Kymco’s new scooter is billed as “a flagship maxi scooter that makes no compromise between everyday comfort and sheer riding pleasure. The 550 integrates “innovation and breakthrough, lifestyle and performance, luxury and practicality, and comfort and convenience in perfect unison to provide the riders with unparalleled riding experience.”

The 550 concept, shown at Milan last year, established the company’s take on “Super Touring,” which aims to “provide both the comfort and convenience of a scooter together with the attitude and performance of a sport bike.”

The sport scooter features an aluminum frame and wheels, low center of gravity and near 50-50 weight balance, inverted fork with Brembo dual discs, and low unsprung weight at the rear wheel. The 550 also boasts ABS and full LED lighting.

Power is provided by a liquid-cooled 500cc parallel twin with output of 39KW, with two riding modes, Rain and Full Power. With Honda also showing interest in this market, the adventure sport touring scooter wars may be underway.