Hyosung GT 650 – The Best Superbike in India Within 6 Lakhs Budget

Hyosung GT 650 R looks like the best superbike in India within 5lakhs budget (considering ex-showroom prices) at the moment, when you consider pricing, looks, as well as availability in the market.

I’ve been craving to get a superbike for past few months – earlier it was the car buying fever, and after 4 months of research I ended up buying a Mitsubishi Cedia Sport about 8 months back.

Now, I’m somehow inclined towards buying a superbike, but I was surprised to find out that most of the superbikes like Kawasaki Ninja 650R, Suzuki GSXR 600 or most of the Harley Davidson models, Ducati 796 etc have endless waiting periods… As a matter of fact, I couldn’t even find a Ninja 650R for test drive, and the bookings are closed in Bangalore at the moment.

So, this morning I decided to check out the Hyosung GT 650R at Satya Mitra Motors (that works in collaboration with Garware Motors) located near Ulsoor, and boy was I surprised!

Hyosung claims its 0-100kmph time to be less than 4 seconds, and practically I could vroom from 0-65kmph in almost less than 3 seconds (considering that I was riding a superbike only second time), but due to Bangalore traffic I couldn’t really touch 100 near the Ulsoor area. The pick-up was extremely cool, and the control was simply mind blowing, though the clutch was a little annoying because even the test drive vehicle was brand new (only 18kms done!).

A Little About Hyosung GT 650 and Other Bikes by Hyosung

Suzuki Hayabusa (1300cc), the Suzuki GSX-R600 (600cc), Hyosung GT 650R & Suzuki Bandit (1200cc) were used in the movie Dhoom, and the Hyosung 650 is an extremely popular superbike in its segment around the world. It’s one of the best-sellers in US, and it’s quite famous in other parts of the world too, mainly due to its price tag of below $6k, but here in India 5.75 lakhs on-road isn’t too economic by any means to say the least. I know in fact it sounds a lot, and you’d buy a Hyundai Accent or a Ford Ikon in that much money, but when you compare it with other superbikes, you’d soon realize that it’s the most economic one in the segment.

The other cool superbike from Hyosung is the ST-7 which is purely a cruiser, meant for long distance travel.


It looks more like the Royal Enfield Thunderbird, or the Harley Davidson SuperLow XL883L, and at the moment I’m more interested in a Sporty superbike, so I’m counting it out, though I must say it’s a fantastic one too!

Now, there’s the GT 650N (naked version), which is the entry level model, with ex-showroom of 4.45L, and on-road price of about 5.25lakhs. And, it’s good for those who want a more comfortable driving position, but it really looks mediocre by all means!

Now coming to the real deal, the killer machine – Hyosung GT 650R fully loaded machine, which just blew me away is priced at 5.72 lakhs, on-road in B’lore (darn the 72k handling charges & road taxes & 10-12k for insurance). 72 odd bhp doesn’t sound a lot against the figures of Suzuki Hayabusa (175 bhp @ 9800 rpm and 0-100 km/h in 3 seconds flat), but trust me it’s more than enough for Indian roads. I could never hit 60kmph in my Mitsubishi Cedia 3 seconds, but I could do in on the 650R (I know it’s stupid to compare it with Cedia, but that’s just to give you a feel of it!).

I would have loved to get my hands on a Ducati, Aprilla or BMW superbike, but all of them are way over my budget – over 10lakhs – in fact almost close to 15L on-road! So, here are my findings on all the best deals on superbikes that are currently available in Bangalore -

Considering the prices, and going by the looks, Hyosung 650R is my next love, and I hope to see it parked in my garage soon. The manager told me that they’d take 3 weeks time to deliver the bike, and I guess I may NOT be daring to blow off all my savings, so I’ll try to find the best finance deal, and it should all take a month’s time. And, plus I’m yet to take test drives of Suzuki GSXR and a few more superbikes – I’m not going to leave out any bloody superbike showroom in B’lore, if I’m going to blow off about 6 lakhs on a superbike – that’s for sure!

I’ll keep all of you posted on this, and also upload pictures of Hysoung GT 650R or whichever superbike I buy, as soon as I get it delivered!
Update: Today, on January 17, 2012 I’ve finally got my Hyosung GT 650R delivered, and I’m on cloud 9 – more pictures and comprehensive test drive results coming your way shortly! (afer I at least enjoy the beast on a long drive to Pondicherry, Ooty or Wayanad)