I am a new 2009 Kymco 500 Ri owner - 5' 10"- 260 #'s (love those twinkies).
I started on a Roketa MC54 (new), then moved up to a six-year old Burgman 400 (soon for sale) before just buying the new 500Ri.
Here are some first impression comparisons ... after my 100 mile ride home from the dealer (he had my color - charcoal):
1) Kymco has significantly higher seat than the Burgman. I am on half-toe, versus full flat on the Burgman.
2) Kymco is much "throatier" at low rpm than the Burgman. It's a manly scoot! (Is that a contradiction in terms? ... or "non sequitur" for the edgemicated among us.)
3) Oddly, I'm having to add mirror extenders to the Kymco, while the Burgman mirrors were OK. The added benefit is that the mirrors won't hit the big Givi windscreen, as I've read about here.
4) Kymco's larger front wheel (15" vs. 13") makes the Kymco REALLY want to stand up and STAY vertical. It takes significantly more counter steer to lay the bike over. Feels more substantial, despite only 10 pound wt. difference, and handles bumps better.
5) Kymco under-seat storage can't compare to the Burgman ... not even close. I'll be adding Givi top case AND side cases, SOMEHOW!
6) Kymco REQUIRES the high Givi windshield. At highway speeds, the SCOOT was solid as a rock against the wind, WHILE I was getting buffeted like crazy from the shoulders up. It actually felt like I might get blown off the scoot, while IT continued smoothly down the road.
7) The Kymco seat is unpleasantly hard and wide, as is the Burgman. I'm going to do SOMETHING about that. I'm thinking about sponge rubber, not gel or memory foam. Go feel a Goldwing seat, sometime. I might change the cover to suede naugahyde - I love the stuff - feels soft and breathable, but grips you.
Kymco is very "tight" on the throttle - first twist at 1000 rpm = movement. The Burgman, which I have fitted with a J. Costa variator needed about 2200 rpm before movement. This could not be from "age" - the J.Costa variator was less than a year old. I think J.Costa simply builds it to require higher rpm on takeoff to yield that little perception of extra power. I haven't been impressed with it.
9) I won't have to add a buzzer to the turn signals of the Kymco (as I did to the Burgman), as the Kymco comes with a good "clacking" sound.
10) I haven't GPS'ed the speedometer, yet, so I don't know if I'll be adding a Sigma bicycle speedo. Boy, are they accurate.
Conclusions:
I'll miss the low seat and nimble handling of the Burgman, but I prefer the stature and substance of the Kymco.
I'm very happy with my purchase. And if I can sell my Burgman for what I paid for it (actually, pretty likely due to upgrades), the 500 will only have cost me $3,000. The Kymco needs a little customizing, but that's my thing, anyway.
Q: What's the story with the different mirrors?
I looked at 500's that had fully molded mirror mounts, which require removal of a piece of tupperware to get at two bolts, while mine are standard 10mm stem mounts.?.?.? I'm not really complaining, just curious. This WILL allow my to easily mount a Shark radio/usb/mp3 player, that features speakers IN THE mirrors, plug-in tweeters on top of them and a woofer in the under-seat area. (That will allow space under the seat for a pair of gloves, one set on goggles and a do-rag .. but let's not be bitter!) I stick the remote to the left brake fluid cover with double faced foam tape... works great.
Anybody else have a similar experience? ... or different? Welcome a newbie.
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