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Thanks for the feedback guys...along the lines that I was thinking as well.  And to Surgeon...no it is not a rev limiter at 7500...I've had it over 8000 -rpms on a couple of occasions when accelerating and it still has throttle left.  The Xciting is heavier than the Bet & Win (407 lbs - dry wt.)  but still responds well to throttle at redline.  I just try to not go over for concern of causing damage to the engine. 

Some various musings about CVT scooters and tachometers.  My Xciting 250 has a tach and it redlines at 7500 rpm.  This limits my upper speed to around 72 mph.  I do not exceed redline, yet on the interstate, I could use a little more speed.  The scoot still has plenty of throttle at redline and I also know many scooters have no tach and are ridden WOT all the time with little seeming harm to the scooter.  So why a tach on a CVT? Is the redline for real?  Am I just being stupid about this?  I know it is a different engine but the Ninja 250 revs about 10,000 consistently, with a upper limit of 14000.  So any feedback on this would be welcome guys.  Thanks.

That sucks, 08.  Hope your scooter is back on the road soon, and if someone messed with your bike, I hope the fleas from a thousand camels infest his nether regions.

I would recommend the Downtown 300 or People GTI 300, which you may find a left over or slightly used bike for under $5000, although you may need to do a lot of searching.  They may even get a little better gas mileage.  A Xciting 500 will cost more new, but used ones can often be found in good shape.  Very highway capable, but not as good on gas.  However less maintenence is required on the 500 and this may help even up the driving cost.  Good luck.

That is not a bad price especially if it is truly "out the door."  You should expect between 55-65 mpg depending on how you ride.  That has been my experience anyway.  One thing to note - the Xciting does fine up to about 65 mph, but struggles to do 70-75 - this puts you right at redline, so if you are planning to ride on the Interstate, keep this in mind.

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.

Thanks for the comments guys.  Since we have posted about our first group ride, membership has gone from 8 to 19 members.  This may grow faster than expected.  Apparently a lot of people in the area have scooters and are looking to talk about same.  I would eventually like to see a regular meeting with ride options - short, medium, and long, and also taking into account the different capabilities of the scoots.  I will keep you all updated with the good, the bad, and the ugly of our group as it continues.

Okay, for RI, it would have to be quahogs and little necks with coffee milk to wash them down...oh and a cabinet or frappe for dessert.  If you want something more traditional, then you can go to Federal Hill for Italian food.   As for the sight to see, I would say a toss up between the mansions in Newport or Block Island.