Hyosung Aquila 250 Review: Cruise in Style!

It was in early February when DSK Hyosung launched the new Aquila 250 cruiser bike in India. The new Hyosung Aquila 250 is the logical successor to the Kinetic Aquila 250 that was launched in India way back in the first half of last decade. The new Aquila 250 plays the role of entry level cruiser bike in DSK Hyosung’s large product portfolio and also plays the perfect younger sibling to the very tasty Hyosung Aquila GV650 Pro. CLICK HERE for Hyosung Aquila GV650 Pro Review. Recently, we spent an entire day with the new Hyosung Aquila 250, taking it through our strict testing regime. Here is the new Hyosung Aquila 250 Review for you-

Looks

If looks could kill, this bike here would have been behind bars by now! One quick glance at the new Hyosung Aquila 250 is enough to have your eyeballs glued on to it for next few seconds. The new Hyosung Aquila 250 boasts of a ‘true blue cruiser’ styling and stands out in a segment full of street naked and faired motorcycles. Come to think of it, save for the Kawasaki Eliminator, nay, the Bajaj Avenger, the new Hyosung Aquila 250 is the only cruiser in the sub 500cc motorcycle market of our country, and hence, enjoys a distinct identity.

The Aquila 250 boasts of a timeless design that comprises of a low set saddle, a large tank, a round headlamp, billet style aluminum wheels and a meaty end can. Add to it the wide handlebar, fat tyres, analogue instrumentation, almost an overdose of chrome and the bike has some serious head turning and eyeball grabbing ability! The bike is long and low slung, and looks almost nothing line anything on road today.

While the styling of the new Hyosung Aquila 250 might be a bit too extravagant, and I daresay, almost gaudy for some, we would still choose it over truck-loads of plastic, and the resultant bland styling, on some of the bikes out there.

Looks- 8/10

Engine

Powering the new Hyosung Aquila 250 is a 250cc, oil-cooled, V-twin fuel injected engine that has a max power of 26.21 bhp at 9500 rpm and a peak torque of 21 Nm at 7500 rpm. The engine comes mated to a five speed manual gearbox. To be honest, these power figures from a 250cc engine come across as really ordinary and we had our reservations about the bike’s performance before we finally hopped on to it and gunned the throttle. Once astride, we were quick to notice the high refinement levels of the engine and the smooth gearshifts the five speed manual transmission offers. The power can be best described as adequate and while we sorely missed the availability of more power while trying to keep up with our friends on their Japanese sportsbikes, we were quick to note that the bike is still adept with cruising at, say 90-100 kmph, over a long period of time, without breaking a sweat. That said, the performance hungry blokes that we are, would still want the motor to offer at least a bit more in terms of grunt and a more linear power delivery would make the deal even sweeter. The gearbox, whilst smooth in operation, did throw some false neutrals at us.

Everything said and done, we would like to confirm that the motor is sufficiently potent with bestowing the Aquila 250 with a decent mile munching ability and only those wanting sportsbike-level performance would be left unsatisfied.

Engine- 7/10

Go to next page to read about Ride, Handling and Braking, along with our Verdict