Moto blog

2018 Kymco Xciting 400i Review - First Ride

My fling with a thing Credit: Photos by Michael Spain-Smith We were snuggled into a conference room in the upscale Aloft hotel in Asheville, North Carolina, when PR man Peter Jones kicked off Kymco’s 2018 new-product launch by telling us that scooters in the U.S. market are “such a small thing, they’re not even really a thing… scooters and soccer, they’re just not a part of our culture.” But the lack of scooter culture has made Taiwanese manufacturer Kymco itself a thing. After staying doggedly in the American scooter market for the better part of two decades, Kymco has a coast-to-coast dealer network, a good reputation for reliability and value, and is basically the only purveyor of value-priced, high-performance maxi-scooters.

2014 Kymco Downtown 300i Review

Credit: Photos by Evans Brasfield and Troy Siahaan In an era where motorcycles are becoming more specialized (sportbike, standard, cruiser, adventure, etc.), scooters are diversifying as well – everything from 50cc city runabouts to the 650cc-plus mileage gobblers capable of serious touring. Striking a balance between them are models like the Kymco Downtown 300i; a middle-of-the-road scoot capable of doing it all. 2014 Kymco Downtown 300i Editor Score: 79.0% Engine 17.5/20 Suspension/Handling 12.0/15 Transmission/Clutch 8.75/10 Brakes 8.0/10 Instruments/Controls 3.75/5 Ergonomics/Comfort 7.0/10 Appearance/Quality 7.0/10 Desirability 8.0/10 Value 7.0/10 Overall Score 79/100 2013 Uber Scooter Shootout + Video Models like the Yamaha Smax, Honda PCX150 and Suzuki Burgman 200 all benefit from being highway legal, but sometimes you crave something a little more – be it more storage capacity or simply more power.

Kymco Ionex Electric Scooter Platform Announced

Kymco announced a new swappable battery system and electric charging architecture that will be used for ten electric scooters to be launched over the next three years. The first model, the Many EV, was presented along with Kymco’s Ionex electric scooter architecture at the 2018 Tokyo Motorcycle Show. Kymco did not provide much detail about the Many EV’s specifications, but based on its name, we assume it will perform similarly to the Kymco Many 125 gas-powered scooter.