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Topics - birdmove

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1
People 150 / My 150 gas mlelage etc
« on: October 06, 2011, 05:16:12 AM »
    After a good carb cleaning I've been riding my People 150 quite a bit. It's still low mileage (or kilometerage I suppose I should say) at about 300 kilometers. It looks like it's getting around 70-75 miles per US gallon. I can tell you a few things I noticed comparing it to my wife's SYM HD200. The SYM is extremely touchy about adding fuel. You cannot get a consistant fill with the thing. You will never get it to the same fill level twice. The fill neck builds up back pressure and shuts off the pump and you have no idea how full the tank is. And no two pumps react the same. The People is much easier to fill, and easy to fill to the same level each time. And the SYM can get a runnability problem if you keep topping off the tank, as the gas vapor emission system is a touchy one.
    I believe both speedometrs are about equally off reading maybe 10% optomistic. The People is physically a little bit smaller and lighter scooter, and I like that it feels lighter and more maneverable. Of course the wife's HD200 has a rear cargo box which kind of adds to the feeling of larger size. Certainly there is more that can go wrong with the SYM due to it's water cooling, but that may also make the engine last longer-along with the ceramic coated cylinder. I like the bigger wheels on both scooters as they give a more stable ride at higher speeds.
    Gas mileage seems comperable, but the People 150 holds more gas I'm sure.  Neither holds enough as far as I'm concerned. You don't see small motorcycles running around with 1-2 gallon capacities. The fine Suzuki DR200 dual sport holds 3.6 gallons, and gets better gas mileage than either of these two scooters.
    I like both of these scooters a lot. The SYM has a power and cruising speed advantage-but not by too much, and is roomier. Looks wise I prefer my People 150. Price? We bought both of these as new leftover models and I got the people for about $2200 new. The SYM was more, but still very reasonable. Weather protection? I think the SYM wins here. I have ridden the SYM in very cold weather and rain.

    I think I'm going to like my Kymco People 150 a lot over time. I am going to still have one motorcycle as I want a dual sport again, but the People will get a lot of use. I haven't had my wife ride the Kymco yet. I've ridden her SYM a bunch.   I'm a little afraid my wife might glom onto my Kymco and not let go. She may like the better manueverability and lighter weight better than her SYMs.

    I hope Kymco is keeping the People 150 in the US lineup. Some people think it looks too dated, and prefer the newer Super 8 150. I like that one too, but the People 150 really is a great scooter for the people, and I made the right choice.

    Jon in Keaau, Hawaii (where scooters are everyuwhere it seems)
   

2
People 150 / That stinkin ethanol/gasoline
« on: October 02, 2011, 10:02:01 PM »
    WE bought a fully furnished house on the Big Island of Hawaii mid last year. We had been renting tio vacationers and planning to mover there. So, last Nov. I bought a new, leftover People 150 and rode it for a week until it was time to go home. So I filled the tank to the top and used Stabil in both it ad a riding lawn mower that came with the house.
So we finally moved here on Sept. 5th.
    The lawn mower finally started and I started mowing. Suddenly it started dumping fuel eveywhere. Filled the crankcase, filled the combustion chamber and dumped gas to the outside. Parked it. Started the People 150 and it wouild sit there and idle but would then die after 30 seconds or so, and would not take any throttle.
    Decided I'd better look at the mower first. I figuerd a stuck needle and/or seat problem. This would inable the carb to stop the gas flow from the tank, and indeed, it emptied the tank. Drained the contaminated oil; pulled the spark plug and turned the engine over blowing ras gas out the hole; pulled the carb. When I rtemoved the floet bowl abd the float and removed the needle valve the tapered tip came off. So I figured the broken tip had lodged against the seat causing the problem. Had to order the new needle from the mainland. Picked up a new spark plug, oil filter and oil. The needle arrived. Assembled everything and put new oil in. Put just a little gas in it (in case I hadn't fixed the problem) and it fired right up. Ran it for a bit and saw no sign of excessive gas, so added a bunch of fuel and mowed our one acre. Seems fine now.

     This morning it was on to the Kymco. I'm no scooter mechanic, but look at these problems through the eyes of an old motorcycle rider. On the Kymco I figured plugged pilot jet. But thjis is complicated by the fact that I no nothing about the automatic choke the use. Pulled the seat and storage pan and had a look see. Dissconected enough stuff to pull the carb from both rubber boots. Didn't want to remove the choke mechanism since I'm not familiar with them, so left it on and left the wiring on it. Drained the float bowl and pulled it. Saw a little bit of crud in the bottom of the bowl and cleaned it. Used the high "E" and "B" guitar strings as cleaners on the pilot jet after removing it. Blew air through the carb chambers the best I could with a little compressor and blow gun. Decided not to drain all the gas in the tank at this time, so assembled evrything and she fired right up. Right away it was able to take throttle.  Took it for a nice ride up to 60 mph, and it ran great.

    I can't say the broken tip on the mower was related to ethanol, but the problem with the People 150 was certainly. Stabil used to be good for storage of gasoline for quite some time-at least six months, but with this dam etahnol it isn't doing the job anymore. We live here now, so both the mower and my Kymco will be ridden often so we shouldn't have this problem again hopefully. The scooter went from unrideable to running GREAT. Feels good to have diagnosed and fixed these things myself. I was rather disgruntled when it seemed like everything was going to hell on me there for a while, so I just took one thing at a time.

    My People 150 is a fine scooter. Maybe not quite as fast as my wife's SYM HD200, but not far off the mark.

    Not much action here in the People 150 part of the forum, so I figured I'd write about this.

    So, what are you using for fuel system cleaner or stabilizer that can jsut be added to the gas tank? I'm familiar with Seafaom--anything else?

    Jon

3
Quannon / Quannon 150s at $1995
« on: September 08, 2011, 06:13:30 AM »
    There are at least two US dealers selling the Quannon 150s for $1995. One, on the Big Island of Hawaii, Kisers Motorcycles in Kona, is selling for that price with no freight and setup fees. The other dealer is in California. Must be because the bike is discontinued in the US. Still, for $1995.......

    Jon

4
Quannon / Has the Quannon been pulled from the US Kymco lineup?
« on: August 25, 2011, 02:49:45 PM »

    I don't see it at the Kymco USA website any more. There are still some 2010 models at some dealers. One has them for $2895, and that includes freight and delivery fees.

    Jon

5
People 150 / How accurate is your fuel gauge?
« on: February 12, 2011, 03:12:45 AM »
  Just got my new 2009 P150 this last Tuesday. It's at around 125 kilometers on the odometer right now and the fuel gauge reads just a little under half. The spec says it has a 1.8 gallon tank. So how accurate is your fuel gauge? How far do you run the gauge down before you fill?
    I can't seem to post pictures, as they are too big I guess.
    Thanks, Jon

6
Venox 250 / Venox still being made?
« on: January 14, 2011, 07:40:24 PM »
    Just wondering if Kymco still make the Venox. There is a new on on craigslist that I think is a 2008. I always thought they were a great looking motorcycle, and the youtube videos I've seen show it to be a great sounding bike too. I would be concerned about parts availability though.

   jon

7
General Discussion / Kymco service manuals??
« on: January 05, 2011, 05:35:57 AM »


    I wanted to get a service manual for the scooter I recently bought-a new 2009 People 150. So I called a nearby Vespa/Kymco dealer to see if they could order me one. I talked to the service guy there, and he told me there is no Kymco service manuals. That I should just buy the Haynes scooyter repair book. Is this true? No service manuals for the individual Kymco scooters?

  Thanks, jon

8
People 150 / Just bought a new People 150!
« on: December 10, 2010, 12:41:46 AM »


    I bought a new 2009 People 150 sight unseen. We bought a house on the Big Island of Hawaii a while back.We are moving there maybe in a year or a bit less. We are renting the place out short term for now to vacationers and such.  Shipping stuff from the mainland to Hawaii is spendy. There is a dealer in Kona.Our place is about 125 miles away.Called the dealer today to see what the price would be on a new People 150 and a Super 8 150.He said they were haveing a sale on four People 150s for $2295, and were having a grand opening sale Saturday, so these may or may not still be there after the sale.So I got this scooter for $2379 out the door.No  BS fees other than tax and license. They will deliver to us in Feb. when we will be on the island for eight days. So I'll get to start the breakin and ride my scooter on the beautiful Big Island!!

    Shipping a scooter or motorcycle from Wa State to Hawaii is a major pain and major expence.I bet it would have cost like $800-$900 and the delivery date would not be secure.It could happen that the scooter would get there after we left.This way, I have it delivered all ready to ride.

    Am I crazy to buy a scooter without first riding it? Maybe. But understand that I love riding motorcycles and scooters big and small.I wanted something super reliable and the two year warranty is great for the industry.Everyone says the 150 will be fine at 50mph and that will work for me.My wife can bring her SYM over when we move.We will rent an ABF "Relocube" and that will hold enough to bring the small amount of stuff we are taking.

    So I get a new scooter, but we aren't going over till Feb, so they will deliver it then. Every time we go over to the island I always tell her that I won't really feel at home there till I have a motorcycle or scooter,a guitar and amp there. This takes care of one of thoses. Now I really have something to look forward to.

    jon

9
People 150 / People 150 questions
« on: November 28, 2010, 06:52:35 PM »
    I'm just wondering what the P150 is capable of as far as cruising speeds that don't push the bike too hard might be.Will it hold an honest 50 mph with say, a 180 pound rider? How about cruising range?How far can one go on a tank of gas?

   Thanks, Jon

10
Super 8 150 / Super 8 info
« on: November 19, 2010, 04:27:22 AM »
    I haven't been able to get to a Kymco dealer to check one of these out yet. I'm an old motorcycle rider, but have rideen a few scooters too.I kind of zoomed in on the Super 8 after seeing pics of it and reading a little bit. I'm 5'10" and about 180. I'm thinking the Super b8 should fit me all right? One question I have is, will this scooter handle 50 mph all right? I'm thinking of a scooter that would be based on the Big Island of Hawaii in the Puna district, to use as general transportation. The main highways are 50 mph.We're mostly talking about 15 to 20 minute bursts at 50 to get to Hilo. Even then,m there is more of a backroad which could cut the time down to 5 minutes.

    Due to storage of the scooter, I don't want to get one that's very big physically because of where I have to store it.

    Good gas mileage is important because gas is always much more expensive there.What are some of you owners getting for gas mileage?

    How about ease of maintenance?Do you have to remove lots of body panels for access?

    I am also considering the Agility 125.


    One very good thing is that there is a dealer on the island in Kona, but that's about two and a half hours away.
    Thanks, Jon

11
Agility 125 / Agility does well in Scoot Magazjine "Throwdown" comparisan
« on: November 15, 2010, 06:33:00 PM »
   In issue 57/August 2010 issue,they have a comparisan of the Genuine Buddy 125,Kymcom Agility 125,Lance Cali Classic 125, Sachs MadAss 125, and the Yamaha Vino 125.Unfortunetely, during the top speed tests, their GPS was not working, so they went by each scooters speedos. They checked top speeds,0-30mph times,0-45mph times,braking distance at 35mph,fuel consumption, and compared prices. Then they rated the scooters for comfort,handling,quality,storage,featurtes,passenger accomodations,and aftermarket. The Agility came in second just behind the Genuine Buddy, beating out the Lance,MadAss,and Vino in that order.The Agility was tops in top speed (assuming the speedos were all equally accurate-too bad no GPS was available), and had the best braking distance of the group. Tied for first through third in handling and passenger ability.Gas mileage was the lowest of the bunch at 75mpg-but they used the manufacturers mpg figures (not very useful?).

    Not a bad showing, and the Kymco had the second lowest price.

   Jon

12
Quannon / Couple of Quannon questions from new forum member
« on: November 15, 2010, 07:45:49 AM »
  A dealer not far from me has a couple of Quannon 150s for sale at a very giood price.  I'm thinking about picking one up.I live in western Washington State now. We'll be moving to the Big Island on Hawaii in 1-2 years.We bought a house there recently in the Puna area.I'm thinking this bike might be a good one for me to have on the island.I'm 57 years old and have ridden motorcycles for almost 50 years.I have owned about 25 bikes in that time.

    For use on the Big Island there are a few important things to me.

  1.The bike should be reliable.There is a dealer on the island in Kona, but Kona is about a five hour round trip.I can easily do oil changes and would do my own maintenance and valve adjustmets.I've heard good things about Kymco products.

  2.Good gas mileage is important, since gas is always a lot more on the islands.I'm quite sure the 150 would get great gas mileage.What are some of you getting?

  3.Range is pretty important, but I see the Quannon has a big tank.Just wondering how far some of you are getting before you go on reserve?

4.Cruising speed.The top speed limits on the island are pretty much 50mph for all the riding I would do. Can the 150 maintain that speed?

  5.We were at our place for nine days early this month and drove to Kona.I stopped in at the dealer and had a look and liked the bike.I got to sit on one and it felt comfortable to me.

  6. I have always loved riding, and still enjoy riding smaller bikes and big ones too.

    I can buy this bike in Seattle for about $1000 less than in Kona, and would then have to eventually ship it over .

    Anyway, for this purpose, I am considering this motorcycle or a scooter.

  Thanks for any comments on these points.

    Jon in Puyallup, Wa.

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