Should have my first bike in over 10 years before the weekend

[IDemo]

I'm purchasing a 2006 Hyosung GV650, a Korean made bike with a 650cc 90 degree v-twin and belt final drive. It has only 400 miles on it, and I got it for $2400 under the original price. I've got the helmets, written test and insurance taken care of. I will still need to either take a "skills test" or pass the STAR riding course within 90 days to get my Idaho motorcycle endorsement.

My last motorcycle (I've owned 4 since 1978) was a 1986 Kawasaki Concours. The closest to the Hyosung I have owned would be a '83 Honda CX650 Custom, but the Hyosung has more power (70 hp) and pretty pronounced feet-forward controls. I will probably move them to the rear-most position; the bike has mounting points and shorter control linkages to allow for this.

One might be concerned with buying a Korean bike, and rightly so if you have seen the number of cheap iron flooding our shores from Asia lately. But this company has been around for 30 years and has been manufacturing motorcycles for a number of companies, Suzuki one of them. They also have a fairly well established dealer network in the US, so parts and service shouldn't be too big an issue.

Looking forward to taking a ride up scenic and twisty Hwy 21 between Boise and Sun Valley! After I shake off the dust from my riding skills, that is. :)

[guitar man]

1. good for you!

It comes back faster than you might think. I took about a 7 year or so break between my last bike and the current one. I was pretty much back "up to speed" in less than a month.

have fun and stay safe! :hi:

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

2. My return was much slower

It took a couple of months before I felt comfortable and confident enough to ride with a spouse on the back seat. And I'm still practicing some moves, like walking-speed tight turns, running the bike up onto a trailer, etc. At least I'm not grabbing the bars tight any more.

I'm not familiar with Korean bikes, but many of their cars seem like quality work. That one seems to have a good write-up.

But, all that chrome to keep shined! Yikes! The S-100 vendors are gonna like you!
:hi:

[guitar man]

3. If it had been another bike

If it had been another bike besides a Sportster, I bet my return would have been slower too, but I owned and rode a couple Sportsters for a whole lot of miles in years past, so it just felt like old home week when I got back on one, even though it was my first Evo Sporty and the old ones were Ironheads, there isn't much difference at all in the way they ride.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

4. Ironhead? This raises questions ...

What is the story behind all the heads?
Iron-head, shovel-head, knuckle-head, pan-head, flat-head, is there some "Harley for Dummies" site that explains all that? It makes my head hurt.

[guitar man]

6. LOL, here they are

Flathead: 1909-1936

The Flathead was named because of the tell-tail flat vented tops that are recognizable at the top of each cylinder head. This is the famous motor that propelled the Harley-Davidson to victory after victory in the motorcycle races of the twenties.

Knucklehead: 1936-1947

On the eve of WW2, Harley-Davidson introduced an overhead-valve V-twin with knuckly looking valve covers. The new motor, affectionately named the "Knucklehead", performed well both for HD and for America in the difficult years to come.

Panhead: 1948-1965

WIth improvements to engine design, like hydraulic valve lifters that supplied oil through rocker arms, the Panhead hit the market in 1948. It was named for the pan-like valve covers replacing the knuckle covers.

Shovelhead: 1966-1983

By 1966 the Panhead underwent still more improvements. The most noticeable being the distinctive enclosed cylinder head in a sleek, slightly curved top. At a glance this looks unmistakably like a shovel with the pushrods tubes resembling the handle of a shovel, and the shovel itself.

Evolution: 1983-1999

In 1984 on the heels of a bold employee buyout of AMF, the motor company went public and introduced its now famous redesign of the V-twin. This radical new design utilized styled square blocks to house the valve train. This motor, revered as the Evolution engine is known amongst Harley enthusiasts as "the Blockhead".

Twin Cam 88: 1999-Present

With numerous American motorcycle manufacturers trying to surface and resurface, Harley-Davidson introduces its most revolutionary engine yet. The Twin Cam 88 gets its name from its two cams versus the single cam in all its ancestors. This motor also goes by the nickname "Fathead" for just exactly that, bigger heads. With this new engine design Harley-Davison puts one more notch in its insurance for success.

http://www.performanceoiltechnology.com/harley_davidson_engine_history.htm

That covers the "big twins". As far as the Sportster goes, there are only 3 types of engine:

The "K" model was a the predecessor to the Sportster, it had a flathead top end on a set of Sportster cases/transmission. 1952-1956

The "Ironhead" was the first bike with the Sportster name. 1957-1971 were 900s (883cc) and 1972-1986 were 1000cc.

1986-present, the Evolution Sportster, 883 and 1200cc. IMO the most reliable motorcycles Harley Davidson has ever made.

[awoke_in_2003]

9. To expand on the ironhead...

its top end does closely resemble a shovelhead, and sometimes people will mistakenly call them that. If the engine and tranny are in the same case, and the chain is on the wrong side (right), it is an ironhead.

PS Of course i would think the right side is the wrong side for the chain, I am a shovel rider :)

[guitar man]

11. yes it does

I have heard people for years mistakenly call an Ironhead a "Shovelhead Sportster". Other than the case and chain configuration, the biggest difference between a Sportster motor and a Big Twin is the cam/pushrod setup. A Sportster has 4 individual camshafts with the pushrods running paralell up the side of the cylinder. The big twin has one (or two in the case of the TC motors) camshaft and the pushrods running up the side of the cylinders at angles that converge at the bottom where they meet the common camshaft.

[awoke_in_2003]

13. Yeah, knew about the cams

just going for the visually obvious. I have an 83 FXE (Superglide), wish I had a dollar for everytime I have heard "Hey, nice sportster".

[guitar man]

16. '83, sweet

Last year of the Shovel, those are some really fine bikes :thumbsup:

[awoke_in_2003]

17. Last "official" year

about 500 police bike and 50 or so wideglides came out with shovels in 84- getting out the last of the engine inventory. And yeah, it is sweet. No crazy things like crank position sensor, bank angle sensors, or fly by wire throttles. Was able to tear the enging completely down with common tools myself (although I did send the parts out for machine work ie boring the cylinders).

[guitar man]

18. sure enough "shade tree" freindly

I had a '69 FLH many moons ago when I was in High School. I rebuilt the whole thing from the ground up in the garage in a matter of days.

My '99 Sporty isn't too bad to work on at home, it's got a bit more electronic stuff on it than I'd like, but it's been a real pet so far. The only thing that has really gone wrong in the almost 20k miles I've put on it is I had to replace the ignition module. It wasn't cheap, but I did it myself in about an hour.

[ThomWV]

20. And besides that, it should be a belt anyway ....

A belt on the left rather than a chain on the right is how the good lord wanted it. Needless to say I'm a twin-cam rider.

On edit: and its an 88B to add to the heresy..

[IDemo]

5. An 883 would have been nice, too

I get to walk by a couple of nice ones every morning in the parking lot, and the owner of one has often spoken of how much he enjoys it. I just couldn't pass this bike up at the price.

[guitar man]

12. I understand the price thing completely

I was really lucky to get my '99 Sportster at the price I did when I did.

Go ahead and ride that nice looking machine for a while, then if you find out the "bug" really has you again, you can always upgrade to a Sporty. I'm finding as the popularity of the newer rubber-mounted Sportys grows, the solid mounted engine "paint shakers" like mine are getting cheaper. If you don't mind a bike that shakes a little, you can find a nice '86-2003 Sporty at a really reasonable price. ;)

[av8rdave]

7. Nice looking bike!

I've seen a couple around, but I'm not really familiar with them. Enjoy!

I also took a break from riding while my kids were young. It didn't take long to be comfortable again.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

8. Very considerate design, those controls

Controls that you can move from forward to mid to something in between? That's some good forethought and versatility. Can you move that brake pedal without removing the exhaust pipes?

The picture also seems to show a nice guard plate or skid plate to protect from stones or whatever might fly against the engine.

[IDemo]

14. Just two positions: forward, and way forward

Nothing else needs to be removed to change from one to the other, except for replacing the gearshift link rod with a shorter one. I'm thinking for mainly in-town riding, I would do better with less of the La Z Boy recliner riding position.

[Haole Girl]

10. Honestly...

I can't stop looking at the pic of your bike! lol I wonder how it rides!!

Needless to say, I think it's a beauty!! :-) :hi:

[IDemo]

15. The guy I'm buying it from told me you don't want one of these if you can't stand attention

Just in the short time he's owned it, he has received numerous comments from motorists at stoplights, or has returned to the parking lot to find the bike surrounded by admirers.

[old mark]

19. I have seen one around here

and from the side, it is one of the most beautiful bikes I have ever seen.
I stopped riding about 20 years ago, but this bike looks so great.....

mark

[IDemo]

21. Today is the first full day I've had it

After picking it up, I noticed the fuel level was near empty, so pulled into a station. But when I attempted to unlock the fuel cap, no luck; it wouldn't budge. I called the seller back and asked if by chance there was another key for the gas cap, but no. I took it home and attempted WD40 and graphite on the lock, still no luck. I wound up taking it into the local dealer and was told the lock would likely have to be drilled out and the entire gas cap assembly replaced, which would need to be shipped. Needless to say, I was pretty bummed after getting in only 12 miles on my new ride and immediately saying goodbye to it for a week.

However the lock became damaged, the company agreed to cover parts and service for replacement of the gas cap assembly and re-keying of the ignition lockset to avoid needing two keys. It might have been related to a recall on a gasket in the filler assembly, maybe a pressure build up in the tank was bad enough to cause the damage..?

Not a good way to begin the relationship, but I'm happily motoring down the road and enjoying the bike, finally. Very nice ride, and plenty of usable power from the 90 degree v-twin. And, no surprise, I have already had strangers asking 'what kind of bike is that?' (There is no badge or decal on the bike; they apparently built a number of them this way). The photos don't do it justice, it really is an eye-popping bike. I'm going to take it out to try and get some good pictures tomorrow; I'll post some here if any turn out.

[IDemo]

22. Couple of pics

[flamin lib]

23. Man am I glad I stumbled onto this post!

Looking at getting a bike after a 40 year lapse. Used to ride British bikes (BSA & Triumph) until the Japanese took over. Been looking at Honda Shadow (too fat), Suzuki M50 (still to fat), Yamaha V (my fav until I found your post) and now the Hyosung. There's a dealership 4 minutes from my house. Fifteen minutes after reading your post I was sitting on one!

Sweet bike! This is NOT your father's cruiser. Dry weight is the same as the HD 883, Yamaha or Suzuki but it feels lighter sitting still. I'm impressed.

I wish the front wheel was bigger--like the looks of a 21 inch skinny--but the stock bike probably rides and handles better as is. The digital instrumentation and blend of new age and old school styling just blew me away.

Gotta' get a bankruptcy finalized and to quote Arnold, "I'll be back . . ."

BTW in 1965 BSA stood for (if new) Best Sonovabitch Around or (if old) Bastard Stopped Again.

[IDemo]

24. 40 years? Wow, I thought my 12 year lapse was a long time

I'm still getting used to the bike after putting a couple hundred miles on it. It doesn't seem to have quite the cornering clearance any of my previous bikes did, which is a bit of a disappointment. I have scraped the pegs on both sides just rounding corners at intersections, but I guess I'll just take it easy and get used to it. The motor is great and reminds me of the favorite of my old bikes - the '83 Honda CX650 Custom, a transverse V-twin. More than enough power for any kind of riding I'll be doing.

The Hyosung is definitely getting the looks and complements. Maybe I need to carry some literature with me..

on the British bikes -I was sure, back in the Seventies, that I had to have a 750 Bonneville, until I test rode one that stranded me at a major intersection. With George Lucas's help, of course. ;-)