KymcoForum.com

Just wanted to say hi and give a quick update.  Loving the Honda CTX 700 (I went with the manual not the DCT model).  Guess I still love to shift.  Great bike - just as smooth and flickable as the Xciting 250 was, but definitely better suited to the highway.  However, I do miss the storage of the X.  If I had to do it over again, I think I would have kept the X and had my wife learn to ride it.  Still the Xciting got me back into riding on 2 wheels and it was a fun ride! 
Keep the shiny side up and stay safe everyone.

Bill

Hi all.

Last spring when I started prepping my scooter for riding, I noted some flaking of the outer layer of my windscreen for my scooter (2009 Xciting 250).  This spring it was even worse.  It appears that the scratch resistance is flaking off.  It looks horrible, but has not compromised the integrity of the screen at all.  Any suggestions how to clean the rest of this layer off of the windshield?  Thanks and remember, it don't matter what you ride as as long as you ride.

Just returned from a week in New Orleans and was surprised by the number of scooters there.  Just about every block of the French Quarter had at least one scooter parked on it and I saw scooters all over the city.  Even stopped at a dealership for Vespa / Piaggio.  He said they have doubled their sales each of the last 3 years.  He was also a fan of Kymco.  It did seem as if half of the scooters in NOLA were Vespas, but I saw a few Kymcos....very few Chinese scoots though.  Now if we could get more scooter riders in New England.

Just got back from vacation in Mexico - along the Riviera Maya.  Beautiful place - wish I had a way to take my scooter.  Saw literally hundreds of scooters and small displacement motorcycles.  Many of the motorcycles were old classics.  I also saw a lot of old Symbas and Cubs.  However, all of the newer scooters appeared to be Chinese brands and this was especially true of the rentals.  Still it was interesting to see people on 50 cc scoots driving them from Cancun to Tulum along the highway - a distance of about 75 - 80 miles!

So, I went for a ride with several fellow scooterists.  One of them had a Hyosung MS3 250.  While the build quality did not match my Xciting, it was not a bad looking bike.  The guy with the Hyosung noted that the floorboard had cracked underneath. Otherwise, the two scoots were comparable.  Both have front dual disc brakes and a rear disc brake for instance.  His bike was also about $1000 less than an Xciting.  However, he also noted that his MS3 could hit about 85 on the highway.  Now I know that his scooter is about 40 lbs lighter than my Xciting, but I struggle to hit 75 at redline with my Xciting.  I checked several reviews online and his claim of 85 was supported by these reviews.  I'm not saying that I liked his scoot better, but overall not a bad bike for the price - although I will admit the cracked floorboard would be a serious red flag for me.  My guess is that since it was a flat floorboard (no hump like the Xciting), the structural integrity was affected by this.

Another guy had a Yamaha T-max.  Obviously a very nice bike, but limited storage underneath due to the parallel twin engine set-up.  He could not fit his full helmet under the seat.  Despite it's size and weight, it handled pretty well at slow speeds.  Nice looking, but I was not as impressed as I thought I would be.  The build quality was obviously good, but did not seem to be better than my Xciting.  The T-max owner was surprised at the similarity of build quality.

There was also a Vespa 250 GTS and a Znen 150cc.  Both were beautiful traditional looking scoots and did well on the ride.  Overall, though, I was pleased with how my Xciting compared to the other scoots.  Nice job Kymco.

Okay people,

How about sharing with us what you really like and don't like about your current ride.  I have a 2009 Xciting 250Ri.  I like that it is fuel injected, has disc brakes front and rear, adjustable rear suspension, integrated turn signals (not on stalks), and the LED taillight.  Despite it's weight, it handles well at low speeds, is stable on the highway, and accelerates quickly to about 60 mph.  I also like the loud turn signals - I never forget to turn them off.  What I don't like is that the seat is slightly too high, top-end speed is about 72 mph at redline, and the headlight on low beam is a little too dim at night - I would prefer a dual headlight system.  I also wish the underseat storage was a little larger.  That's it....overall I love my Xciting.  How about the rest of you?

Just want to say "Be Careful" to all our East Coast forum members.  I'm hoping that this storm is being blown all out of proportion, but even so...it looks like we will have wind and rain sticking around in New England into Thursday and possibly Friday.  Good luck to all and look out for flying debris...possibly 08087 if he decides to go for that ride.

Okay, thought we would get back to scooters for a while and since, there have been a lot of opinions being floated around, here's the question:

What scooter do you ride and why did you decide to get this particular scooter?

I ride an XC250.  I had not ridden in many years and had decided that a scooter made sense for me.  After doing a lot of research I thought that Kymco was a nice blend of quality and price.  I went to the local dealer and sat on several scoots.  I liked the Downtown 300, but felt the price was a bit much for my first ride in many years.  The dealer told me he was getting in several 2009 scooters (but new) from a store that had closed in Georgia.  So I went back next week.  I saw the XC250, and since the dealer was knocking $1300 off the price, it was too good to turn down

I commute to work on mostly city streets, so I wanted something with decent gas mileage and at least a little maneuverability.  I also am on the highways and interstate on occasion and can't really take a long trip without going on the interstate.  Also, my wife wants to ride with me on occasion, so the XC seemed to meet all of these criteria.  Also since I will be riding in cold weather a lot, I wanted fuel injection.

Overall I am very pleased with my XC250.  It is fun, handles the highways well and still is a blast in the city.  I would like to have a little more storage and as always would like a little more speed at times.  Otherwise, it has met all my expectations.