Hyosung COMET 125 2005 — Specifications

When Hyosung introduced its Comet 125 to the European market, the natural reaction was to rub your eyes. A 75° V-twin, a double steel backbone frame, wide tires with a 150/70-17 at the rear, an adult roadster silhouette: it was hard to believe you were looking at a 125 cc machine. This is no coincidence, the Korean shares its frame with the Comet 250, and the 650 looms above like a flattering big sister. Hyosung played the card of an assumed family resemblance, and the visual result is undeniable.

Under the refined bodywork, the air and oil-cooled twin cylinder produces 15 horsepower at 10,500 rpm for a torque of 9.8 Nm. On paper, this seems consistent for the category. On the road, it’s another story. Below 7,000 rpm, the engine turns in the void, without bite, without character. You have to rev it up to find something that resembles an impulse. With 150 kg dry on the scale, this displacement clearly pushes the limits of its capabilities to move the machine. The 120 km/h top speed is achievable, but maintaining it on the highway requires all the cooperation of the wind and the road.

This generous size, however, has its concrete advantages. The 17-liter tank offers serious range for an A1 license, which is a departure from the small 12 or 13 liters usually found in the competition. The braking, with its front and rear disc, is frankly effective for the category, and the overall behavior remains healthy. For a young driver looking to progress without ending up on a toy machine, the Comet 125 offers a real motorcycle foundation.

The flaws, however, are not negligible. The original rear tire lacks grip in situations that matter, and the chrome parts show signs of rust with disconcerting speed. More troubling still, the Hyosung spare parts network in Europe at the time operated at the pace of an understaffed administration: expect long lead times in case of breakage. At 3,490 euros in the catalog, the price remains acceptable, but some examples reached 4,000 euros depending on the configurations, which began to stretch the rope against Japanese models like the Honda CB125R or the Kawasaki Z125, certainly less visually spectacular but otherwise better supported by their network.

The Comet 125 clearly targets the beginner who wants to look the part without riding generic plastic, the one who wants to park the motorcycle in front of a café without being asked "what is this?". The aesthetics do the job, the size too. But the engine struggles to live up to the promises that the silhouette formulates, and the long-term reliability of the finishes remains a question mark. A motorcycle of style before being a mechanically enjoyable motorcycle, which is sometimes exactly what you are looking for at eighteen years old with a freshly laminated license in your pocket.