Daytona Beach to Los Angeles...GTi300 or BV500

My plan is to ride one of the scooters to the AMA Pro Grand National Championship at the LA County Fairgrounds in Pomona, Ca from my home in Daytona Beach.

Can't decide which one to ride. Both are excellent on the Interstate. I am doing the slab on the way out and two lanes only coming home after the Championship round.

My choices are 2012 Kymco GTi300 or 2009 Piaggio BV500. I have done 3000 plus mile tours on each of them. Both work exceptionally well.

Thoughts?
Barry

well, nobody has mention nothing so I will start.

Get all the crap you thing you need, and see how it fits on, in and around each scooter. If comofort is the same, then take the one that can take your stuff the best and has better (lower) cost of travel, tires, mpg's, mph.

Think which one is less likely to break down and all the other stuff I mention, then you will have a winner.

I am guessing that both can do interstate (300 vs 500 cc)

Cheers, and do a Ride Report

Damasovi

Just an fyi, I did San Diego to St Augustine to Nanatahala Gorge on the most beat up and ugly Burgman 400 you can imagine. It was rescued from a fire and and lots of the plastic melted away mostly around engine compartment and now servicing is so much easier. Though it never really requires any.

I stayed off interstates as much as possible. Cruised easily at 62.5 mph on level ground without head wind.

Had friends going to Baja and dared me to ride the thing cross country. Had them drop the scoot in So. Cal. with a friend and then I flew out and rode back. GREAT TRIP and good on you for going XC on a scoot.

and in review, I say the 300 too small, 500 too big, 400 just right

Is either or both fuel-injected? The mountains and elevation, you know.
Sounds like a fun trip.

Both are injected. I'm thinking no replacement for displacement may rule the day. All loaded up the additional grunt of the big bore 500 would be beneficial.
Barry

Can't speak about the Kymco but I've done 4,400 mile trips on my BV 500 without any issue. I did have the oil changed and rear tire replaced part way through the trip but that was when my routine maintenance required it. I've done 3,700 mile trips on the Scarabeo 500 - same engine as BV 500, different suspension and seat which I find more comfortable. An airhawk made a huge difference on the BV. :)

I do have saddle bag supports on the BV which I like since it gives me more points to secure loads and keeps soft saddlebags from rubbing on the paint. (AF1 Racing has them in stock last time I checked.) If that makes a difference.

I've got friends who do long distance touring on Kymco Xcitings which have been trouble free as well. So I would expect the Kymco GTi 300 to be equally trouble free. The Kymco reminds me of the Sports City which I found more comfortable than I had expected on the 1,700 mile ride from San Diego to Houston but given a choice I'd take the BV because it was a lot more comfortable than the Sports City. Another thought - where is the gas filler on the Kymco? Looks like it is under the seat which makes it more difficult to load and still have good access to fill it up. The BV has it in the small hump between the seat and the glovebox which means you don't have to fuss with moving saddlebags. Even if the seat will close with the saddlebags under it instead of over in my experience it usually means adjusting them almost every time you fill up the tank. I also find that a rollbag like the Biker's Friend that can double as a backrest makes a long ride much more comfortable but isn't particularly fill up friendly if you have to lift the set to fill the tank.

My suggestion is to go with whichever is more comfortable for you and will carry everything you need in an easy convenient manner.

I'd say it all depends on the color. If your GTi is that pukie yellow/gold color, then better take the BV!

Flip a coin and go.

What kinda wind screen do you have on the BV?

Sweet Givi 106. Amazing aero.

Interesting turn of events! Kymco USA is flying me from Daytona Beach to Spartenburg, SC to their headquarters on October 3rd. They have a new Xciting 500i that they want me to do the LA trip on. It will have a GoPro cockpit cam and a forward facing one. I am looking at routes now. I will likely Interstate out to Los Angeles from South Carolina then look for a nice two lane adventure coming home on the 500 to Daytona.

This should be fun. Any Xciting 500i owners who can share good info it might be helpful.
Barry

You are one very lucky boy !!
Here's a thought; I am in central NC. depending on the route you choose maybe we could meet up and I'll do a day ride with you . I have a 2012 Burgman 650 , we could swap for a bit and you could do a comparison.

Kymco sponsors our Grand National championship and Road Race series. I have ridden the GTi300 on three 3000 plus mile trips to events and photo documented sme of them. They liked it and want to use their social media to follow my trip to LA for our Flatrack championship.
Barry

That would be very cool. Perhaps we could get a thing going and meet up with scooter people across the country!
Barry

Tell me more about this Flatrack series ????????????

Lucky you. Another here that wants to know how you pulled that off.

I have commuted to several rounds of the AMA Pro Flatrack series this year on my Kymco GTi300. Most journeys were about 3000 Interstate miles round trip. I have documented some of those via Facebook. Kymco liked the idea of that and offered me a new Xciting 500 for my trip to LA for the season championship round.

They will be posting my updates on their Facebook, Twitter and perhaps website accounts.

My plan is to do six 500 mile days on Interstates to get there. Headed back to Daytona using mostly two lanes is my current plan.
Barry

It is going to be a really fun adventure. Not to mention that the season championship is going to be fun to announce as the Grand National points look to be coming down to the wire. Perhaps a new thread should be started that would see if we have interest in a couple of ADV scooter riders get together in a few regions around the USA enroute to LA or on the retunr home? That would be fun to see on Kymco's social media streams.
Barry

I'm going to hijack this thread and talk about what a small world it is.

This morning I was packing up my camping gear after a weekend of camping at the Two Wheels of Suches motorcycle campground when a guy walks up and says: "You're having more fun than anyone else here but they don't know it."

Pause

"That's because you're on a scooter."

Then he told me he has 2 scooters balk home, a BV500 and BV350.

So we talk about scooters for a while and I happen to talk about Kymco so he tells me that he has a friend with a new Kymco 300.

Then he tells me that this friend is being supplied a 500 by kymco to ride across country:huh

Since I doubt there are 2 people in that situation I figured it must be you.

I think you know who I was talking to.

Another case of: It's a small world.