I agree with you dl7und.
I’m curious what pipes you switched to.
I’m not amazed or upset about this bike. Just basically satisfied. It’s exactly what I expected and wanted from it.
Actually, I didn’t switch, the previous owner did. This is how they look like. They are not without flaws, I must admit. They stick out a bit, so I have to be careful when leaving an elevated level (sidewalk to road etc), otherwise they might do a “touch down”. And the upper pipe leading to the rear cylinder is only decoration, the real exhaust enters the pipe near the luggage case’s lower corner in the picture. But that construction makes access to the right side of the bike a bit more difficult, and that part still warms up after riding a while…
Oh, and there is not much space between the pipes and the rear fork, so tightening the chain needs some caution.
I had seen a Venox somewhere on the net with one pipe each side, and the whole thing looked both nice and purposeful. But where (if at all) to find that here in Taiwan…
Interesting bike.
I’ll stick with stock. I did take the heat shield off the outer pipe, though. I think the stock “trumpets” look great. Maybe I’m strange, but I would rather leave most of it as is.
As a one-time Venox owner, I agree with you coolingtower. 
Most of the modifications I’ve seen done to the Venox make the bike look trashy or cheesy. The bike has a classic look all on its own. No need to clutter it up with more chrome and bigger accessories and silly handlebars.
Hey everyone, I’m adri, from Toronto, Canada. I came across this forum almost by accident, and found some interesting threads about the Venox. Instead of digging up a bunch of threads from years ago I thought it might be better I just post some questions in one new fresh thread =)
When I purchased my Venox it had a big “MADE IN TAIWAN” sticker across the gas tank, and I was told that was quite good, and all the reviews seem to say so. I was a little surprised when I saw that some of the Taiwan crowd in this forum don’t agree with the reviews. What are your opinions of the Venox and why?
In North America getting accessories isn’t all that easy. We have one source for the entire continent, and he only gets the Custom SPAAN accessories from Spain. When supply runs out it takes half a year for the next shipment to arrive. Do you guys have the same problem over there? I imagine being a domestic bike aftermarket accessories would be available in Taiwan, maybe even factory OEM accessories the rest of the world doesn’t get… no?
Do we have any idea what kind of life these bikes have? In the US there’s a rider who’s put over 100,000 miles on one. I know in the Basque Country there’s a Venox rider with 75,000 km. What’s reliability and life like? I’m asking because these bikes have only been available here for a couple years, I’m guessing they’ve been available in Taiwan much longer(?).
Anyway, please share your thoughts/opinions/any comments you might have. I’d like to hear them. Thanks everyone! =)
Hello, Adri,
I owned a Venox for a year or two and basically loved it. (I’m 183cm tall and about 95kg). The Venox is just not right for the Taiwan market. It is hard to park, nowhere to put anything in it (without panniers or saddle-bags), and parts are expensive compared to scooter-type bikes. Plus, there are few Taiwanese people who are big enough for it. The law is such now that you must have a 550cc+ motorcycle in order to use the expressways or maybe freeways. That means the 250 - 549cc bike market is disregarded as “useless”.
Like you, I have heard that the reviews for it outside of Taiwan have been good. I will list good and bad experiences I have had and let you average them out yourself.
Good things:
-Seat height and riding position are excellent. I have ridden 200-300km in one day on many occasions and never felt terribly worn out.
-Second gear doesn’t get stuck in neutral. (or at least rarely)
-The rake of the front fork is not so low to make managing slow speeds too difficult.
-The fuel tank is huge. I think you might be able to get nearly 300km out of a tank, but I have forgotten.
-The factory mirrors do not obstruct view, but are big enough and placed properly to be able to easily see behind.
-The fat handgrips are easy to hold. In rain, with slippery wet hands, you don’t have to squeeze hard in order to control the throttle.
-The outer surfaces of the sprockets and chain parts need to be oiled regularly, but the innards of the chain are sealed. The chain lasts much longer this way.
-The chain is much quieter than similar chain-drive bikes.
-“cement truck brakes”: Mine had 23,000km when I bought it and 50,000km+ when I sold it and the brakes were barely half worn.
-The factory exhaust pipes look cool and produce a quiet purr. I had no interest in changing them.
-The bike simply looks cool and is often mistaken for a much larger bike.
Bad things:
-No under-seat storage.
-Often hard to park (in Taiwan).
-Parts can be expensive (in Taiwan).
-No center stand. Parking can be difficult if the surface is not completely flat. You need to find the right direction, etc. (They used hydraulic jacks, wooden boards, and bricks to secure the bike when I got new tires.)
-Few accessories available (in Taiwan. I see a Venox on the road maybe twice per month. Nobody will produce anything for the Taiwan market.)
-I had the suspension on its softest setting and it was still a pretty rough ride on Taiwan’s city, or near-city roads where trucks chew up the road. (To the contrary, on Taiwan’s less-traveled country or mountain roads the bike was a dream.)
Adri, whatever accessories you can find from outside of Taiwan, you’re probably better off. I hope you love your Venox, because mine served me quite well.
Ray (Coolingtower)
A CR250 was mentioned, they have one brand new in the Suzuki dealer in Jungli. I’ve drooled over it many times. What are you going to do with that though? It’s a lovely bike, but it hardly compares to the Venox. I’d love to get one and turn it into a motard, it would be sick as fuck with 56 horse or so but you can’t get it on the road.
There’s a Venox down my street. I think it’s a cool looking bike but I’d never buy it, but then I’d never buy a Harley and a lot of people do. If you want a cool looking cruiser, it’s the only choice no?
Can anyone clarify the capacity of the Venox? I read 252cc in the early posts, that would make it a yellow plate bike and the one down my street is a white plater.
Mine was 249cc on the blue card.
[quote=“coolingtower”]Hello, Adri,
I owned a Venox for a year or two and basically loved it. (I’m 183cm tall and about 95kg). The Venox is just not right for the Taiwan market. It is hard to park, nowhere to put anything in it (without panniers or saddle-bags), and parts are expensive compared to scooter-type bikes. Plus, there are few Taiwanese people who are big enough for it. The law is such now that you must have a 550cc+ motorcycle in order to use the expressways or maybe freeways. That means the 250 - 549cc bike market is disregarded as “useless”.
Like you, I have heard that the reviews for it outside of Taiwan have been good. I will list good and bad experiences I have had and let you average them out yourself.
Good things:
-Seat height and riding position are excellent. I have ridden 200-300km in one day on many occasions and never felt terribly worn out.
-Second gear doesn’t get stuck in neutral. (or at least rarely)
-The rake of the front fork is not so low to make managing slow speeds too difficult.
-The fuel tank is huge. I think you might be able to get nearly 300km out of a tank, but I have forgotten.
-The factory mirrors do not obstruct view, but are big enough and placed properly to be able to easily see behind.
-The fat handgrips are easy to hold. In rain, with slippery wet hands, you don’t have to squeeze hard in order to control the throttle.
-The outer surfaces of the sprockets and chain parts need to be oiled regularly, but the innards of the chain are sealed. The chain lasts much longer this way.
-The chain is much quieter than similar chain-drive bikes.
-“cement truck brakes”: Mine had 23,000km when I bought it and 50,000km+ when I sold it and the brakes were barely half worn.
-The factory exhaust pipes look cool and produce a quiet purr. I had no interest in changing them.
-The bike simply looks cool and is often mistaken for a much larger bike.
Bad things:
-No under-seat storage.
-Often hard to park (in Taiwan).
-Parts can be expensive (in Taiwan).
-No center stand. Parking can be difficult if the surface is not completely flat. You need to find the right direction, etc. (They used hydraulic jacks, wooden boards, and bricks to secure the bike when I got new tires.)
-Few accessories available (in Taiwan. I see a Venox on the road maybe twice per month. Nobody will produce anything for the Taiwan market.)
-I had the suspension on its softest setting and it was still a pretty rough ride on Taiwan’s city, or near-city roads where trucks chew up the road. (To the contrary, on Taiwan’s less-traveled country or mountain roads the bike was a dream.)
Adri, whatever accessories you can find from outside of Taiwan, you’re probably better off. I hope you love your Venox, because mine served me quite well.
Ray (Coolingtower)[/quote]
Thanks Coolingtower/Ray =)
I learned a few things. Had no idea about the brakes for example. Now I see why there’ve been mixed reviews here, it seems like the bike wasn’t really designed with the Taiwanese market in mind. Strange, because when I purchased my Venox it still had a “Made in Taiwan” sticker across the tank. I know what you mean about the pipes, I ended up having mine modified: ourlittleadventures.com/kymco-ve … ation.html
Check out the second video and you’ll see what it sounds like after, I think it’s pretty sweet. The basic idea is if you pull out the baffles completely it’ll be loud but you’ll ruin the backpressure and end up seizing up your bike. So what we’ve done is pull back the baffles a few cm, to let the noise out, without effecting the engine.
I also have a review after the first 10k km: ourlittleadventures.com/KYMCO-Ve … eview.html
I’ve been a little dissapointed though. The Custom SPAAN aftermarket accessories made in Spain use poor quality chrome. I received a sissybar and the chrome was already losing its color. I’d like to send it back but I don’t know if I’ll find anything else for it 
As for displacement size, look into it. It changes. My owner’s manual says mine is 249cc, it also says one of the south american models is 252 I believe. Seems like there’s a little variance depending on the country =)
[quote=“MJB”]I can tell you from first hand experience that it’s slower than an RZR… 
The power to weight ratio sucks and it overpriced…Spend the extra money and get a VTEC CB400. It’s 30kg lighter and has double the horsepower…You do the math.[/quote]
I realise I’m quoting an old post here, but…
This is the VTEC CB400, right?
That’s exactly the kind of bike I’d like to get. I don’t want a 600cc or higher and would be perfectly happy with a 400, but everywhere I’ve been to in Tainan I always get the same stock answer, “Sorry, we can’t get a 400 only 600.”
What gives?
As to the Venox, I love the look of the bike and wouldn’t mind something like that, but I’d still prefer a 400 as pictured above…
Edit: btw, Coolingtower, what are you riding now that you’ve given up the Venox?
[quote=“bismarck”][quote=“MJB”]I can tell you from first hand experience that it’s slower than an RZR…
The power to weight ratio sucks and it overpriced…Spend the extra money and get a VTEC CB400. It’s 30kg lighter and has double the horsepower…You do the math.[/quote]
I realise I’m quoting an old post here, but…
This is the VTEC CB400, right?
That’s exactly the kind of bike I’d like to get. I don’t want a 600cc or higher and would be perfectly happy with a 400, but everywhere I’ve been to in Tainan I always get the same stock answer, “Sorry, we can’t get a 400 only 600.”
What gives?
As to the Venox, I love the look of the bike and wouldn’t mind something like that, but I’d still prefer a 400 as pictured above…
[/quote]
That’s exactly what I bought, bismarck. Mine is black though. 
I moved from a Breeze 150cc, to a Venox 249cc, to the CB400SF 400cc. Very happy with it.
I think you’ll find shops are only selling the 600cc because of the red plate rules (550cc and up). No point in keeping stock for bikes that aren’t really in demand anymore.
i would be happy with this in Taiwan…price Usd 3799…
no headache of yellow / red plates…low on tax…82 mpg, has got efi, just 320 pounds, they also got the GZ250 chopper style ( but not with efi ) for the same price…now just depends on if Suzuki Taiwan wants to bring in the bikes…of course its wishful thinking
P.S. its the suzuki TU250X 2010 model