550 owner's summary

[Stig / Major Tom]

Copied and pasted from an owner on the Vespa forum....

1. During the course of the Winter Storage, the batteries in the Keyless remote fobs die and have to be replaced. I had the same problem. I brought the two remote fobs (they give you two with your scoot) and had them replace the batteries in both of them. They were both dead. Cost $4.00.

2. The Kymco AD550 has advanced electronics. More stuff than I need. As a result, if unridden for a period of time, the main battery will discharge. The dealer installs (before sold) a tail cord that can easily be plugged into your
battery tender. So, in between group rides, I plug the scoot into a battery tender in my garage.

3. You have to keep the remote start fobs a distance away from the Kymco when not riding or they will discharge the battery.

4. All of their Kymco 550s experienced the same hose coolant drip unless kept in the warm showroom all Winter. The dealer has a (none heated) storage building were you can have them store your scoot for the winter.

So,  despite the above slight annoyances, the machine is a magnificent powerful rocket. It is great looking, comfortable foot forward riding position, and very well balanced with smooth riding characteristics.
I had to relearn throttle control because it has so much power at every rpm level. The Burgman 400 was great, but this thing can super accelerate and any speed. If you are going 70 mph and gun the throttle, it will snap your head back and hit 100 mph almost instantly.

Stig

[randyo]

"magnificent powerful rocket"

matter of perception, coming from a 100hp/1000cc bike, not so much

all I can say is "adequate"

[rjs987]

I came from the ST1100... 100 HP, 1085cc.
I still feel the AK accelerates better than that ST bike. Though maybe not more than that one from 70 to 100 mph but definitely a rocket from 0 to 70 mph by comparison IMO. Both will do about the same in that upper range in my experience and the ST will leave it behind above 100 mph (mainly because the ST will top out a lot faster than the 120 mph of the AK). Depends how any previous bike was tuned and configured for acceleration. I'm certain that any 1000 cc sport bike could blow it away... but then a 1000cc sport bike would likely have a lot more than 100 HP. Compared to my just previous Burgman 650 my AK does seem like a literal rocket. The 650 has about the same HP, is a bigger engine, is a heavier bigger bike. I ride during winter so never need to store my bikes. Central Iowa can get really really cold, but that just means one more layer to me.

BTW- the battery will not discharge faster if the fobs are near to or far from the bike. Yes, the fob batteries will last about a year regardless where they are located. Both my fobs batteries died at the very same time and one fob was kept in a RFID pouch the entire time so the bike and fob could not "see" each other... same as if that fob was kept far far away from the bike. Since I can start the AK without the battery in the fob I now keep the "spare" fob without the battery installed in that RFID pouch under the seat. I can also start my Rav4 with a dead fob since that is a keyless system as well.

The coolant drip is not on every AK. A few may have that more regularly than most. Since Nov 2021 when I bought mine I've only seen a single quarter sized drop under the bike twice... several months apart, and once when it was very warm out in my unheated garage. This is actually considered normal for many bikes and the weep hole is between 2 seal bearings and designed to prevent any coolant getting past the second seal bearing so coolant doesn't get into the alternator housing. Normal. I had that with my ST once in a big while. Also my Gold Wing as well.

I've said it before... both my cars, a Rav4 and a Subaru Legacy, need to be plugged into a Battery Tender if not driven for several weeks. I did have both batteries die at different times from sitting idle in my garage for more than 2 weeks. Now I keep the un-used vehicle plugged into a BT as well as my John Deere tractor and my wife's Metropolitan and also my AK whenever they are parked in the garage. I do usually ride the AK, or what ever bike I own at the time, often enough that the BT is not usually needed but I never really know how long until my next ride so I just plug it in to maintain the battery. That has been shown to improve battery performance and lifespan anyway. Blame those advanced electronics that are now common in almost all more modern "well equipped" vehicle with lots of electrical features.

[randyo]

I'm coming from a V-Strom 1000, and before that, a SV650,  the SV & AK are very close in motor performance, but the SV is not even close to the AK in handling, ride, braking, my V-strom has WP Suspension ($$$$) I got thru FactoryConnection, motor performance.......the Vstrom 1000 is superior performance in every way, maybe not as smooth, I miss real engine braking, but I spose Brembo brakes makes up

local bike night is gonna start having "slow" races, I did ok with the Vstrom, I practiced a bit with the AK, without the ability to feather the clutch and keep rpms up (rotating mass helps stabilize) I don't think I will be competitive

[Scooter Stan]

I came from the ST1100... 100 HP, 1085cc.
I still feel the AK accelerates better than that ST bike. Though maybe not more than that one from 70 to 100 mph but definitely a rocket from 0 to 70 mph by comparison IMO. Both will do about the same in that upper range in my experience and the ST will leave it behind above 100 mph (mainly because the ST will top out a lot faster than the 120 mph of the AK). Depends how any previous bike was tuned and configured for acceleration. I'm certain that any 1000 cc sport bike could blow it away... but then a 1000cc sport bike would likely have a lot more than 100 HP. Compared to my just previous Burgman 650 my AK does seem like a literal rocket. The 650 has about the same HP, is a bigger engine, is a heavier bigger bike. I ride during winter so never need to store my bikes. Central Iowa can get really really cold, but that just means one more layer to me.

BTW- the battery will not discharge faster if the fobs are near to or far from the bike. Yes, the fob batteries will last about a year regardless where they are located. Both my fobs batteries died at the very same time and one fob was kept in a RFID pouch the entire time so the bike and fob could not "see" each other... same as if that fob was kept far far away from the bike. Since I can start the AK without the battery in the fob I now keep the "spare" fob without the battery installed in that RFID pouch under the seat. I can also start my Rav4 with a dead fob since that is a keyless system as well.

The coolant drip is not on every AK. A few may have that more regularly than most. Since Nov 2021 when I bought mine I've only seen a single quarter sized drop under the bike twice... several months apart, and once when it was very warm out in my unheated garage. This is actually considered normal for many bikes and the weep hole is between 2 seal bearings and designed to prevent any coolant getting past the second seal bearing so coolant doesn't get into the alternator housing. Normal. I had that with my ST once in a big while. Also my Gold Wing as well.

I've said it before... both my cars, a Rav4 and a Subaru Legacy, need to be plugged into a Battery Tender if not driven for several weeks. I did have both batteries die at different times from sitting idle in my garage for more than 2 weeks. Now I keep the un-used vehicle plugged into a BT as well as my John Deere tractor and my wife's Metropolitan and also my AK whenever they are parked in the garage. I do usually ride the AK, or what ever bike I own at the time, often enough that the BT is not usually needed but I never really know how long until my next ride so I just plug it in to maintain the battery. That has been shown to improve battery performance and lifespan anyway. Blame those advanced electronics that are now common in almost all more modern "well equipped" vehicle with lots of electrical features.

Sooo! Tell me about starting your ak with no battery in the fob. Only having owned mine for 2 weeks, I am wondering about the fob and battery life and what happens if it dies.

[rjs987]

Sooo! Tell me about starting your ak with no battery in the fob. Only having owned mine for 2 weeks, I am wondering about the fob and battery life and what happens if it dies.

Had to study your quote from my post to figure out what part was *your* comment or if there was a comment in there. Extracted it and put it in the quote here. When you quote a post it is easier to decipher if you put your comments outside the quote codes...

Anyway, to answer your question...
First off- The bike battery is not affected if the fob battery is good or not.
Second- I am finding, or have found so far, that the fob battery lasts about a year. Doesn't matter if you use it to start the AK or not. The fob is a device that is always on so the battery is always being used. If the fob battery dies then you loose the remote operation of the fob but you can still start the AK. There is a circle emblem on top the right glove box. If you place the "AK" emblem of your fob (not the Kymco logo) directly on that circle pattern and press the control knob start button the AK will turn on and then you can operate the control knob as normal. This method does not work if the fob battery is good since the AK senses that and will turn on remotely if the battery is good but not by placing the fob on that circle. Only if the battery in the fob is dead is when you place the "AK" emblem of the fob directly on that circle pattern to turn on the AK.

Since the fob battery will run down regardless if I am using the fob or not I removed the battery from my spare fob. I keep the spare fob without the battery in the storage box under the seat. If I loose my main fob, or if something happens to it to break it, I can use the spare fob as I mentioned above to start my AK. I have tested this and it works.

This is all the very same thing I said in my original post. If this doesn't answer your question please ask again and I will try to answer. I hope this helps.

[randyo]

I had a chance to use the Brembo brakes last week, me, stupid, not really paying attention (the reason I hate traffic) suddenly without me noticing, traffic in front of me is stopped. But, I came to a nice smooth stop, with maximum pull on both, I did not know it was possible to stop so quick.

[rjs987]

  ... 

[Neil955i]

I had a chance to use the Brembo brakes last week, me, stupid, not really paying attention (the reason I hate traffic) suddenly without me noticing, traffic in front of me is stopped. But, I came to a nice smooth stop, with maximum pull on both, I did not know it was possible to stop so quick.

We’ve all been there Randy - to a lesser or greater extent!  Did the ABS kick in? If not, you could’ve stopped even quicker!!  Seriously, I’m convinced ABS has prevented a probable low speed spill for me on 2 occasions over the last 7 years, saving me £££ in scuffed plastic?  I’m a convert.

[randyo]

We’ve all been there Randy - to a lesser or greater extent!  Did the ABS kick in? If not, you could’ve stopped even quicker!!  Seriously, I’m convinced ABS has prevented a probable low speed spill for me on 2 occasions over the last 7 years, saving me £££ in scuffed plastic?  I’m a convert.

\

in 55 years of riding probably a half million miles, I have never had to stop so quickly, the other thing, no nose dive, and my butt stayed glued to the seat

[rjs987]

The good thing about ABS is that it is there to help maintain control when panic stopping. It only prevents the wheels from locking up enabling you to stop sooner than if you were skidding or sliding.

BUT, really-REALLY-REALLY skilled riders, like racing bikers, who are really skilled with using the brakes often times don't like ABS. But then, THEY know how to brake in such a way that they come right up to the threshold of loosing traction without going over and locking up the wheels. Doing that they can actually stop a lot sooner than with ABS. ABS senses when your wheels are just near that traction threshold and RELEASE the brakes just for an instant before the wheels lock up and quickly reapply.

I'm not that skilled. Wish I was but I'm not. So for me ABS will save my bacon when I have to panic stop. There was only one time I ever needed ABS... but didn't have it. On my Vulcan 750 I looked up to find the traffic light was just going red and I wasn't paying enough attention so I grabbed as much brake as I could pulling the levers all the way to the grips and held on. It just so happens there was also railroad tracks that crossed the street just before the light... and I was on those tracks just as I grabbed a lotta brake. The wheels locked up and I went sliding. No, I didn't go down. I was traveling straight and was perfectly balanced and straight up so the bike just slid in a straight line... right for the intersection. I did stop before getting into the lane of cross traffic but way past the stop line. Another time, or maybe two in the last 9 years I actually had the ABS system activate to safely stop me.

ABS is great for those like me who are not so skilled. But it only really works in a straight line... until now.
Until now bikes really didn't have an ABS that worked at all in a curve however, but now the new AK 550 Premium does as do several other new bikes with the new style ABS.