Venox Owner Since May/ Joined Forum Today

[Mike-the-Bike]

Just joined this morning; greetings to all!  I've found a lot of great information on here in the past few weeks regarding the fuel delivery problems the Venox 250 has.  Also saved $30.00 by ordering parts from kymcopartsmonster (found here) vs kymcopartsonline.  I thought my bike was a lemon until reading that everyone is having the same problems; I never would have guessed the air filter was the culprit, since the service manual says replace at 25,000km, and mine only has 9000km on the odo.  Bike was losing power at around 45MPH and up, then the power would suddenly return, only to bog down again.  Running too rich due to degraded 4-year-old air filter.  Thanks for the great info.

[max oradea]

Good job,  after new air filter check the mixture again by plug reading.

[Mike-the-Bike]

My Venox is a 2009 model, and seems to have the same history as other 2009s here: purchased "new" after sitting for two years on a show room floor, ridden for about a year, then improperly stored (neglected) for a year or more before being sold to owner #2.  First owner was my brother, who only rode it about 5000 miles to save on gas riding interstate between Kentucky and Virginia.  He changed the oil maybe twice, and just kept lubing the chain, never cleaning it.
"Fuel stabilizer? Was I supposed to put that in the tank before storing it in my shed for 18 months?" He said he started it every month or two and charged the battery, but the ethanol gas had done its magic, and gummed-up the carbs.  It did make it the 325 mile trip home to Atlanta with no problems, though.  After changing the oil and filter, flushing and replacing the coolant with Engine Ice (left over from my GSXR), and cleaning it up and adjusting & lubing the cables, I rode it maybe 150 miles and the carbs plugged up.

  Since the day I bought it, I've run pure gasoline 90 octane (no ethanol) in it, along with some seafoam to help clear-out the crud.   I tried to remove the carbs, but the airbox was impossible to remove, so I trailered the bike to a local dealer for them to remove & clean the carbs.  Their sister dealership 80 miles away sells Kymco scooters, but they had never heard of the Venox.  I took the service manual along so they could do it right.  After keeping my bike for 29 days, it was ready for pick up.  For $325.00 I would have hoped for a thorough job, but I think all they did was spray carb cleaner in the float bowl drain holes, because the bike is having fuel delivery issues again after just 200 miles.  They have a "7-day warranty" on repairs and service, and it was July 10 when I picked it up.  Looks like I'll have to do all the servicing myself from now on.  Glad for all the knowledge here.

[CosmoKorny]

2009 isn't very old, that's a bummer you're having that kind of trouble.  My understanding is the ethanol eats away at the rubber parts, hoses etc. and unless they are replaced little bitty pieces of rubber crud floats around in the fuel system ultimately to foul the carb.  Ethanol sucks.

[Mike-the-Bike]

Good point about the rubber hoses!  Let's face it, the Venox has about 300 feet of rubber hoses mostly surrounding the carbs.  I ordered a bunch of fuel-related parts just to be sure: new petcock with filter, fuel sending unit (was faulty), small (EGR?)canister under instrument cluster, and of course a new air filter.  Put new plugs in yesterday, and cleaned-out the tank (no rust!).  Waiting on parts...

I use only non-ethanol gas in all my engines; find a station near you---www.pure-gas.org

[max oradea]

buddy if your bikes been acting up again after service it might be they did not do it at all and if they did do it they did not do it properly and after all the cleaning they did not balance the carbs.
let me put it this way for me to clean and reift the carbs took half a day for the first time i did it, second time took 3 hours to strip clean and mount. and now it takes half a day to strip amount, clean, refit, balance and wax the bike from top to bottom. so they must have just f ed you over buddy. 29 days you can build a bike from parts in half that time.
my advise do it yourself from now on unless you can find a real good mechanic.

[Mike-the-Bike]

I think you are correct Max, they probably just sprayed some carb cleaner wherever they could and called it a day.  The mechanic told me the hose and cannister system was the most complicated mess he had ever seen.   By the way, just how on Earth do you get the plastic top of the airbox off the bike?  The tech guy at Kymco USA in Spartanburg South Carolina said it was very convoluted and the most difficult part of working on the bike.  My 2009 has the air elbow as one part with the airbox vs the 2002 service manual showing two pieces.

[max oradea]

hey sorry for the late reply.
the airbox top cover slides out slightly difficulty, but not at all a hell of a deal, first elevate the top cover and push it forward, but before that disconecct all the pips connected to the airbox top so to make your work a lot more easier, once you move it to the front it will sqeez out from the right or left i really forgot but from one side its near impossible so you will see when you lift the top and push it forward as far as it will go.

[Mike-the-Bike]

Still waiting on parts (over 10 days now).  The dealer in North Carolina had 5 of the 6 parts at their store the next day, but instead of sending them to me, they decided to wait on the last part all the way from Taiwan.  Bummer.  I'm missing out on the best riding of the year (September in North Georgia).

[max oradea]

hey buddy i live in europe whats worse eastern europe, good thing i am Taiwanese so come back every now and then and always get my parts sent from a good buddy!
Good luck on the carb job.

[max oradea]

mike buddy check your papers, because i thought after 2007 venox went out the factory injected!

[Vivo]

Max, Mike said the bike was purchased in 2009 that sat in the show room for two years.... so his bike is actually a 2007....

[max oradea]

last gen carb bike should have all the nick and nacks sorted out already. vacuum lock and other stuff.
so it should be just a little old age rubber or gum block in the carbs, easy fix. just take care that the front and rear carb main jets are not the same. what else... oh yeah the fuel tap has a rubber diaphragm so that might start to fail with old age and will let fuel get to the rear manifold directly and causing the rear cylinder to run rich and foul... without comprimising the front performance.
the valve system will need adjusting after the specific km.
hope you get it running tip top in no time. take care! and safe riding.

[Mike-the-Bike]

Max, I think you diagnosed the problem perfectly!--The fuel valve's (petcock) rubber diaphragm was probably degraded by the ethanol fuel we have here in the USA (and it was sitting for 18 months) and the rear manifold vacuum hose that operates it was pulling fuel directly into the rear intake.  The last few times I rode it, it seemed as if only one cylinder was performing properly.

The parts I ordered two weeks ago are: fuel valve (petcock) with filter, fuel sensor, the small canister under the speedometer, air filter, starter relay, and the rubber boots for the shift linkage.  I just got off the phone with the North Carolina Kymco parts supplier, and they still haven't sent the parts!

Vivo, it is a 2009 model.  Wish it had fuel injection!

[max oradea]

good to know! good to know! if you suck on the tube connected to the petcock and get fuel coming out from the vacuum hose then... that valve is toast.