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Korean Motorcycles hit our shores!

Tourmeister

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Howdy,

:tab I came across this on the HSN site.

AlphaSports Motors

These guys are apparently the importers of some new Korean motorcycles. I called the company and asked a few questions. The manufacturer is Hyasung (sp?) in Soeul, Korea. I was told they used to make bikes for Suzuki. This might explain why the naked 250 on their website looks so much like the GS500, except for the inverted forks! I have not called a dealer for pricing info yet. They come with a 12K mile 12 month warranty. There are several dealers in Texas. Austin has one, there are a few in the DFW area and one in Longview. I wonder if they will have a presence at the Cycle Show in Dallas in November?

Adios,
 
250cc's of Korean Quality! It will be interesting to see if these guys can make a presence here in the US. Personally, I seriously doubt it, unless they make something a little bigger, but, then they'd be going against Japans big 3, and so far only Triumph has been brave enough for that. We will see.
 
If they would make a 600 i might get one just for the fun of it just to be the only one on my street to have one.
 
do they come with a 100 year warranty like korean cars? ha! i dont think i'll ever get on one of those...
 
That GT250 is kinda cool looking. I started on a Suzi GS500. :) The Yahoo group linked from the Alpha site says that tehere is also a GT650.
 
Hrm, the dealer locator says that Yamaha Suzuki West in FtWorth carries them, but I don't recall seeing them in there. Though they did get some funky new scooters that were only called "Lazer".

The GT250 might sell if it were priced cheap, like $2000. Still, I wouldn't ride a 250 anywhere around here.
 
:tab Brian,is there something wrong with the link to your Avatar? For some reason all I see is the little box with the red X in it.

:tab I agree about the 250's. A starter bike should not cost much more than maybe $2K because it is not going to have much resale value. They are basically buy, abuse, and dispose type bikes and should be priced accordingly.

Adios,
 
Howdy,

:tab Welcome to the site! So are those pictures of your bike? I like the way it looks. I am not a big fan of the new sharp angle styling. I wonder if that might actually be the SV made under license? More choices in bikes can't be a bad thing can it? :shrug:

Adios,
 
:tab Man I cannot wait for the angular styling fad to fade into the past! It looked funky on the F-111 Stealth fighter but at least it served a function! It looks crappy on cars and I just can't take it on bikes! Of course the color scheme on the MZ shown above is very nice! :-) But check out the sharp angle on the side of the seat. Lately, it seems like all the bike reviews I have been reading for bikes with this kind of styling, the writers have griped about seat comfort on every one of them. The spaces between our legs are not made for sharp angles :eek:

:tab Stylists seem to have forgotten such basic things! However, there seems to only be so much you can do with the looks of a bike and I guess they are getting desperate to keep the new designs looking "fresh"! Funny that the retros are getting so popular now, kind of like the nasty 70's clothing that has come back in recent years :puke: At least some of the bikes from that era were good looking. The new Duc GT's coming out are really sweet! Enough of my rambling ranting...

Adios,
 
Korean Motorcycles

I recall a similar discussion in the early 1960s (I was just learning to ride then on my Harley Hummer 125) The local Triumph dealer took on another line with small step-thru bikes from Japan; the Honda Cub. People said they would never sell, were of poor quality, etc. Don't count out the Koreans or the Chinese (who make many parts for the Japanese)
 
:tab Who knows? It could happen. If the quality is decent and the prices are low enough to attract new buyers, then they may be quite sucessful. I hope they have a good plan to build up a dealer network. that is part of what is killing Triumph here in the U.S. Owning a bike that you cannot get fixed when it breaks is not much fun. This was a major factor in our decision to sell our Legend.

Adios,
 
Re: Korean Motorcycles

TJ said:
I recall a similar discussion in the early 1960s (I was just learning to ride then on my Harley Hummer 125) The local Triumph dealer took on another line with small step-thru bikes from Japan; the Honda Cub. People said they would never sell, were of poor quality, etc. Don't count out the Koreans or the Chinese (who make many parts for the Japanese)

I was researching the low-priced scooter market a while back. There are a boatload of low-priced scooters being imported from both china and korea. But it scared me to read of the horror stories of some folks who'd bought them and had parts falling off, engines seize up, etc. I've never seen a 60s Honda, but they were probably better quality than that.
 
60's Honda

My first motorcycle was a 60's Honda 50. It wasn't a step through but had a semi chrome tank and a pressed frame. My brother and I bought it for $30. That bike was indestructible and probably some of the best fun I ever had on a motorcycle. We rode it so much that the rubber footpegs were gone. My dad just cut some rubber garden hose and slipped them on. It had a tendency to tear up the primary gear but what do you expect when you downshift from top gear to first at top speed. If the Korean motorcycles are half as good as the Japanes at half the price, I'd buy one. To me just riding a motorcycle is the fun part and it may get some one a new bike who couldn't afford any of the others.
 
I have seen these bikes. Do not underestimate them. The 250 is very well made and outclasses all the big 4 (in the 250 class). I hear they will have a 650 out this year.
 
I sell bikes, little bikes for the kids mostly. But, my supplier is getting the Hyosung/Alpha Sports line. He's adding it to his web site, but I don't have pricing on them yet and don't know about the 650 yet because he's only got the 250s up on the site. I hesitate to stock these bikes just yet for several reasons. I'm just getting my business going and my main income is service so far. However, I'm thinking about adding space next year, slab space and a bigger building in which to store bikes and build an office. I'll keep my small building for the shop portion. I'll need to run a phone line to the office and I will then have the requirements for a dealer's license. That will allow me to do the paperwork on titles. Right now, anything street legal comes with an MSO and the customer must apply for the title. That's okay, but the bank want's to be a lien holder on that title if they make a loan, so the customer can't get a loan on a bike as I'm handling them now, it's cash only.

The only way I could sell one of these bikes now is by order, cash, but if someone wanted one, I will be able to service them, get parts, drop ship you parts, all that good dealer stuff. Soon as I know some pricing, I'll post it here if anyone is interested.
 
Just got an e-m from my wholesaler/supplier. I will be able to get the 650 later in the year. Might offer a discount to this and some other board members depending on pricing, not sure yet. I think I'm going to be able to get a XR100 clone, too, WOOHOO! I love XRs, LOL! When I do get a dealer's license and start stocking some of the Alpha stuff, I may keep a 650 here for a demo in the future.
 
Hey Jack! That's really cool! Who said early retirement had to be boring? Sounds like you are about to launch a second career! ;-) Kudos!

Adios,
 
Jack -

Sent you a PM about parts for Hyosung. Friend of a friend needs some direction.

Thanks!

Dave.
 
Remember that a lot of people said similar things about Hyundai when they first began selling cars in the US in 86. Quality did suck back then, but they were in the Top Ten of quality in 2004.

I'm sure the Korean mfg'rs have learned a lot in the past 20 years so I would expect these bikes to fare pretty well.

Just one question... is the name badge removable from the tank? :-D
 
Texas T said:
Remember that a lot of people said similar things about Hyundai when they first began selling cars in the US in 86. Quality did suck back then, but they were in the Top Ten of quality in 2004.

I thought of Hyundai immediately. Several bike companies have been created or resurrected recently, and met with various levels of success--

Bimota, Bimota, E-H, Indian, Indian, Indian, Victory, Cannondale, and of course, Triumph are ones that come quickly to mind. The factors that contribute to success or failure seem to be MSRP, Quality, and Capital. The ones that meet those succeed, those that don't, well, have you seen anybody really excited about their new Excelsior-Henderson recently?

I hope Hyosung succeeds, more choices can't be a bad thing, and if they can maintain quality and a low price point (the latter factor, IMHO, Hyundai seems to have forgotten), maybe other mfgr's will follow suit.
 
Remember when Toyota's, Honda's and Datsun's (Nissan) were all real inexpensive?! They had great quality. Once people got hooked, they started jacking up the prices. They still have pretty good quality, but those prices are up there! So it does not surprise me at all that Hyundai is cranking their prices up now that they have a decent market presence.

Adios,
 
Anybody know of a current website for Hyosung motorcycles. I was trying to find prices and availability on the Comet 650. The only english website for Hyosung that I found didn't include the 650. The Alphasports site I found had expired.

Craig
 
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