|
Back in the day, when Pulsars 150s felt quick and 180s blinding, there was but one bike that stood in the Kinetic showrooms that every young motorcyclist aspired to own. Styled like a Monster, it was sporting kit that most of us had seen as wallpapers on the computer – upside-down forks, a DOHC V-twin engine, fat rubber, a twin-spar frame – and for the first time, we had what the rest of the world was virtually taking for granted. The price tag seemed daunting, especially given the time and my unoccupied college wallet, but it wasn’t daunting enough to make you stop day-dreaming about the day when you’d thumb the starter on your own Hyosung Comet. Those days were charming, as every horsepower felt like ten. Wind the clock to 2012 and the Comet has completed its loop around the galaxy – explains its absence – and is now heading back towards us but the world’s a different place now. Does it stand out today as it did when it disappeared?
On paper, or shall we say, the computer screen, the Hyosung sounds like a fairly complete package – powerful, well-specced and good-looking, if a bit 2005. Sadly, this Korean dish is not unlike many fancy sounding dishes at a frou frou restaurant – the delightful literature and bright photographs could well make you salivate a bucket, but, alas, at the moment of truth, when you actually taste it, it’s a bit underwhelming. If you thought this was a GT650 powered by a 250cc motor, you wouldn’t be too far off target. It’s a fairly full-size motorcycle, in the way that Kim Kardashian is a…er, ahem…well-proportioned woman. Words like ‘petite’ and ‘lithe’ don’t apply here. It’s like the GT650R in terms of dimensions and, sadly, not too far off in terms of absolute girth either. But does it pack a punch?
MORE ON PAGE 2>>
|
