Hyosung Canada now US

By
CMG Staff
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The GTR250 gets some tweaks for 2013, but it's in a tough market.
No longer importing Hyosung to Canada
No longer importing Hyosung to Canada

Remember Hyosung motorcycles? The Korean made bikes hit the Canadian scene almost a decade ago courtesy of importer National Motorsports with a small range of 650 and 250 v-twins.

Although competent bikes, they never managed to really compete with similarly priced but more agile Japanese counterparts, with the result that National Motorsports has decided to longer distribute the brand in Canada. That slack has now been taken up by Hyosung USA, who will also import the brand to Canada via the US, much like Ducati and Triumph do.

The GTR250 gets some tweaks for 2013, but it's in a tough market.
The GTR250 gets some tweaks for 2013, but it’s in a tough market.

We caught up with Hyosung USA president Tony Kim at the recent IMSS in Toronto who reckoned that running through the much larger USA distributor has important benefits, namely they have more leeway for a decent profit margin for Hyosung dealers (thanks to one less middleman), and so hope to be able to build up the sparse Canadian dealer network as a result.

Despite some upgrades to the current 250s and newer touring version of their cruisers, Hyosung suffers from a limited range of offerings to dealers and the public alike, and no longer even offers scooters.

But Kim says that’s about to change with an all new 250 road and dual-sport model coming at the end of the year as well as a new range of 50, 125 and 250 cc scooters in the works, that will be built in China to keep costs down.

Details have yet to be announced, but as long as they can save some of that additional margin to keep the MSRPs inline with Honda’s bargain CBR and CRF 250s, then Hyosung may yet become a player in the Canadian market.

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14 COMMENTS

  1. they have the V twin 125 in one small cruiser and it is great,,they shpould offer it in Canada ,,it would take a bite of the Scooter market with her!

    Hyosung Aquila 125

    good luck Hyosung,i would have tried one certainly been an old man now and after 40 years + of riding i am there now.
    Bye
    Gef

  3. I had a 2006 Hyosung GV650. It was a great bike – very fast and responsive… but because of the lack of dealerships within a 12 hour drive, if I needed parts, I couldn’t base my riding season on finding parts on ebay. Sadly – I had to sell it..

          • Does your computer or your TV set come with rice or noodles?

            I have no dog in this fight as I own neither a Hyosung nor a Harley, but if you tell yourself that a Harley is somehow more ‘real’ than any other bike, you’re only fooling yourself.

            • Rick, I can tell you are a class act, and I appreciate you. I echo your statement “I have no dog in this fight as I own neither a Hyosung nor a Harley, but if you tell yourself that a Harley is somehow more ‘real’ than any other bike, you’re only fooling yourself.”

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