written by Paul Fry on 11/08/2008
Good Points
A year on from owning the RT125D Hyosung Karion, its still running well and has not let me down. There have been no further problems since the rear shock absorber failure.
Bad Points
The seat has proved to be AWFUL! After only 30 minutes continuous riding my bum feels numb and I lose all feeling in the hip area and have to stand up occasionally. When I removed the seat to have it modified I had a shock! Neither the tank nor the seat had been secured properly. I am unsure whether this occured when the bike was originally assembled or during its last service, as I have had no cause to remove the seat. The two rear lugs of the seat had not been located in the area where the bolts holding the seat and rear mudguard bolt through to the frame resulting in one lug being squashed almost flat against the underside of the seat. The front seat retaining lug could not locate into the fixed metal bracket which also holds the fuel tank in place because the correct vibration proof metal centred rubber bushes had not been inserted and only one bolt held the bracket on with the top part of one of the bushes!! As you know, I am in Spain, and its seems fruitless to report the matter to the dealer or the supplier, because I doubt anything would be done, its just the way things are here, you have to accept it. Also, possibly during the last service, the brake reservoir must have been topped up and it was , indeed, topped up. So much so that fluid started to seep out onto the paintwork of the reservoir itself. I reported this at the supplier and the mechanic confirmed it was way too full and took two small syringefuls out and dutifully squirted the contents onto the road, leaving it at the minimum level. They also, at my insistence replaced the now partially corroded top lid. The irony was that the Spanish mechanic presumed that I had overfilled it, but I pointed out that its last service was with them, sudden embarrased peace prevailed for a moment. I also had a problem with the right hand side round chromed stemmed mirror which could not be tightened up by the small grub screw, and just turned round without doing anything, the thread had gone. The dealer offered to put another on order but I noticed another Hyosung in the shop had square mirrors which appeared to be better finished and gave a wider field of view. I asked if it was possible to have a matching pair of the square mirrors and they agreed since the original chrome stemmed ones were showing signs of corrosion already. They are now fitted and give a safer, much wider field of view than the round ones.
General Comments
The engine, although still sounding a little rough round the edges at max revs has loosened up considerably. Front forks have held up good with no leakages and the chrome has stabilised since being dressed with WD40 after chrome polishing. The bike still looks good, and although described as an easy bike to ride, I would say it feels a little `top heavy' and requires the rider to learn to read the feedback from the bike more than other bikes I have ridden effortlessly. It still represents good value for money for what you get. For the hardened Japanese motorcycle enthusiasts who love knocking Hyosung and other lesser known makes from the Asia areas, they may like to note that for years Hyosung made and supplied the inner workings of most of the Japanese motorcycles and I believe they still do. Safe, happy riding.
UPDATE, September 2008; Changed engine oil and oil filter (HIFLO HF131 part No 16510-05240 - suzuki reference, same as Hyosung one) used 10/40 synthetic, (synthetic retains more of its lubricative properties in extreme heat conditions than conventional oil) I remembered to clean the magnetic sump plug of filings, and engine now sounds much sweeter. Had to travel from Santa Pola to Valencia and back via the N332, all 270 miles of it, ran extremely sweetly, maxed 122 kph on approach to Valencia (73.2 mph) on the V31, 120 kph limit, showed no signs of distress. Engine didn't miss a beat, it was a very hot day, remained responsive and willing. The seat has been dished out in rider area, and passenger area raised to prevent the awful sliding motion of passenger into rider on braking. The bike is MUCH EASIER TO CONTROL, now the centre of gravity has been lowered. In truth, the guy has made a damn good job of the finish on the remodelled seat, but did shave off a trifle to much of foam. Have decided to obtain a good quality gel pad and have that sewn into the seat, seems to be the best answer for me. Still extremely pleased with the bike, still represents good value for money provided that if you want it to perform like its rivals, you have to be prepared to do a little work. Owing to my experience after the bikes first dealer service here in Spain, I decided to perform the second service @ 4000 kms myself. General tightness of bolts, chain tension, oil and filter change, plug change, air filter, wheel bearings check (rock n roll) - the only thing I have not done are the tappets, unless they are self adjusting, will have to read up on them. Either way, so far from home, and having no-one here I would trust with my RT125D, I will do them myself, when I am positive of the procedure. On that note there are available on ebay Hyosung workshop manuals on CD, one of which I obtained and have found very useful. Haynes Manuals have been contacted about launching one for the Karion 125 but state it depends on how much interest they get before they consider creating a project. Obviously, they need to be reasonably sure that they will sell over a certain number to justify the research and print costs. I would suggest if you would like them to do one, to simply email them on their website, so they can add you to the list of customer suggestions/requests for particular models. Naturally, to improve the bike further, one can fit an after market exhaust, new front rear chain sprockets of different ratio, rebore out to 150/175cc perhaps, but I prefer to try and leave the bike very much as it is and make lesser impact changes to keep it original, but thats just me. I am Mr Typical on the street, not a race boy, just want the best from the bike I can get, for as little money as possible! It still attracts many curious looks from passers by and drivers in its orange colour scheme, to me the best offered yet. Safe riding.
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Chazzmeister's Response to Paul Fry's Review
Written on: 22/12/2009
I found this review very helpful because...it was written in a real and practical way by a real owner who understands that some of us DO service our bikes ourselves and DON'T have bottomless wallets! Good effort, much appreciated :-)