Hyosung GV650 Aquila

Bargain Cruiser

The low-slung bike provides a serious option for anyone who has a short inside leg measurement. It has a pretty serious claimed horsepower figure of 70, which places it at the upper end of this class when it comes to straight line performance.

One of the catches with cruiser styling is that you end up with a long chassis with a fair amount of rake on the front end, which in turn leads to slow steering.

The GV is no exception - it's no better or worse than the average cruiser in this respect and compensates to some extent by providing ample straight line stability.

The ride position is typically feet forward - not the most extreme out there and places the rider nice and close to the ground.

This type of set-up is not great for long distances, but some people love the security of being closer to terra firma.

Braking is solid and predictable, with the triple disc set-up being up to par with anything else in the class and probably better than most. It pulls up the claimed 216 kilo dry weight without fuss.

Performance is very strong, while the five speed gearbox is solid enough though the action is not particularly refined.

Instrumentation is a green-tinted digital set-up and is not up to the standard of the rest of the machine.

Without doubt the GV's biggest advantage is the price, a mere $8990 plus ORC, which gives you an easily-handled cruiser with plenty of power. To me, that sounds like good value.