Hyosung Motorcycles

Hyosung entered the motorcycle business in 1978 as a division of South Korea's Hyosung Group, based in Changwon. It began in 1979 by building Suzuki-designed motorcycles under license for the domestic Korean market, opened its own research and development center in Hamamatsu, Japan, in 1986, and started producing its own original designs the following year - Hyosung was also the official motorcycle supplier for the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics. The motorcycle business was spun off as its own company in 2003, then changed ownership twice more, becoming S&T Motors in 2007 and, after acquisition by Kolao Holdings in 2014, KR Motors - the name the parent company now trades under, even though "Hyosung" remains the brand on the bikes themselves in most markets, spanning cruisers, sportbikes and naked models.