Unpacking & opening "THE BOX"

Earlier in the year at the annual motorcycle show in Abbotsford, BC I had the opportunity to actually touch a new Kymco Xciting 500Ri. This is the new fuel injected 500cc scooter. The Xciting was never imported into Canada until now. I have noticed on the Kymco forum that a lot of members had the Carbureted Xciting 500 and the concensus was that they were very happy with its performance. I was thinking that this scoot could do everything I needed, including the out of town overnighters and freeway travel if necessary. I'm trying very hard to lower my insurance costs and in order to do this I have to weed out "the Stable" but it's easier said than done. At the show I noticed that they were going to offer WHITE as a colour option and I told the rep right then that I would take delivery of a White one. White is such a clean and simple colour, sort of understated elegance. Well, the scooter finally arrived earlier this month. I'm not very good at selling things, so I just bit the bullet and traded it in.

So here it is:


Actually, this is the way scooters/motorcycles are shipped from the factory. In boxes that can be easily stacked in containers, and stacked in warehouses. When you go into a showroom you see the scooters all parked in a row, all clean, detailed and waiting for customers to come and sit on them. Some work is required to get them to this stage.

The next step is to remove the cardboard cover:


Hardly looks like a scooter. It saves shipping space by making the package smaller. As you will notice the front wheel has been removed (to shorten the shipping container) and there is protective plastic and cardboard covering the scooter to eliminate damage in transit. On the production line, I was told that all scooters are assembled at the factory, tested, then dis-assembled and put into its own shipping container/box. The engine/transmission oil, brake fluid and antifreeze are all filled at the factory. You just have to add the fuel and activate/install the battery.

Yep, looks more like a scooter now:






The scooter is now assembled, but not yet ready for delivery. More PDI stuff to do, gas to fill and things to check out. Then there's the paperwork and insurance to transfer.

Here's my new ride when I went to pick it up:


I traded in my '07 Bet&Win250 and for comparison purposes you will notice the size difference as compared to this BW150 (same size/frame as my prev BW250):


The BW150 is on the left (Xciting 500Ri is on the right). There is a noticeable size difference.





Not only is the X500Ri a significantly larger scooter, it is much heavier too. Whereas you could 'fling' the smaller BW250 around, you have to be more commited on the Xciting. It is probably another 80 lbs heavier than my old scoot but I have gotten used to it now and like the smoother ride on the highway. I have been taking it to work to get more break in miles and it feels quite comfortable nestled amongst the other bikes.



Even tho I had ridden larger bikes before, this scoot had a larger presence than I was used to but the the scoot has a low centre of gravity and while you are moving it feels very easy to maneuver. I took it to the Victoria Rally last weekend but was trying to keep the speeds down, esp for the first 500 kms. Now that I have over 800 kms on it I decided to take the HOV lane home from work today. It more than holds its own and the additional weight made it more stable, at higher speeds. I'm beginning to like it a lot and there will be more scooter adventures to come.