NBR: Kymco Myroad 700i Ride review

[JohnKiniston]

Howdy everyone.

I thought I'd share my experiences with the Kymco MyRoad 700i that I was fortunate to use today for a ride with my club.

The Myroad is the largest displacement scooter sold in America weighing in at 699cc's 59HP.

It's also the heaviest scooter I've ever ridden at 608lbs

I took the bike on a several hundred mile trip with a mixture of other scooters and a pair of motorcycles through some lovely twisty roads with grades up to 10% both up and down hill.

We also road in rain and hail today.

The Myroad is an amazing bike, I've never ridden a bike that has so much power, I was never wanting more than it would give me.

In addition to the twisty mountain roads we took I also took it up on the Interstate briefly to feel the power there and I had no trouble achieving 80MPH with plenty of throttle to go.

Handling was nice too once the bike was moving, the weight of the bike made moving it around parking spaces a bit laborious but once your going the bike doesn't pull to either side or feel heavy.

The controls on the bike are excellent, The switch gear is all easy to operate, well labeled and comfortable.

The instrumentation is also excellent with a large speedometer in MPH only on the Left, a Tachometer and Temp gauge on the right and in the center an information panel with the Time, Odometer reading, Suspension firmness and Fuel gauge.

Storage is also quite excellent with a cavernous space under the seat that fit my Large size Modular helmet, Camel back, and Gloves when we stopped for lunch. There is a tiny compartment built into the front of the seat I didn't use and a compartment with a lid on the left side of the dash that I put my Sunglasses, Cell phone, Ear Plugs and a protein bar in with room to spare.

I did not track MPG on this trip, I did fuel the bike up once and put about 3 gallons of 91 octane into it while still seated on the bike which was kinda neat. The Fuel filler is on the dash on the right side of the bike on the other side from the storage I spoke of earlier.

The seat is large enough for two riders, And the material is very nice and it has a comfortable firmness to it. The bike comes equipped with pop-out passenger pegs that are popped out via a lever on the dash.

I did not carry a passenger this trip.

Ergonomics wise is where I ran into issues with the bike, I'm 6'2 with a 32 inch inseam and I was uncomfortable with the bike.

My legs were pressed into the dash for most of the trip and I had very little space that I could use on the floor boards due to the angle of my hips and knees.

My knees did clear the controls which is something I have a problem with on other bikes.

I feel if you are a tall rider or a leggy rider this may not be the bike for you.

My daily rider is a Hyosung MS3-250 scooter with 25HP and it serves me well, This bike had more than double the displacement and Horse Power rating but it neither accelerated twice as fast nor did it go twice as fast. I didn't expect it to do either of these things but at the same time I wasn't sure what that extra power would give me. Thinking about it what the extra power gave me was untapped acceleration available at any point in time, Be it climbing a 10% grade or traveling at 75MPH on the Interstate. My Hyosung has available power in both places but the Kymco has so much more power available on demand that it's impressive.

Would I buy one? No, I won't buy a bike that is uncomfortable for me to ride.

If it was comfortable? Possibly, $9,699 is a lot of money for a scooter and I'm not certain that the bike gives me that much worth over what a good 250cc scooter would cost.

[wheelbender6]

Thanks for that review. Sounds like it would probably fit my compact 5'9" frame OK. Aprilia makes an 850cc scooter (a scooter, in addition to the CVT 850 Mana). With the American affinity for large engines, I suspect that the big Aprilia will eventually be sold here.
-I don't need to take the freeway to get to work these days, but its good to know that there are some good choices available if that changes.

[JohnKiniston]

I've been on the Interstate with 150cc's and above and done just fine.

I've got nothing stopping me from with using my Hyosung MS3 on the interstate, I just don't like to ride it there, I'd rather take a highway and see something than rush off in a straight line and dodge cars.