Akinbiyi was criticised for scoring only 13 goals since his £5m move to Leicester 18 months ago but points that his record before that amounts to a goal every other game for Gillingham, Bristol City and Wolves.
"I stand by my goalscoring record throughout my career although the past season and a half has been disappointing," he said.
"I know people might think dropping down a division with Palace is a backward move but this is a club that is on the up.
"A couple of years ago they were in terrible trouble but Simon Jordan has come in and turned things around and it didn't take long for him to sell me his vision of the future."
Akinbiyi is also heartened that Palace manager Trevor Francis, who tried to sign him for Birmingham earlier this season, was also a striker.
"He knows what goalscoring is all about, and he also understands the pressure of being a big money signing, having been the first million pound player.
"I can understand why some Leicester fans thought they were not getting value for money from me in terms of goals but they also knew that I never gave less than 100 per cent commitment.
"Now I will give that to Palace. The club is going well. The two main strikers are bang in form so my job will be to come in and add to that.
"It is also good to be back in London among family and friends and I'm really looking forward to this being a fresh start for me."
Former Leicester manager Peter Taylor certainly believes Akinbiyi can rebuild his damaged reputation at Palace.
But Taylor, now in charge at Brighton, said: "Palace have got a cracking deal. He has got power and pace and is an extremely hard worker.
"I think he was improving all the time at Leicester apart from his goalscoring and I think his high price probably cost him there. The supporters were expecting more than he had to offer."
Meanwhile, Palace's promotion hopes have suffered a blow with the loss of centre-backs Tony Popovic and Kit Symons for at least a month with groin injuries.
