I purchased a 2017 Kymco 450i LE after doing some looking for awhile in September. When purchasing I was able to get the LE for the price of the base model as it was their first Kymco sale and it was the end of the month so they were eager for a sale and the hard to get bit paid a little bit. I added the windshield and roof at time of purchase. I use this to run my trapping line, hunt with and general work around the property.
While not 100% satisfied with the initial weeks of ownership, the dealership can be attributed as a prime suspect for a few of my issues while assembling the unit on site. None as of yet have been unworkable through them, just time spent on the back and forth.
Bad Take-aways:1 - Stator went bad first week home - dealership took care of w/ some lead time to get the part in stock
2 - Diff fluid was low - thanks to forum for heads up on this about inexperienced dealers @ final assembly.
3 - Still squeaks like a mofo @ back spring but have a scheduled time to take to dealer
4 - The linkage between gears is annoying but w/ help from some topics here on the forum, the gas seems to minimize the annoyance. For what its worth, the other brands I test drove were far from easy to work and seems to be somewhat industry wide.
5 - When parked at an incline, gear selection & rocking is required to spring it back in gear (found this out when loading some trees I cut last fall)
6 - That starting beep for the efi required delay needs to die, like yesterday
7 - Putting the seat back on takes some getting used to. Once you get the right feel for it, all good.
8 - In order to move back suspension to higher setting, sway bar needs to be removed and kept off.
Good Take-aways - I actually really like it1 - Rides pretty darn smoothly
2 - This things got some power. When hauling wood, etc up hills I haven't had to hit 4wd yet. She chugs darn nicely up them bad boys. I have a spot on the back 40 that 90' of incline over ~80yds
3 - The lack of power steering is not noticeable unless at a crawl or stopped while on pavement. It's a non-issue for me elsewhere.
4 - I flat out love the dump bed release on both sides. I've used others and its a convenience that's immediately noticeable in real world applications.
5 - I like the overall size of it, it fits on the tight trails I need it to whereas other models would not
6 - The storage capacity is not to be overlooked. Huge convenience. I've got the poop paper, good size first aid kit, winch remote, dry clothes and towel stashed under the seat w/ room for more. And my dash & glove compartments are still free to house gloves, misc tools and the pistol.
7 - The cup holders - seems trivial - but they are the perfect depth, height and location. I've been in others where my Large coffee cup won't fit and/or wobbles crazily. Not so here. Love it.
8 - It seems like I'm listing little things but man these add up when you're actually using the thing. The dump bed comes w/ a rubber cover for the metal bottom. Thx boys.
9 - The step-in. Previous brands this would be mud city from my hip waders. It recessed just enough that I'm not constantly scuffing this place up.
Some things I've done:1 - Added a battery tender. It got old taking the hood off w/ its weird plastic locks to get to the tender terminals so I ran the connectors through the back of the battery housing compartment. It now is both easily accessible and protected from the elements laying just behind the topmost part of wheel well housing. Removing the hood e/ time felt too much like I would break it sooner or later.
2 - Added a speaker. When processing deer or general work, nice to have. Due to the battery placement I didn't want to get a chord powered unit. I settled on an Altec all-weather model for bikes w/ 30hr battery life that has a usb port to charge my phone from as well. The included mount is too small for the cage but attaches nicely to the overhead grab bar. Doing so also takes some vibration pressure off the mounting screw on the speaker itself by resting between the bar and roof while in transit.
3 - Added a Mighty-Tite tie down system to the trailer. This thing rocks. No more straps, etc to be fumbling about w/ in the rain and re-tightening. The amount of time and worry this has saved me is significant. I don't miss loading my atv in the bed of the truck either. My main hunting grounds are 1hr e/way through back roads, this has been a life saver so far.
Planned Additions1 - Them mesh doors got to go. Probably buy the half doors from the gentleman on this forum once the wife believes I'll stop spending on it
The mud flaps will be required.
2 - Building a pvc fishing pole holder for the bed
3 - Jerry-rig a flashlight holder and pole-saw holder to one of the frame bars
Speaker
Mighty-Tite
Hauling Some Wood
The Mrs. and the In-Laws enjoying a ride around
2nd Update 12-11-17I do some trapping for a hunting club with about 1,800 acres. I got to stretch her legs a bit more than usual this past weekend there. There were a couple patches of ground that I could safely get her up to 45mph. That said - 25mph on trails is plenty enough for me & comfy, I was just seeing what was possible, the rest is just icing.
The radio came in handy when I was catfishing on the river at night. Nice little background music. It was usable during the day but I started to have some troubles with the bluetooth and wound up just using an aux chord. I'm yet to rig up some holders for my 8-10' rods and pole saw. Plus side - the bed was a perfect depth to work as a temporary cat holder when I forgot my cooler at the lodge
She handled superbly. The club had gotten 2-3/4" of rain and I still didn't have to use 4wd once. They have crushed stone where needed on most iffy crossings but there were a few field edges & low points that got sporty. I used low where appropriate and all was well. At one point I had 2 deer in the bed and one 240lb passenger. There was a noticeable strain when getting up to speed, definitely handled differently w/ the load at 15mph but I would expect that from this sized machine and it's not a normal situation i'm in. I also noticed I was canting the steering wheel quite a bit to go straight at speed at all times. I'll have a look-see at alignment.
In terms of ride - everything still hunky dory. Very smooth. I put 8hrs on the machine just this weekend and it was working miles.
Linkage - staying in neutral w/ the parking/e brake was copesetic and took some headache out. Getting it to fully seat in L & H is a little bit of an art form. It can be learned quickly.
Additional Planned Update - I need to find a way to keep dust from the rear w/ some short of back windshield. It's low country there and the sandy soil dries out fast. It was whirling into my eyes towards the end of the day sunday perrrty good.
Uncharacteristic snow on Friday made for an interesting drive (southern drivers are horrendous, add 1-3inches of snow and its Armageddon on the highways. just slow down aint in their vocabulary)
Hauling some club members and deer:
Showing club members how to process a beaver on the tailgate:
Temporary Cat Cooler