[lycheed]

Looks of the TMax whilst having dual full face helmet underseat storage, and a 500cc single sitting on the swing arm givng a wonderful noise, making it light and easy to handle around town and on winding roads, whilst being economically priced.

Better package and quality than Piaggio's X9.

Good if you can get hold of one.

http://www.kymcousa.com/showroom/scooters/xciting500/
Google translation of German Kymco site

 

[gruntled]

I've been waiting for about a year for this one. They keep delaying it
& now say early this year. Big problem will be shortage of dealers. I have one near me but they are very small & if they go out of bussiness I would be SOL not to mention if I had a problem on the road. They also have not mentioned any price. If it comes in under $6000 including set-up & shipping I will be very interested.

 

[pauljo]

I love that Orange color! Almost worth buying just for that. Reminds me of an orange creamsickle.

 

[ABQ]

Too bad the fuel tank is only 2.4 gallons:

KYMCO Xciting 500
Engine Type 4-stroke water-cooled DOHC
Displacement 500cc
Bore/Stroke 72.7x60mm
Cooling System Liquid
Ignition Electric
Gearbox Automatic CVT
Chassis Steel
Front Suspension Telescopic forks
Rear Suspension Adjustable hydraulic shocks
Front Brake Single disc with dual piston calipers
Rear Brake Single disc with dual piston calipers
Front Wheel/Tire 120/70-15
Rear Wheel/Tire 150/70-14
Seat Height 30.3 in. (770mm) (TOO HIGH)
Wheelbase 56.4 in. (1435mm)
Fuel Capacity 2.4 gals. (9.1 liters) (TOO SMALL)
Weight 440 lbs.
Available Colors TBD
MSRP $TBA
Features a speedometer, tachometer, fuel and temp gauges with digital odometer, tripmeter and clock. Dash and in front of seat storage as well as under seat dual helmet storage. Dual folding electric mirrors. Helmet hook. Integrated windshield. Cell phone holder with 12V DC adapter. ABS brakes as an option and a 2 Year Factory Warranty. C.A.R.B Certified

 

[lycheed]

I've been waiting for about a year for this one. They keep delaying it
& now say early this year. If it comes in under $6000 including set-up & shipping I will be very interested.

I thought that you may show some interest in this machine Gruntled. It has been a long time coming, but when it does it will be well received.

Too bad the fuel tank is only 2.4 gallons:.

I myself am a little baffled by the tiny fuel tank (even 250/400s have 12 litre tanks, and the 650 15 litres), but I suppose thats the trade off for the TMax style. The seat is almost as high as the 790mm TMax seat, so that is obviosuly a very strong infuence for the design. A good choice of role model, as the TMax is selling in similar if not greater numbers than the Silverwing.

I for one would not be entirely surprised if the fuel capacity specs changed between now and the actual release date, because this only gives it a range of 120 miles, as opposed to the 170 miles of my AN650 and the 160 miles of my Reflex 250 ABS.

Still looks a very strong package for the style concious.

 

[gruntled]

I checked kymco's web site again & noted that they now have many more dealers than when I checked last year. They now have two near me.
The gas tank figures are very odd. They list the following figures for all their models. (Only listed the figures but not the models. Odd how they get different conversion figures for the same size tank.) This isn't only one their web site but also in a brochure that I have.

For five liters (1.61 & 1.3 gals)
For eight liters (1.29, 1.8, 1.53, 1.8 & 2.1 gals)
For 10.8 liters (2.77 gals)
For 9.1 liters (2.4 gals.)

With numbers like that there is no way to have any idea what the tank sizes really are.
.

 

[JD]

Kymco will be introducing several different 500cc models over the next year or so. Hopefully I can get some more info at the Dealer Expo next weekend.

 

[Rubble]

I hope Kymco makes it up to this side of the border. I find thier products to be interesting (I think the People 250 is excellent) and from what I've heard pretty much reliable as all get out.

 

[JD]

The People 250 is an excellent machine. The build quality of Kymco is second to none, with the exception of the Xciting 500. It really needs some major improvements before its release.

 

[burg650]

I like the Orange color but it looks too small for me and a 500cc will not cut it as well, now if it was say 750 or more I would be line for one.

 

[JD]

The orange color looks nice in pictures, but not very flattering in person. To me, it seemed a little dull, almost a flat color. In the pics it looks to be almost a metallic orange. Very dissapointing.

 

[Stormsteed]

Never mind.

 

[JD]

At the ATV Expo, I saw it under flourescent lights and outside in sunlight. It looked better under the flourescent, but still not to my liking.

 

[lycheed]

A link to the video footage from the 2004 Intermot - you can see the Xciting 500 for yourselves.

http://www.kymco.com/event/intermot/index_300.htm#

Whether a colour scheme is nice or not is purely personal opinion. I wouldn't be turned off just because one of the colour schemes on offer isn't to one persons liking. I despise the silver, greens and other drab colours that Suzuki offers it's 650 in, for example, but many owners on this board are very happy with the colour of the machines.

I myself like what I see in this footage. I hope that they iron out the bugs and get this on sale this year.

 

[Lapine Rider]

There were some very interesting design features in this video; German design features, I suspect...

 

[swstiles]

Wheel Base

Too bad the fuel tank is only 2.4 gallons:

KYMCO Xciting 500

Wheelbase 56.4 in. (1435mm)
Fuel Capacity 2.4 gals. (9.1 liters) (TOO SMALL)

Did you notice that the wheel Base is also 6 inches shorter than the Burgmans? I wonder if that tranlates into less leg room? :roll: :?:

 

[lycheed]

Re: Wheel Base

Too bad the fuel tank is only 2.4 gallons:

KYMCO Xciting 500

Wheelbase 56.4 in. (1435mm)
Fuel Capacity 2.4 gals. (9.1 liters) (TOO SMALL)

Did you notice that the wheel Base is also 6 inches shorter than the Burgmans? I wonder if that tranlates into less leg room? :roll: :?:

A good point you raise. It's also 150mm shorter than the wheel base of either the Tmax or Majesty 400, or indeed the SilverWing or Reflex 250, or AN250/400. In fact, you have to look at the Majesty 125 or Atlantic 250 with their wheelbases of 1480mm to find anything similar. Whilst not necessarily compromising legroom, it will present a more upright riding position than one may expect from a 500cc big-scooter. It looks far longer than that.

Would you be surprised to learn that the Grand Vista 250's wheelbase is 1435mm too? New body on existing wheelbase with new engine shoehorned in - great for keeping RnD costs down. This short wheelbase is what gives the Grand Vista that very upright look to it, whereas the longer Japanese big-scooters are more cruiser like in riding position terms.

Good eyes.

 

[gruntled]

I just recieced the following E-Mail in response to my inquiry to Kymco.

"The Xciting should be available late 2005 but there is no guaranty-
Ca maybe even later- It should have an MSRP of $6000 to $6500.00-
I doubt that there will be any change to the gas tank."

Very nice of them to answer my questions so completely but it looks as though that takes the Kymco off my list.

 

[lycheed]

Well, it's a hard choice and one only you can make by yourself. The short wheelbase will reduce the area available for a fuel tank, so the pieces are beginning to come together.

What would you go for instead?

 

[gruntled]

It's really three strikes. The price is more than I had hoped & I had hoped for a bigger gas tank but that was not a killer in itself. The big problem is the bike is not going to be available for a long time.
At this point I have checked out a long list & the only one left seems to be the 400 cc Yamaha scooter. Now I need to see if I can make a deal I can live with.
The good news is that the original problem that had me looking for a scooter has been getting better. I was having so much pain in my hand while holding in the clutch but it much less now.