2021 AK 550 Kymco USA

This is supposed to be available in the US! Looks very nice:

https://kymcousa.com/2021-scooters/2021-ak-550/

but with approx. $10,000 out the door price....about same as new SilverWings in their hayday, probably not many will be sold in dead US scooter market....and no heated grips/electric windshield? I have 2019 Kymco XTown 300i---very pleased with, 11,000 miles, tire sensitive , really stretched 250---easy to work on, except rear wheel removal---my dealer, Dalton GA=very good, but 35 miles away. Price when I bought mine=very good! plus military discount. I probably has little used value here

That's a nice Scooter not so 2002 like SW. LED lights, Brembo brakes, single rear shock etc.
Rear swing arm more motorcycle like easy tire changes, inverted fork a better design.

WHO pays MSRP for a bike? I don't . Lot's of room to talk price .

There were lots of posts about the AK 550 on the Muppets forum when Kymco announced it, I even bought a German scooter mag that had road tested it when it went on sale and posted details on it.

The reality of it since then is, I've only read of one person actually buying one in the last couple of years. That's not surprising since the Kymco importer and the dealers who are actually selling them make it hard work for any prospective buyer. I've never seen one on the road here or abroad either.

It seems on maxi forums the Kymco AK550 is seen as just another Yamaha TMax clone, just as in previous years the BMW C600 and C650 Sport were. It's the same now with the SYM MaxSym TL500, initial interest, comparisons with the TMax, then reasons for not buying one.

I've never really had much interest in sports type maxi scooters, the lack of under seat storage capacity alone puts me off them, whether it's the one and a half helmet's storage, or that downright useless BMW Flexcase.

One thing in the Kymco AK 550's favour is that there are already loads of accessories available for it. The usual screen and rear carrier from Givi, and lots of coloured aluminium bling like levers and covers, and AK550 stickers/decals from Taiwan.


A far more practical Kymco I'd like to see imported into the UK, but it probably won't be is is the 2020 Downtown 350i TCS.

Nice bike.  I can see a lot of the BMW dna went into that design, which makes sense since they built the engine for the 650.  Similar engine design and layout, variator on the right side of the bike and the actual drive on the left.  41mm forks up front and the seat and storage looks to be a cross from the sport and gt. Single horizontal shock for the rear suspension, but with less tupperware to hide it.

What they did differently is to use a belt for the final drive and not go with the single sided swingarm.  I wonder how that plays out with long term maintenance?

Its good that it has the electronic dash, though I cant say Im a fan of the design.  Looks a bit like they used a '90's vintage Klingon bridge bird of prey movie set for the layout of the instruments, everything 6 sided.  And they complained that it was a heavy bike with a dry weight of around 460lbs.  Seat height is "low" at almost 31".  Okay...

Would love to see one in person but doubt I will around here at least.  Only scoots that are in dealer showrooms are the smallish Chinese liquor cycles.

Both Kymco and Sym make scooters I might be interested in, but as there is a distinct lack of dealers.

Here in the states a dealer would order one for a customer, but likely most won't stock them. Seems like a pretty nice scooter. The older 500 was a decent bike. I almost bought a 300 XTown like grinsel has but my knees touched down on the fairing (I am 6' tall). I for one would prefer my dash to not include a phone messaging center as the AK550 has. I don't think that's even legal.

I recently checked out a used Kymco Xciting 500. The tires were at proper pressure, and it was obviuosly well-maintained. However, the handling was just plain 'off' to me. Anyhoo, I saw a YouBoob review on that AK today, and that looks LIGHT YEARS ahead of the machine I looked at. Very, VERY TMax in appearance, for sure. I checked the USA website, but it is not showcased there as of yet.

Yes it is---2021

Gee Mr Grinsel, you oughta be coming up on the 50000-mile mark on your current scoot. And if so might that mean you’ll be casting a jaundiced eye toward the Kymco AK550 and that we can look forward to your review.

To heavy, expensive, and not enough options . John won't be buying a AK 550 anytime soon.

Bike sales are at a good level in US. despite the Virus mostly smaller ones and dirt type. A good thing for now more new riders and future riders.

Sensei Grinsel, your 'Net-Fu is superior to mine.
WOW....nice!