Hyosung Aquila Pro650 Mileage

I owned a cbr250 before i became a proud owner of hyosung aquila pro gv650.

It was quite an upgrade for me not just capacity wise but also monetarily. The landing cost of aquila pro gv650 was a tad over 5.8 lacs on road. This bike was not even in my consideration set as i was stuck up with ninja 650 but the twist in choice came when my wife denied sitting on a ninja as i am 5'5" and she feels that ninja would be too tall for me and she would not feel comfortable riding pillion.

The next stop in that category was a cruiser but i am sort of no-a-cruiser guy. The options were limited in my budget with only hd street 750 and aquila pro. I decided to take test ride of both. Aquila felt powerful, muscular and it accelerated like a sports bike. 0-60kmph in under 3 seconds, amazing for a cruiser. I thought of taking a test ride for hd street, went thrice to showroom but they had some or the other problems with the bike and test ride was unavailable. The decision was made.

Aquila pro gv650 landed on the eve of dhanteras in 2014. Run-in was very tough as this bike is best enjoyed with open throttle but i ensured that i don't give in the temptation. I did 3-4 breakfast rides of almost 200-300kms each and voila, i was due for 1st service. There is just 1 free service from hyosung at 600kms and rest are all paid. A paid service comes every 4000kms, which i think is very short, and costs almost about rs.7000 per service. That is high. Few of my friends say that is the service cost of a suzuki hayabusa.

Well i soon realised, it is a costly bike to maintain as brake-pads wore off within 3000kms, few tid bits were also changed but i was okay with that.

Then the horror started. There was a squeaking sound coming from my rear tyre, i went to service station they could not fix it for 3-4 visits, finally it was done when service engineer from company checked it. Battery went dead twice and bike was stalled, my battery was replaced twice in 6 months. With dead battery i was stranded thrice but thankfully all the times i was within city limits and thanks to dsk's road side assistance which came free for 2 years with the bike. In first two years of ownership following parts were replaced, battery (twice), o2 fuel sensor, belt, belt pulley rear & front, fuel tank were replaced once. Besides this i had to get the relay change a couple of times.

Now these problems occur with bikes, i accept but if the service centre guys are not equipped to handle it, then it becomes a problem. Just to give you two instances, svc guys used chain lube to eradicate squeaking sound from belt multiple times and after servicing once they forgot to tighten the head bold for tank. Dsk brought benelli to India and they completely forgot about this brand and that should be the biggest reason for someone not to buy a hyosung bike in India.

Now that you have made up you mind never to trust hyosung brand, wait till you hear me give it's riding experience.

What do we all look for in a bike? if you have to buy just one bike, what all you need n that? looks, power, feel, road presence, comfort, control? this bike checks all these boxes. Not a single time has it failed to garner attention, on all my rides it has returned a mileage of 24-25kmpl which is high, its ultra comfortable to ride, it rides smooth on highways. Manoeuvrability in cities, traffic is a bit problematic due to its huge wheelbase of more than 1 and a half meter. I have taken it to a speed of 200kmph and at that point it felt it can do additional 20-25kmph but i forfeited as on a cruiser that is not wise. Most of the times i ride it on 90-100kmph but even 60kmph is good to cruise in top gear. The suzuki sv650 engine that hyosung has used in this has been tuned for 5 gears. But believe me when i say that the headline on hyosung brochure - 'soul of cruiser, heart of a racer' is true in every sense for this bike. I have raced it against the similar capacity bikes and also litre class bikes and it doesn't let you down. Two years after i had owned this, i went to take a test drive for triumph daytona 675 and i did not like that bike. Yes daytona is a great bike, more powerful than aquila, sports bike, 3 cylinder and more reformed but is just missed the feel. Not long after i got a chance to ride 2008 model unrestricted ninja zx10r and that matched the feel i get on my bike.

For the price it carries, it is a fantastic bike but looking at maintenance cost it and quality of service centres, it is a cautious buy. As magical as it is to ride this bike, today i would not buy this bike. Though i have not got stuck on my rides, i always have this scare about getting stuck due to failed battery or a relay or an electronic sensor. Moreover, due to its huge wheelbase and low ground clearance, it is only suitable for good wide roads only.

Hyosung aquila pro gv650 is only failed to pick up in India because of policies of dsk hyosung. If the same product comes out with a suzuki or kawasaki tag, i would buy this bike without even thinking twice.

When i look back at my decision i sometimes feel i made a mistake but almost all the time i feel happy that i made this mistake.

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