Hyosung

[Bo67]

The cruiser looks ok, I'm not too fond of the SV650 knockoff though. I'll give them credit for trying though; they remind me of Hyundai. We used to laugh at those cars and rightfully so (remember the '85 Excel?) but Hyundai learned from there mistakes and now make some pretty decent cars. My '06 Sonata is a great ride IMHO. I did 3 tours in Korea while in the military and am amazed how far that country has gotten in the 54 years since the cease-fire. Don't think I'd buy a Hyosuong today but give them 5 years and who knows? As a people they are very quick studies so to speak. I know Hyundai used to work with Ford Europe making the Cortina and with Mitsubishi Japan for engines. My Sonata has a great mix of Acura, VW, Mercedes Benz, Honda and Toyota in it. Hyosuong will probably follow suit offering reasonable priced alternatives to the big manufacturers in years to come. Stay tuned...

 

[HavBlue]

The cruiser looks ok, I'm not too fond of the SV650 knockoff though. I'll give them credit for trying though; they remind me of Hyundai. We used to laugh at those cars and rightfully so (remember the '85 Excel?) but Hyundai learned from there mistakes and now make some pretty decent cars. My '06 Sonata is a great ride IMHO. I did 3 tours in Korea while in the military and am amazed how far that country has gotten in the 54 years since the cease-fire. Don't think I'd buy a Hyosuong today but give them 5 years and who knows? As a people they are very quick studies so to speak. I know Hyundai used to work with Ford Europe making the Cortina and with Mitsubishi Japan for engines. My Sonata has a great mix of Acura, VW, Mercedes Benz, Honda and Toyota in it. Hyosuong will probably follow suit offering reasonable priced alternatives to the big manufacturers in years to come. Stay tuned...

While Hyosung is new to the US market it was my understanding they actually did quite well in the smaller cc Asian market. I agree with you about Hyundai and they do make a very good product now.

 

[Bo67]

I hear you HavBlue. I remember Toyota (Corolla) and Honda (Civic) being laughed at in the States back in the early '70's and now look at them.
Marketing strategy will be the be the key if Hyosoung is to succeed here: make a decent product at less than the competitor's price. Should be fun to watch. Ten years ago I would've never considered owning a Korean car and now I own one so I guess time will tell how successful they are in this market.

 

[HavBlue]

I hear you HavBlue. I remember Toyota (Corolla) and Honda (Civic) being laughed at in the States back in the early '70's and now look at them.
Marketing strategy will be the be the key if Hyosoung is to succeed here: make a decent product at less than the competitor's price. Should be fun to watch. Ten years ago I would've never considered owning a Korean car and now I own one so I guess time will tell how successful they are in this market.

We actually had one of the early 70's Toyota 4 door Corona vehicles. It used a 1900cc fork lift motor with a different cam profile and an automatic transmission that was an aluminum version of the old 2 speed cast iron powerglide; if you can believe that. The car was a bit underpowered but fuel efficient and reliable.

 

[Bo67]

Ya, they were fuel efficient and a life-saver during the oil embargo in the '70's. I didn't know they had 2 speed autos though. The only other car I remember of with a 2 speed auto was my school buddie's '68 Cutlass with a 2 speed "Jetaway" tranny. The car was complete with fake louvers in the hood and all but it ran pretty good back then.

 

[codeblue]

Apparently they have a GT650R model as well..

I'll take this one in BLUE :thumbup:

 

[HavBlue]

Ya, they were fuel efficient and a life-saver during the oil embargo in the '70's. I didn't know they had 2 speed autos though. The only other car I remember of with a 2 speed auto was my school buddie's '68 Cutlass with a 2 speed "Jetaway" tranny. The car was complete with fake louvers in the hood and all but it ran pretty good back then.

That was actually a Super Turbine 300 and the neat thing about was it had a variable pitch stator in the torque converter. When they were adjusted right they worked much better than the powerglide and both were 2 speeds. The Jetaway was adopted around 1956 and went out around 1963.

 

[Bo67]

Good info Hav Blue. Coincidentally enough, my brother and I went halvsies on a 1948 Oldsmobile back in the early '80's. It was one of the first cars with a "clutchless manual" transmission. My 2006 Hyundai Sonata and many other cars today have an automatic with a "sport mode" which is essentially the clutchless manual trans from 50 years before.
What goes around comes around I guess.....

 

[HavBlue]

Good info Hav Blue. Coincidentally enough, my brother and I went halvsies on a 1948 Oldsmobile back in the early '80's. It was one of the first cars with a "clutchless manual" transmission. My 2006 Hyundai Sonata and many other cars today have an automatic with a "sport mode" which is essentially the clutchless manual trans from 50 years before.
What goes around comes around I guess.....

Around the mid 1990's the control bodies of the modern automatics began using solenoids that were ECU controlled with the help of things like a TPS and VSS. This enabled more overall control of the shift timing. The one thing it didn't get rid of was overlap time meaning the delay from the time you moved the shifter to the actual time the range selected. For anyone that has ever used a full manual automatic you would know the difference. Gil Younger out of El Monte California has a company known as Trans Go and they make some awesome if expensive kits to drain every ounce of horsepower being transfered from the crank to the pumpkin. They also have units that eliminate the torque converter (back to a disk) yet keep the automatic.

 

[reiobard]

Looks like a V-ROD? Bite your tongues. J/K I like the wheels. Think they'll fit my VR? What about the front end? Hmmm Bet they are cheaper then Harley parts...

I'm suprised HD hasn't sent one of their "Cease and Assist" letters on how close they look like VR's to Hyosung.

FWIW i believe that the wheels on that are the same wheels as the SV650 which might be easier to get some cross reference checks.