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New 2013 Hyosung GT250R Review, Images, Specs, Price

2013 hyosung gt250r facelift review images 1

Prelude  

It was a decade back, in 2004, when the erstwhile Kinetic Hyosung brought the Comet 250cc street bike to our shores. The Comet, while catering to a niche segment, was quick to garner a fan following of sorts and became an obvious choice for many of those who needed to upgrade from their single cylinder Hero Karizma but were not ready to plunge into the world of supersports models. No surprise then that the bike maker found it pretty easy to sell off the rather small batch of 300 bikes it brought to India. While the Kinetic Hyosung venture was short lived and the Korean bike maker next partnered with the Garware Group for its Indian operations, it was only in 2012 when the Korean bike manufacturer decided to initiate its second innings in the quarter litre segment by bringing the Hyosung GT250R to India. The GT250R, equipped with a sufficiently potent Vee Twin motor and a styling package that mimicked the bigger GT650R was quick to establish a fairly strong footing in its segment. In spite of the rather stratospheric price tag (for a 250cc offering), the bike managed to fare pretty well on the sales charts and was quick to become one of the most successful models from Garware-Hyosung.

kinetic hyosung comet 250

Hyosung and Garware group, for their own reasons were seen calling it quits after some time. This is when the DSK Group stepped into the picture and bestowed Hyosung’s Indian operations with a much needed shot in the arm. The DSK Hyosung Group was quick to work on its dealership network and even brought some new products/facelifts/limited edition models to us. The Hyosung GT250R Facelift that you see on these pages is a part of DSK Hyosung’s plans to completely revitalize its product portfolio and while this facelift for the GT250R doesn’t bring along any revolutionary changes, it sure injects this stylish 250cc motorcycle with enough botox to bestow it with a sense of freshness.

Recently, we decided to spend a day with the updated motorcycle to find out if the GT250R facelift is sufficiently potent to fend off the heat from the more modern crop of faired 250cc motorcycles. Here’s our 2013 Hyosung GT250R Review for you all —

Styling

As we said above, the pre-facelift GT250R was a replica of the GT650R and things don’t change with the advent of the facelift. Akin to the model it replaces, even the new model mimics the styling of the current GT650R and even those with an eye for detail would be a bit hard pressed to tell apart the two bikes from each other. Now, given the fact that the GT650R costs considerably more than its 250cc brethren, the ones looking solely for a ‘big bike look’ would be only happy to bring this bike home. To those who are really interested, the biggest visual difference between the models lies in their end cans. While the mightier 650R gets a beefier end canister, the 250R comes with a sleeker unit that has a slightly ‘aftermarket’ look to it. There’s also some difference in the graphics scheme. Another minor difference we could spot was the absence of temperature read out on the 250R’s digital speedo console. Other than these three really minor changes, the bike looks exactly like the bigger 650R.

Even when viewed in isolation, with comparisons to the GT650R pushed out of the mind, the GT250R looks considerably bigger than its direct rivals. Be it the full sized front fairing, the bulbous fuel tank or that wide rear tyre, every bit of this bike seems to be trying hard to make you believe that you are looking at a litre class model. Compared to the pre-facelift model, the new bike sports a more angular headlight, which continues to comprise of two projector units. The new headlight unit sits directly below the big, clear windscreen. Completing the front fascia are the fairing mounted rear view mirrors on each side.

Moving to the sides, the rather bland surfaces of the front fascia are replaced by some well defined creases and air scoops. The GT250R’s front fairing also consists of blinkers and some neat contrasting graphics, along with the words “GTR” inked on them. In front three-quarter view, this bike manages to impress with its neatly crafted front fairing, along with the wide tyre and twin disc front discs, which seem to have been pilfered from a litre class machine! The bike’s massive fuel tank boasts of some interesting surfaces, all of which further help the rather well built GT250R to look sharp and sporty. The bike’s exposed perimeter frame element and that sharply styled rear section, along with those chunky grab rails, complete the bike’s profile.

The highlight of the bike’s rear end would have to be its taillight, which comprises of 15 Light Emitting Diodes forming a rectangular pattern. Our test bike came equipped with a stylish looking Solfer Exhaust system but more on that later.

Motoroids Rating (Styling) — 9/10. Big bike looks guarantees lot of attention and admiration from other road users. However, GT650R owners might be disappointed. 

Ergonomics

Much like its styling, the ergonomics of the Hyosung GT250R scream ‘supersports’! While this is surely a good thing for those who wish to play their favourite MotoGP rider on the Hyosung GT250R, the proverbial tourers or those who intend to use this bike for commuting purposes on a regular basis might find the riding posture a tad too committed. The bike has rear set foot pegs and low set clip ons, all of which ensure that the rider crouches enough to be indulging in some impromptu closeness with the fuel tank. Another highlight here is that the saddle height is low enough for even the ‘not so tall’ riders to climb atop the bike quite comfortably.

For the pillion though, it’s a different story altogether . The pillion foot pegs, in typical supersports fashion, are set considerably high and even the seat height is much more than that for the rider. Once seated, the pillion gets a clear view of the road ahead, what with him being perched much higher than the rider.  The GT250R comes with chunky looking grab rails, whose shape reminds me of the ones on my TVS Apache RTR. It is fairly easy for the pillion to bend forward and secure himself by gripping the fuel tank.

And lest we forget, the bike comes with adjustable levers, which surely go a long way in helping the rider get comfortable on this bike.

Summing it all up, the Hyosung GT250R’s ergonomics can be best described as sporty and a tad too aggressive. Not exactly a bad thing for those with dreams of apex hunting but this could definitely be a deal breaker for those who’ll need to use this bike for their commuting/touring purposes.

Motoroids Rating (Ergonomics) — 7/10. A mixed bag actually! We love it for the track focused riding stance. And we feel like disliking it during intra-city travel, for the same reason!

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5 thoughts on “New 2013 Hyosung GT250R Review, Images, Specs, Price”

  1. What? I doubt any sane person would spend over 3.5 lakhs for this bike which boasts of only “big bike looks” as the USP…one for the posers for sure!

  2. What a waste of 3.40 lakhs and for what? “big bike feel?”..oh well at least it’ll be a hit with all the posers who don’t know what to do with their money

  3. What? A bit quicker than cbr250r? Had a decent time with gt n it doesn’t feel faster than ns. N obviously 0-100 is much less in cbr250r than 11 sec of this..n brakes r adequate? They r not adequate in terms of bite n stopping power n calculate its stoping distance its way more than its peers.. So plz dnt make the review feel lyk biased..:( didn’t xpect it from u

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