Big scooters, however, are leisure tools, used mainly at weekends, usually two up; they're big, soft-sprung, comfortable, beautifully appointed and capable of a surprising turn of speed.

The single-speed equivalent of a Gold Wing, if you will.

Taiwanese bikemaker Kymco is well established as a maker of small motorcycles and commuter scoots; now it has entered the leisure market with the Xciting 500, its first offering with serious touring pretensions.

It's big by any standards, clocking in at 230kg with a full tank of unleaded and with a rangy 1590mm wheelbase.

The bodywork is 810mm across under the deeply padded king-and-queen saddle, making the Xciting a bit of a handful in tight traffic, and the flipped-up windshield is 1450mm high - more than adequate protection even for big Westerners.

It's powered by an impressively smooth, liquid-cooled 498cc flat single that delivers 27.5kW at 7500rpm with 37.1Nm at 5 000rpm.

It drives through a monster of a CVT transmission, enclosed in a final drive casing the same size and general shape as the primary drive on an Electra Glide.

There's no feeling of urgent acceleration, even with throttle wide, but the big Kymco gathers momentum surprisingly quickly.

It reaches 100km/h in less than six seconds and buzzes on to an indicated 152km/h in still air with the rev-counter a needle's width short of the red line at 8000rpm.

It cruises at the national speed limit with 6250revs on the clock in uncanny stillness - there's no vibration and you can't hear the engine.

At that speed you should get more than 200km from its 12.8-litre tank – except that the pessimistic fuel gauge drops right through the red quadrant to below "E" in less than 160km.

At that point 8.8 litres of Sasol's finest will fill it, so either there's a four-litre concealed reserve or the tank is a lot smaller than the maker would have you believe.

I averaged 5.8 litres/100km during the test period, over a mix of town and country riding.

Big and torquey

The dry centrifugal clutch takes up early, using torque to pull the bike out of the hole rather than spinning the engine up before moving off; with a bike this big and torquey it works well and there's no flat spot just after take-off.

There's the usual slight delay after opening the throttle before anything happens, just as on an automatic car, but when it does it's deceptive; I consistently found myself travelling faster than I thought.

The Kymco runs large wheels for a single-speeder, a 15" rim in front wearing 120/70 rubber and a 14" with a 150/70 takkie at the back. Suspension is provided by 38mm conventional forks in front and a pair of hydraulic dampers adjustable for preload at the back

The entire massive final drive is unsprung weight but the engine is fixed, unlike comparable European scoots where the whole unit pivots, to the detriment of handling.

The suspension travel is of necessity short and its action firm, but never choppy thanks to the Xciting's 230kg kerb weight, although the handlebars judder sharply on an uneven surface.

Surprisingly agile

This big scooter is surprisingly agile, however, thanks to quick steering and wide handlebars, and holds the road well.

It runs out of cornering clearance before it runs out of grip, easily grounding the side-stand on the left and the exhaust pipe's protective shield on the right.

It's reassuringly stable in a straight line up to its top speed too, thanks to its long wheelbase and well-engineered bodywork.

CVT transmissions provide little or no engine braking so a big scooter needs very good brakes. The Kymco has two 260mm discs on the front wheel and and a 240mm platter on the rear.

Initially I was disappointed; the front brakes (on the right handlebar) seemed to lack bite and the rear (on the left) had altogether too much – I was nervous about using the rear brake for fear of locking it and skidding.

Then I discovered that the Xciting has a simple but effective form of linked braking – the front brake lever operates only the left front brake while the rear brake lever operates both the right front and rear brakes.

Which explained why I was getting so much front end dive using the rear brake!

It took a bit of getting used but by the end of the test period I was doing most of my braking with my left hand, using both only when I was in a hurry or to get me out of trouble.

Give it welly

And I never actually locked anything up, despite the extraordinary sharpness of the linked brakes – which I suspect was thanks to the weight of the bike holding the tyres down on the tar when they wanted to slip.

Certainly the Xciting can be cornered like a Japanese musclebike – hammer it up to the corner, brake hard as late as possible, cut the corner to get it upright as soon as possible and give it welly coming out.

But it's much more comfortable to relax, stick your feet out in front of you and just cruise. The long wheelbase provides more than enough room in the footwell for big Western feet and long Western legs.

The king-and-queen saddle is wide, deeply padded and superbly padded, although the body panels under the seat are a little too wide for comfort when standing still – you need quite long legs to reach the ground.

The little hip support between front and rear seats is adjustable fore and aft through about 75mm, which should fit most sizes of rider. Both levers are also adjustable for reach – something not all big sports bikes can boast.

Uncomfortably warm

There's plenty of storage too, including a non-locking compartment in the nose of the saddle, a lockable one big enough for a eyewear and iPod in the legshield and a cavern under the seat containing an adjustable clip for a cellphone and a 12V power socket.

The seat is held up by a gas strut.

The instrument cluster is very car-like, something for which scooter manufacturers often strive, with three round dials for revs, speed and fuel gauge neatly binnacled and slightly overlapping.

The broad-shouldered fairing with its high screen doesn't look big, but does an admirable job of keeping the weather off the rider; I rode the Kymco in heavy rain and the only parts of me that got wet were my shoulders.

The rear-view mirrors are integrated into the forward edge of the screen – but unfortunately they line up with your hands so all you see is your gloves.

The ignition switch serves a number of purposes; turn it to the left and it opens the saddle catches (one of which wasn't working on the test bike), turn it to the right and fuel cap (on the right of the legshield) pops open. Push in and to the left and the steering locks – all of which sounds complicated but isn't.

Fit and finish

Below the fuel cap there's a T-shaped handle for the handbrake – no kidding – that holds the Kymco easily on quite steep slopes and takes all the worry out of parking a big, heavy two-wheeler.

The fit-and-finish of the cosmetics is remarkable, the mechanical parts sticking out below them less so, although still acceptable. As a flagship for the brand, the Kymco Xciting sets new standards for this Taiwanese scootermaker.

The big Kymco is a bit wide and considerably too heavy to be an ideal commuter – it's at its best on the open road, making believe it's a touring bike.