Our friends at www.scooter-station.com have posted some images of the 2008 Xciting 500i R, which led me to wonder if we’ll be seeing this baby in the USA. The answer is “Yes” and “I don’t know”. The “yes” is for the fact that sometime around March of 2008 we can expect to see a 500i, fuel injected version of the Kymco Xciting 500. Will it have an “R” tacked on and the design changes they are receiving in Europe (which from what I can tell from the image is the color scheme, a shorter wind shield and the fact that they have removed those big, bulbous mirrors)? “I don’t know”, at least right now. Let’s hope so! No word on price changes either, but the current model MSRP is $5,999.00
I still need to give one of these babies a ride. I hear that on the highway it’s like riding on a cloud. The only real complaint I’ve heard on the current 500 is that the tranny box is a bit wide which could lead to scraping on some deep left leans.
2. October 2007 at 2:36 am
I’d say probably as there’s been some news of a 700cc Kymco in the Italian press. This would likely be another logical step in their product line as it seems they want to have a line comparable to the Japanese makes.