though, hence I have seem some which had lowering kits on them.

It's such an easy bike to ride though and isn't very heavy, so I think you need to be extremely weak and or short to drop one.

[Blatman]

Oh aye, with a small lean I can get my foot down no trouble though.I haven't had any problems anyway at slow speeds etc.I know what you are saying though, hence I have seem some which had lowering kits on them.

It's such an easy bike to ride though and isn't very heavy, so I think you need to be extremely weak and or short to drop one.

Depends how fast you're going. Even at walking pace, there could well be enough kinetic energy to overcome your one legged attempt at keeping your face from being planted on a kerb...

[Lurksalot]

It's such an easy bike to ride though and isn't very heavy, so I think you need to be extremely weak and or short to drop one.

Or  find an unexpected camber ,

Mind you , I've been there when I could touch the ground, and finding the ground is not where it should be is not fun    

Ps  Old bikes can have electric issues ,old cheapo bikes will regularily have electrics issues  

[RichP]

hi all

Many thanks for the feedback - I think I'll leave this one and keep looking - there's no urgency.

Thanks for the tip on the Honda Boomy - I'll look at those - look good!

Cheers

Rich