New 2022 Kymco AK 550

[rjs987]

I WAS going to wait until I put it on the trailer to bring it home but the dealer sent me pics today.
It arrived yesterday (Monday) and they prepped it today so it is now ready for me to arrive Saturday to get it and bring it home. I'll post pics of it on the trailer when I have those.
I decided to trailer the bike home rather than ride it due to the time of year (cold temps and unpredictable weather) and also because I am trading in my Burgman 650 and didn't want to chance any damage or accident riding that down to get the new bike. Plus the trade in was based on current mileage so didn't want to add another 350 miles.

I had been looking at several dealers all over the MidWest and even down south to find what I wanted for a price I was willing to pay. I came across Moto Italia (https://vespaedwardsville.com/) in Edwardsville, IL just outside of St Louis. They were actually closer than another dealer just outside Chicago which had a 2022 model in stock. But that Chicago dealer tacked on huge upcharges and didn't want to talk anything about trade in. Moto Italia showed they had one 2022 Matte Silver Crystal model so I emailed them to get the scoop on it. They said they were expecting that one any day and to call for details, so I did just last Thursday. I just happened to ask if they could get the Matte Deep Blue color I really wanted, and I said it just like that. They said they could have one there by the next week. They asked about a trade in and I told them about my Burgman and gave them some details they wanted to know. They then offered me a trade value that was more than anyone had yet offered me for a private sale price and also quoted me what was a lower than expected true OTD price. I thought about it overnight but knew exactly what I was going to say to them so the deal was struck on Friday.

Here is a link to some pics of the new machine. I just love the color.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/iuu4PzwMHfXt6uuu9

I will miss the Burgman 650 but I'll be enjoying this new AK 550.

[john grinsel]

Trailer biking sucks...With proper riding gear late fall ride fun  Try is some time.

[rjs987]

Trailer biking sucks...With proper riding gear late fall ride fun  Try is some time.

Normally I would, but I didn't want to give the dealer any excuse to change the trade allowance.
I am not really afraid of a little cold temp riding. Been down way below zeroF before and I have the gear for it. But with the fantastic trade allowance they are giving and also because I won't have my heated gloves controller connected I decided to trailer them each way. I know the AK 550 has heated grips but those are not as warm as heated gloves. I'll be finding out how good those are in coming weeks.

[Iahawk]

just in time for our weather in Iowa to turn nice and cold! Congratulations on the new bike, I really like that blue. Looks really good in the matte finish.

[klaviator]

Congrats on the new scooter.  I like the blue much better than the grey.

Wise choice trailering down and back given the distance.  I hope you plan on riding the new scooter before putting it on the trailer.  In the unlikely chance there is a problem with your new scooter it would be better to find out before you get home.  If it was me I'd ride it at least a half hour just to make sure there aren't any issues.

[Ruffus]

@rjs, great scoot, color just right.
I would additionally cover it on the way home😆.
..btw: you plan a topcase on it?
If yes, (beside the look) is there a possibility?

[rjs987]

There might be a change in plans about the trailer. Personally I rather preferred the idea to ride one down there and the other back. I asked if there would be any problem with the deal we struck on it if I did that and the dealer said "No" so I am adjusting what I need to take with me to ride down and back. I'll be taking faster roads going TO the dealer since I am very familiar with the Burgman 650 and it runs great on those. I keep reading how the AK 550 also runs great on fast roads but because it's new to me and needs several miles of moderate riding, if only to scrub in the tires, I have back roads planned to a motel about half way home that will work great for that. It's about 350 miles going there. Then about 175 miles to the motel and another 183 miles to home. These are all medium to short rides for me when I travel. And the temps will be in the mid 40s F in the mornings and mid 60s F during the afternoon. I might not even get a chance to use the heated grips since I usually don't add heated anything until mid 30s F at least. This will give me a chance to really get to know the new scooter and if there are any issues I have the dealer's phone number. Towing a bike on a trailer can be hard on it in some ways so I like this idea better. Besides, another excuse for another ride 

I WAS gathering everything I would need to manage a bike on a trailer: hitch/tow bars, locks for the tailgate, heavy duty straps and soft ties, etc. But now I am switching to gathering what I need for a ride with an overnight stay. Everything I'll be taking will fit in the storage under the seat on the AK. My Burgman would fit a lot more under the seat but I am thinking in terms of the ride back so no tent, no cook set or stove, etc. Double checked the tire pressure today since it is about the same temp as it will be when I leave Saturday early AM. Filled the gas tank. I'm all set now.

As to a top case...
I am thinking I like the OEM passenger handles better than any of the brackets for adding a top case. There is one luggage rack integrated into handles that match the OEM handles but it only comes in Black and the tail panel must be changed to fit it so I'll really have to think about it before adding anything just yet. I use a few dry bags anyway when I travel so one more dry bag is no big deal for me. I do have a few minor things I plan to add. Likely the first would be a battery maintainer pigtail with SAE connector. I have a SAE to 12vdc socket pigtail that I will be able to plug into that so I won't be missing the standard 12vdc socket. The left glove box on this scooter already has a USB connector in there so the phone has somewhere to be charging while I ride. I do plan to try out the Noodoe navigation app and then I'll decide if I need to mount my phone in a holder above the dash. The ONLY reason I have for mounting a phone where I can see it is for navigation. Noodoe will show me any missed texts or phone calls when I am stopped so don't need to see the phone for that. I know the horn is louder than the stock horn on many bikes and scooters so will see how that stacks up and if I feel the need to put a Stebel Nautilus on there someplace. For a while for now I'm just going to leave it stock as I assess what I might want.

[leomagnus]

Awesome bike, love the color. Thats the one I wanted to get, but still my dealer doesnt have any coming in.....

[jermwars]

THAT IS SO AWESOME.

Really glad to read it.

Took mine out in the rain for the first time today and im SUPER impressed yet again by this machine. The things a tank. Tried locking up a few times and the ABS is simply astonishing.

Again...many kudos on the buy

[john grinsel]

Riding good way to find out if their are any initial problems---and to get to know machine.  Check book on break in.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Yes, congrats!
At last!
Wondering about the horizontal shock.....does the rear tire move forwards and back on bumps?
A bit of a design 'poof', "just because"....or a better system than a pair of vertical shocks on a touring bike??

Wonder how many Kymco brought over to the US?

Stig

[rjs987]

Riding good way to find out if their are any initial problems---and to get to know machine.  Check book on break in.

Already did... a long time ago. There was discussion on the ADV Rider forum about service intervals. Break In miles is 180. The non-USA manuals all say first service, oil and filter change - etc, is also at 180 but many who have the AK in the USA have reported that their manuals say first service is at 3000 miles

Yes, congrats!
At last!
Wondering about the horizontal shock.....does the rear tire move forwards and back on bumps?
A bit of a design 'poof', "just because"....or a better system than a pair of vertical shocks on a touring bike??

Wonder how many Kymco brought over to the US?

Stig

Thanks, and agree... at last! Don't know how many were brought into the USA but I do know there are more and more showing up for 2022 models in dealers all over the USA.
There was discussion about that horizontal shock on the BurgmanUSA forum a while back. There are many bikes that do use that configuration. Some Harley models and many BMW models for just a few. Those usually have the shock under the swing arm in the middle. It turns out to be a better system.

The swing arm moves like any other proper swing arm. You will notice that the rear mount for the shock is offset above the swing arm and the front mount is raised even higher. As the swing arm moves up and down that rear mount actually moves forward and back, in addition to up and down. Someone mentioned something about "moment of arc" in that other conversation. I guess they like trig math. Anyway here's a pic showing this.

[rjs987]

BTW - the dealer I went through had just ordered and was expecting a 2022 Matte Silver Crystal AK 550 when I had called them last week. I mentioned about really liking the Matte Deep Blue and they said they could order that and get it by this week. They ordered it on Thursday and had it in the shop by Monday. If a dealer can get a special order color in 2 business days I'd say USA stock availability is starting to ramp up.

Having said that I will also add that there are many Kymco dealers, and dealers of other bikes as well, who are too lazy IMO to bother putting in an order for something a customer specifically wants or for models that they don't want to bother selling. Their loss.

[Ruffus]

@rjd, ws handbook for ak 550 I saw at KYMCO.at for download, can't copy this link here but its a big pdf file of 461 pages.

[rjs987]

@rjs, ws handbook for ak 550 I saw at KYMCO.at for download, can't copy this link here but its a big pdf file of 461 pages.

Yes it is a big book. I have it downloaded and been studying it for a while now. That is where I downloaded it from.
I was thinking I posted the link here or maybe that was another forum. But they have a lot of the documents for many Kymco scooters there. I also downloaded the color electrical Circuit diagrams for the AK from there.
https://kymco.at/kymco_store_view/dowloads/kymco.html
Go down most of the way on this page to find the AK 550 technical manuals available here.

The Workshop manual is the big one. There are other documents they have that are subsets of the Workshop manual. Like the Service document is only Chapter 2 of the workshop manual. There is another page on that web site to download the operators manual but those are not in English