Hyosung GV650 Aquila Pro Review: Chubby Hustler

HANDLING, BRAKING AND RIDE QUALITY

The Hyosung GV650 Aquila Pro tipping the scale at 240 kgs isn’t a light motorcycle and takes you to task in slow moving traffic- but a raked out front with 1670mm wheelbase gives the bike a rock-steady hold of the road during high speed straight runs. But in a part of the world where good blacktops comes in patches, we diverted our attention towards the Tamhini Ghats which is not only laden with twisties, but also offered a few rough sections to check how well the Aquila Pro’s suspension was tuned to soak the harshness mated out by Indian roads.

Not entirely comfortable zipping through the first corner, we started to realize how well the Aquila Pro handled around the twisties. Never have we felt as good riding a cruiser into the corners as the Aquila. The motorcycle not only delighted us through good sections in the twisties, but also held its line amidst bumpy sections where the front of major cruisers would have been wallowing all over the place.

The only deterrent in corner carving was the forward and low placement of the foot-pegs, which mean the heel is at a more perpendicular angle to the ground and we were left scrubbing it into the tarmac during tight cornering. But show the Aquila Pro a wider corner and it would just blast through without dropping speed- in fact you could just whack the throttle and go around the bend faster than expected. It’s all thanks to a perfectly calibrated front suspension which is neither too soft to dive nor too harsh to rattle your wrists.

The rear suspension though on the stiffer side adds its bit to the handling prowess of the Aquila Pro. But the biggest contributing factor on road holding has to be the tyres. The 120/70-18 front and a fat 180/55-17 rear set of Bridgestone Battlax tyres lend phenomenal levels of grip to the motorcycle. Not even once did we feel the motorcycle erring out of its desired line of travel.- We’d happily give 5 stars to the Aquila Pro in the handling department.

With stupendous levels of performance on offer, the Hyosung GV650 Aquila Pro needs equally good stopping power. Unfortunately the braking department fails to match up with the sprinting and handling traits of the motorcycle. Despite running a twin 300mm disc rotor setup at the front, braking on the Aquila Pro feels spongy and needs a hard squeeze on the levers to shed speed or breezing to a decided point of halt. Bringing the Aquila to a stop from moderate riding speeds is not an issue really, but hard braking during high speed runs ends up with the motorcycle overshooting the desired point. The 270mm single disc rear brake surprisingly is sharp enough but with the front brake falling short of the required bite doesn’t help matters. We tried all the different settings on the 5 position brake lever, but to no avail. On one hand where the Aquila enthralled us with performance, it left us a wee bit disappointed on the braking front.

Ride quality on the Hyosung GV650 Aquila Pro comes as a mixed bag. Where on one hand the broad leather seats holds up your bottom well, the forward placed footrests render a rather weird riding position. With the feet and hands reaching out to the pegs and the handlebars, this riding position puts that added body weight on your bum. There’s no discomfort on well paved roads, but going over bumpy surfaces with a stiff rear suspension- the jerks travel up your spine. The minimal sized rear seat is stiff and would only serve to ferry someone over short distances. Also with an absence of a backrest, pillions are best avoided! All in all, the Aquila Pro feels best ridden solo on well laid straights and twisties.

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