http://www.kymcousa.com/gallery/still/Venox_Blk.jpg
anybody hear of this thing almost as much hp as the savage and only a 250 i think it said 28@8,000

there's a couple of them out there like the alpha.

i have serious doubts about the actual horse power.  

it does look nice for a bounce around town kind of commuter.  stop lite to stop lite  the savage would just eat it up.

i am also concerned about quality.  the alpha's i've seen in person look pretty shoddy when you look past the fancy paint job and chrome.

but hey, for some people it could be a really nice starter bike.

personally i could give a ratts arse what somebody rides, whats  important is that they ride ride ride, and don't look down on me for riding a "rice burner" (paid for in cash i might add).

shawn_b wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:06:

Advertised horsepower is a marketing ploy.  The figure cited is PEAK horsepower -- which tells you nothing about how much horsepower and torque is available across the actual powerband.  The spec page lists max torque as 14/8000.  8000 rpm for peak torque tells me that it likely has no low end torque -- which is what you need for brisk acceleration.  Along with it's 400+ pounds weight it is likely to be a dog in traffic matching the performance of a 125 Kawasaki Eliminator.

The MSRP of the Kymco 250 is $500 more and it's weight is a 100 pounds greater than a Yamaha Virago 250 with it's known high quality and vast dealer network.  If you must have something different that no one has accessories for and knows how to fix the Kymco would be a good choice.

I was at the Chicago cycle show 2yrs. ago and Kimco had the product line on display there. The stuff looks good to the eye but tiny motors, slim parts availability, and scarce retail dealerships in the U.S. all present some difficulties. They do make dirt bikes, ATV,S and scooters too that look just as good as the cycles, and are affordably priced but until I see a dealership or marketed advertisements, I'd be cautious about getting one at this time. If it breaks and they go out of buisness it cold be a big problem!! Good looking bike though I agree that the styling is well done for out of the factory.

PerrydaSavage wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:06:

THAT I would like to see.  I rode a '74 Yamaha DT175 dirt and street for over a dozen years, with different countershaft sprockets for dirt and street.  The 175 was more than capable of any city duty short of hopping on freeway, and was freeway legal if I had an absolute need to do so and didn't mind hunkering down across the tank to cut wind drag.

The 150-250 range used to be considered to be mid-size bikes ideal for the city.  You do not used a 10# sledge to drive tacks.  Somewhere along the line we've gotten away from motorcycles as basic transportation, but I think it is starting to come back.  Especially as more and more people watch bikes snake past them as they are stuck in a traffic jam.

I'm not fond of the lines of the Kymco. Looks like a V-Max on an acid trip.

You guys are rght about the resurgence of micro motors. I can't keep Trail anything Hondas in stock. Or Riva, Spree, Elite scooters.
-WD

Wow.  The last time I filled up, the cheapest I could find was $1.979 at the local grocery store's outlying station.  That price included the $0.06 discount for having just purchased in excess of $50 in groceries at the store.  I think the local Conoco and Exxon were about $2.069 or close to that.  Either way, the prices in Dallas seem friendlier.  I understand a lot of the difference is the difference in additives required by the various localities - not to mention good ole capitalism charging what the market will bear.