Garware Motors plans to launch the Hyosung GT250R and Hyosung GT250N by May 2012. The company had earlier planned to launch these quarter-litre motorcycles in March but postponed the launch to see the changes the Government of India makes in the upcoming budget. But its just not that GT250 that will be coming from the Hyosung stable this year as the company has plans of launching two cruiser motorcycles in the country in 2012. The first cruiser motorcycle to be launched is the Hyosung GV650.
The Hyosung GV650 which will be launched in May and will be powered by a 647cc, liquid-cooled, V-twin, fuel-injected engine which produces 70 BHP of power and 60 Nm of torque. This engine is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox and features upside-down telescopic forks at the front and twin shocks at the rear. The front features 300 mm disc brakes, while the rear braking duties are taken care of by 270 mm discs of this 230 kgs motorcycle. The GV650 features 120/70/18 tyres at the front and 180/55/17 tyres at the rear. The Hyosung GV650 is also known as the Aquila Pro and is expected to be priced around Rs. 5 lakhs (ex-showroom, Pune).
The second cruiser motorcycle to be launched is the Hyosung GV250, which will be for the mass market. The GV250 will be launched in July and will be powered by a 249cc, air and oil-cooled, fuel injected engine, which produces 25 BHP of power at 10000 RPM and 22 Nm of torque at 7500 RPM. This is not the first time the Hyosung GV250 is being launched in India and has been previously sold (in 2003) as the Kinetic Aquila. The Hyosung GV250 uses a 5-speed gearbox along with telescopic suspension at the front and twin shocks at the rear. At the front, 110/90/16 tyre is present, while at the back there is a 150/80/15 section tyre. A 16-litre fuel tank is present on the GV250, which weighs 170 kgs. The brakes are disc at the front and drum at the rear and the price is expected to be around Rs. 1.8 lakhs (ex-showroom, Pune).
Garware Motors will be locally assembling these bikes via the CKD route. The motorcycles are being imported from South Korea and assembled at Garware Motors facility at Wai, near Pune. Cruiser motorcycles are becoming increasingly popular in the Indian market, with bikers taking to inter-city travel more frequently. Currently Royal Enfield dominates the below Rs. 2 lakhs cruiser segment with the Thunderbird and Classic range of motorcycles, while on the upper end of the market (Rs. 6 lakh and above), there is Harley Davidson which is the most popular cruiser machine. Its the Rs. 2-6 lakh segment, which has no real cruiser motorcycle on offer and Garware Motors plans to penetrate this market with the launch of the Hyosung GV250 and Hyosung GV650.
Source – Autocar India
