Ride, Handling and Braking
The Hyosung Aquila 250 boasts of 41mm upside down telescopic forks up front and a set of coil-spring shocks at the rear. The rather tasty looking alloy wheels come shod with 110/90 section tyre up front and 15-inch 150/80 section tyre at the rear. The test bike we rode came with sufficiently grippy Shinko rubber, which is what is currently available even with Hyosung’s sportsbikes.
The Hyosung Aquila 250 is not exactly softly sprung and while it can easily gobble up most of the small sized ruts and minor undulations, the slightly larger craters/irregularities make the rider a tad uncomfortable. On well paved roads, the bike provides a nice, stable, comfortable and a vibration free ride but the state of affairs change on broken surfaces. The bike can surely do with a slightly softer suspension setting, particularly at the rear.
It should be kept in mind that the Aquila 250 is every bit a cruiser motorcycle and bikes in this genre aren’t meant to be taken for apex hunting and it is nothing short of fool-hardy to try and have a ‘knee scrapper’ at every turn the nearby mountain road has on offer. For its size and weight (of nearly 180 kgs), the Hyosung Aquila 250 is pretty quick with changing directions and while it isn’t our obvious choice to play the ‘lane splitter’, we would still rate the Aquila 250 as a fairly nimble cruiser, an oxymoron until you start comparing the 250cc bike with some of the bigger offerings in the cruiser bike segment.
The Hyosung Aquila 250 boasts of a single disc brake with 2 pistons caliper at the front and a conventional drum brake at the rear, which is quite unpleasantly surprising for a bike in this class and price bracket. Quite obviously, there is nothing to write home about the brake setup on this bike and while the brakes do get the job done, they are far from being exceptionally potent with hauling down this Korean cruiser. And no, there’s no ABS on offer, not even as an option.
Ride, Handling and Braking- 6/10
Verdict
The Hyosung Aquila 250, priced at approx INR 2.7 lakhs (ex showroom), is not exactly pocket friendly. It is also not, by an stretch of imagination, a fast bike that can keep up with your friends on their fully faired machines on a winding road. However, this is exactly not what the bike is meant for. On the contrary, while your same set of sportsbiker friends will complain of back-ache, wrist pains and sore fingers on that 500 km long highway trip, you will be fresh and relaxed on your Aquila 250. Also, while it won’t be as fast as the aforementioned bikes, it will help you take in the scenery and make the most of your road trip.
Sadly, many people have referred to Hyosung bikes as “Chinese” offerings, which they certainly are not. Rather, this bike here should be considered as a world class product that, like all Hyosung bikes in India, enjoys a decent after sales network by the DSK group. All those looking for a 250cc cruiser that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, and has decent performance and ergonomics for long highway rides, need not look any further. And did we mention that this bike guarantees ‘superstar’ level of attention wherever it goes!?
Overall- 7/10
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