When I told people that I was going to be testing this motorcycle, the questions were fairly predictable. A Korean motorcycle? Isn't it just a cheap copy of something? So where did this come from, and who is Hyosung? So let's start at the beginning.

In 1978 Hyosung Motors and Machinery, Ltd., was established in Korea for the purpose of designing and manufacturing motorcycles for the Asian market, and in 1979 Hyosung established a Technology Cooperation Agreement with Suzuki Motors of Japan. Since then Hyosung has been building its own brand of motorcycles primarily for various Asian markets, as well as building components, sub-assemblies and motorcycles for Suzuki. Hyosung later established a foothold in Europe, and soon after came a dual overhead cam 125cc motor for the Asian market, later followed by the emergence of a range of 250cc motorcycles exported throughout Asia and Europe. In 2004 an all-new Hyosung 650cc v-twin was introduced, which became the basis for four motorcycle models ranging from a cruiser to a sport bike. In 2005 Hyosung expanded its European operations, and established an American distribution network via an agreement with UM, a South American vehicle distributor with markets in both North and South America. In 2007 Hyosung's motorcycles and machinery divisions went their own separate ways, and the motorcycle division became S&T Motors, Ltd. Their web site can be found at: http://www.hisntmotors.com/abroad/index.asp and UM's web site is located at: http://www.umamerica.com/site/usa/index.html

S&T Motors is a little 379-employee Korean company that is taking on the best of the Japanese and European motorcycle manufacturers, and is beginning to do it with style and panache. Hyosung's next big development as mentioned on their web site will be the introduction of a 1000cc v-twin, which we here at 2WF hope will be a sport bike. The world needs another good V-twin sport bike, and our sources tell us that one is near. Rumor has it that early pre-production models are being evaluated by European regulatory agencies to see if they meet Euro standards. Hopefully later in 2008 we will hear some news.

This review is about one of the motorcycles in the 650cc product line, the GT650R Comet. In America the motorcycle has been re-branded by UM, and the GT650R is known as the UM V2S-650R. Since the 2WF European Editor tested a 2008 European Hyosung GT650R Comet with electronic fuel injection, we will stick with the GT650R designation in this article. According the the UM web site, the 2008 UM V2S-650R has 38mm Mikuni carburetors rather than electronic fuel injection, so UM may be offering the 2007 European model as the 2008 USA model. Maybe America will see EFI for 2009?

Because of the Suzuki Technology Exchange Agreement, and the fact that Hyosung has built SV650's for Suzuki under license, and due to the lack of good reliable information on the street about the GT650R, many people automatically make the assumption that the GT650R is nothing more than a Korean copy of the SV650. That is simply not true. The SV650 is a competitor to the Comet, not a sibling. It is not the intent of this review to make a direct comparison between the two bikes, this is not a shoot-out, but let's draw a few comparisons up front to dispel this copy myth. Then we will move on to a review of what is a unique motorcycle in its own right. After riding this motorcycle every day for an entire week, I managed to get a look at many of its secrets.

When designing the GT650R Hyosung chose a few of the same sub-supplier parts as Suzuki did for the SV650. For example the GT650R uses the same carburetor (or throttle body in the case of EFI) mounting bracket as the SV650. On the 2008 Hyosung, the electronic fuel injection unit is the same Mitsubishi unit as on the SV650 (more on that later.) There are other bits and pieces from other parts suppliers that are the same on both bikes, but that is no different than if Honda and Yamaha bought components from the same supplier. Upon any sort of casual or close inspection it becomes very obvious the GT650R is definitely not a SV650 copy.

The GT650R motor is an original Hyosung-designed and Hyosung-built motor. Both motorcycles have 90-degree V-Twins, but that is where the similarity stops. The SV650 has a 645cc, 70 HP motor, and the GT650R has a 647cc motor with 80 HP. The internal arrangements of the motors are completely different. SV650 has a spin on oil filter on the front of the motor, the GT650R has BOTH an internal oil filter under a cover on the right side of the motor, and an oil strainer on the bottom of the motor. On the right side of the Hyosung motor where the oil filter resides is where the water pump resides on the Suzuki. Not the same motor. Not a copy. Not even close.

The frames on the two bikes are completely different. The newest SV650 has a Japanese sport bike style box aluminum frame where the GT650R has an oval tube frame visually similar to the Triumph Speed Triple. Even the older SV650 frame, which did have a tubular section, is a different shape and is not the same frame as the Hyosung. The swingarms are completely different. The motorcycle is not a copy of anything, it is unique and original in its own right.