@@rickellithorpe7428 early ruckus had a very problematic crank bearing eating problem from poor crankcase ventilation, so engine swaps became popular and then other people wanted the same speed and it was all over.
The Honda Ruckus is the truck of the scooter world. Very utilitarian in it's design. The open, under seat storage, means one can carry oversized loads like long and or wide items that won't fit in a regular scooter carriage area. On mine, I added an over sized trunk on the back to add lockable storage space. Sure it cost more but the trunk makes the scooter stand out more in traffic, plus the added brake light makes it easier to see. Being as it's a Honda and this model has been around for a very long time the engine build it extremely reliable. I expect the Ruckus to be running long after most other scooters have been give new lives as recycled flatware or sheet metal. My 2015 Ruck is still running strong after 8100 miles.
I have a 2005...it's my parts-chaser, my mileage disposal unit, my grocery-grabber, and my back-up vehicle when the 4-wheel cage is down. STILL over 100mpg! i.imgur.com/lJ1I27z.jpg
I have one... got it from my dad, he used it for years to get to work and by now it has 42000 Kilometers on its back (around 26000 miles) and it still works without any problems whatsoever and i still get 200 km (around 125 miles) on the single gallon tank i mean yes its slow, but its reliable, super cheap to operate and you can transport a bunch of stuff on there, and the transportation aspect is quite important to me since this is the only vehicle i got
Damn, i've got a Zoomer with 21000 km (13000 miles) and I hope it'll never break. I once knew this guy who had bought a honda zoomer with 100000 kilometers on it and the amazing thing was it was used as a pizza delivery scooter.
I recently bought one as an "around town" mode of transportation. It essentially has scaled down the two-wheel experience, and there is something satisfying about driving something slow at wide open throttle all the time.
I've had all sorts of motorcycles over the years, and the ruckus always puts the biggest smile on my face even though it's the lowest power (other than my pw50 when I was a child).
Allistair Neil I won’t sell mine either. The TOD on the title for mine has my nephew’s name in it. If it’s still in great shape I might just give it to him when he gets to be like twelve or thirteen.
I have a 2003 Honda Ruckus original owner I was the 1st one 2 buy it from the motorcycle shop lol & it's still all stock!!! 15 yrs later. I also have the Yamaha Zuma 125 & Honda Grom... Love me sum lil bikes! 😍💪👍
I want one. I just have no practical use for one. I can't really take it anywhere from where I live. I could put around town I guess but that would be about it. Just pointless riding for the most part. If I lived close to where I worked and could take this legally to work, I would definitely do it.
There's nothing wrong with taking the Ruckus to work. I did last year. 35 miles each way took an hour and 10 minutes in each direction. The Ruckus tops out at 39 mph with a new drive belt and loses about 2 mph after about 7000 miles. Sure it's slower than regular traffic and you have to keep to the right but considering the money saved it pays for itself. I was saving $5 per day in gas alone. Add that up and I saved $600 last summer
I love my ruckus, I’ve been driving it to and from work for years, I only wish I new more about moding it out. because if I could I really wish I could go closer to 40 or 45 MPH when traffic is going faster than usual.
Try looking up changing the variator rollers, going to sliders really helps and is pretty easy especially with an impact driver electric or air powered if you have a friend with one
I have over 300 videos on my Channel of a Honda ruckus I rebuilt for a client. The bike had 23,000 US Miles on it at the time. The engine is a technical marvel but the vacuum hoses are a space shuttle nightmare puzzle. The ruckus is not overrated as long as you want to keep a scooter over six months where similar Chinese scooter fall the Fuck apart. RESPECT RH DSD
One more point you should point out is, that bike can off road on trails because of the tires . And on lightly wet roads , those kind of tires will grip the road better and if it does start to slip sideways you can brace with your leg.
it's a 50cc scooter, I didn't buy it to go fast. That's what sportbikes are for. 50cc are for fun, and cruising around the neighborhood. I've never ridden a more fun scooter that's also pretty practical for commuting. Speed limit is 30mph all through the city, so somehow I manage to break the speed limit even on this glorified bicycle.
I don't know if it is overrated but I love its look. Too bad people ruin its look just to modify it because honestly the drop and stretch people do to it looks stupid.
I live in AZ and it is not ideal for this state. Too many jacked up hillbilly trucks everywhere. the speed limit on main streets is on the low end 40/45. The safest no problem riding I do is at night. and on mostly side streets
my ruckus is one of the funnest toys Ive ever had and I have lots. put a polini variator on a stock ruckus so itll do 50 MPH and its an incredible machine.
Have you verified the MPH on that Polini Variator? I'm thinking about doing something like that but have read mixed reviews about speed accuracy. Some say it's a BS claim while others tout it as true. Videos show them installing the thing but no proof of concept displayed.
The variator itself doesn't increase top speed. It could if you modified it a bit but in the end not much. It increases the acceleration significantly though over stock. the sleeve through the middle could be ground or cut to shorten its length effectively increasing the diameter of the belt at wide open, you'd maybe get 1 or 2 mph more but risk throwing the belt off. top speed increased to about 40/41 mph with an ncy (unlimited) CDI it makes a little more HP and has no rev limiter so you get more RPM at the top end. I still have stock air filter and exhaust right now and the variator and CDI are my only 2 mods at 4o MPH
25mph will get you 114mpg, wide open all the time is 90mpg. This guy is an amateur. Wants to go faster than legal, fails to stop at stop signs and has not really done any research. I bought a 2015 Honda Ruckus and have had zero problems over a 5 year run time. 13,850 miles and five years of back and forth to work is very reliable and reasonable. The only down side is after that many miles it's developed a slight oil leak and it's now time to get it serviced.
The Honda Ruckus is not overrated at all. For the money, reliability, gas mileage, its easy to maintain and repair, and with a couple of bicycle saddle bags and a rack it is completely utilitarian. Not to mention it is just fun to ride. Nothing makes me happier that a day of riding my scooter with no particular place to be. yes you can buy a used car or truck for thee thousand but you will pay more for gas, insurance, tires, repairs, etc.. My insurance for an entire year of full coverage is only $200.00. Who ever doesn't like a Honda Ruckus should just SHUT THE RUCK UP! World funnest scooter! But seriously I do agree if they would introduce a new model that was a foot longer with a 150cc engine, disk brakes, and a little more ground clearance I would buy one in a minute.
Where I'm from the faster 50cc scooters are a fail due to state laws. In Indiana the state laws say if a 50cc scooter is designed to go faster than 35 mph it must be licensed as a motorcycle and requires a motorcycle license. The Honda Ruckus is a water cooled 50cc scooter and is well worth the price. Parts are easier to obtain for one and being a Honda it will run forever if it is maintained.
I have the UK spec version called the "Zoomer". You don't believe the 110 miles to the gallon? well assuming we're talking the same gallon, mine does 110 all day long, but mine differs from yours in a few ways, 1) Your's takes a bigger spark plug so you probably get a bigger bang. 2) mine has fuel injection which is made for ultimate precision and fuel economy. 3) because of the 2 previous mentions, yours does 36mph and mine does 25mph. so, if you'd rather trade more speed for mpg, give me a shout we'll do a swap, anything out of town that's not on unused feels bloody scary around impatient drivers and lorry's. so count your blessings :-)
Alot of people in the U.S. believe the ruckus or zoomer does 45-50mph out of the box. And i've yet to see this here unless the scooter is very modded. I'd love to test ride a European spec zoomer, but unless i go to europe that wont happen. Interesting is that while traveling in Europe i did not see many Ruckuses.
Some of European country all 50cc scooter are limited to 45 km/h. But out of the box 50 or 55 km/h. Goes 75 if moded(illegal). Still no injection model available. Last model from 2016. Yamaha Zuma Is not available. Vespa or piagio are overrated. Ruckus and Zuma have no purpose around there. Not enough offroad. You must also ride on the selected road only. Road with the speed above 50 km/h is restricted. U must use the bike line.
i have a car, but im so intrigued by the ruckus that im gonna get one, mod it, and then just go on a long trip on it and come back home after a couple months of traveling and likely just going to sell my car and keep the ruckus.
Funny thing the ruckus has been my first scooter ever before the craze happen. I got mine in 05 due to my mother making a random buy and ended up never using it and then just gave it to me and have never seen and or wanted to get another scooter it is the best thing ever but I have used a Toni's moped during its down time when I blew the motor due to being stupid and waited until some one had a complete engine carb and wheel combo with low miles due to a GY swap and snagged a good one for $100 bucks and got back on the road and it's a 05 with a 2012 engine with no problems
I have owned 2 Honda Zommer (as they were called here in Europé).My favorites among all the mopeds I owned, they were quite expensive here too, so they disappeared from the market.With a modification of the exhaust an a Polini speedcontrol variator,i could Cruise in 60 km/h.
You are stating you don't like the *stock* 50cc Honda Ruckus when compared to 125cc and larger competing brands. That's not terribly surprising. The photos of all the modded Ruckus bikes at the beginning of the video are the common mod using the GY6 Chinese scooter engine that can bolt right up to the stock Ruckus with only a couple of aftermarket brackets. Considering you can get a GY6 engine NEW wth all the parts for $250 delivered makes it a very affordable conversion option. And with 150cc, these things are, well, huge smile makers.
Soooo...you don't like the "Ruckus?" "Underperforms" as compared to what? Your feet, maybe? (no...this Honda, as is the"Metropolitan", is meant to be a 'specialized transport' and Honda deliberately 'de-tunes & restricts' both models for the purpose of safety and longevity) A few minor 'performance mods' that involve no real significant changes to the engine/power-train will significantly 'boost'the "Metro" to 42mph on level-road...and the addition of a wind-screen will further increase top-end to 44mph w/a 220lbs.rider (me) My '08 "Metro' in 'Gothic' is fast/smooth/silent/and ultra-reliable for one rider.The way to solve the question of 'slow/under-powered/no passenger'/is to buy a larger machine...such as a 125 or perhaps a 250cc scooter.(when I need more power and more carrying and the weather and traffic are simply too great for the scooter...I use a car)
Uh...NO...I didn't 'miss' anything...you did."It's small and not very fast" is the entirety of the review...and all that is nothing more than pointing-out the absurdly obvious. No 50cc engine scoot w/a CVT is going to be 'fast'. Period. Honda did not design or engineer the 'Ruckus' or the 'Metro' to be 'road-burners'...they are designed to be safe and comfortable and ultra-reliable for one rider. End of story.
The Point is that this 50cc Ruckus is not comparable to other 50cc scooters for the price that you pay in the used market. But stay tuned for a few other scooter reviews that show better scooters for the price.
"Compare?" Uh...there's only ONE "Honda Ruckus", which leaves no comparison values to other scooters, unless it is pro-rated to other 'clone' models which is a false comparison.There is NO 'better model' than Honda in terms of quality and longevity...although many pretend to be the 'same thing' when in fact they are not the 'same thing'. Is "Honda" expensive compared to many others? Yes. And what of it? "You get what you pay for" has been true since the creation of the chariot."Better scooters than Honda for the price???" PROVE IT ! There is no 50cc scooter on Earth that's 'better' than Honda over-all...if there were, I'd have one!
I get 114 mpg when run at 25mph the entire time. 90 mpg open throttle. That is when it is new. You get slightly less as the drive belt wears out. Also, the top speed is 39 mph on a long flat level road.
When riding a 50cc scooter, im never going 25mph, im all open all the time. And i imagine if you dont live in the city this is how its going to be ridden.
For the price and reliability I'm sure it's great. They should have a 125cc version with a few more options. I love my bws 125 as it checks all the boxes and still gets good mileage.
Inexpensive platform, huge aftermarket parts choices, and a club, event social structure around them. Like a semi-customized Harley except without the $30,000 dollar investment. Once Honda decides to introduce a 150cc version, the game will change again.
I got one to build my credit and run errands in town. Its being delivered from honda to the cycle shop in a few days i got a gray one. Im gonna do all led lights new battery and add a radiator fan. Thats probably it tho. People do all these mods. Its a 49cc engine you cant expect wheelies haha the harder you push it the faster it breaks. I had a cheapo 2 stroke chinese bike before.. it sat for almost ten years before i bought it for a couple hundred it had less than 100 miles on it. Im curious to see the difference. Between a quenjeng and a honda lol.
I owned one. It's over rated big time. Its slow, sluggish, has hard suspension and a stiff seat. The drum brakes make it unsafe as it's hard to stop. I'm a smaller rider too , I would hate to see a fat guy try to ride this thing. As much as I think they suck I am looking to buy another one because it was too much fun on the trails. and it looks awesome. Thats probably the only thing good about these bikes is they are unique and get attention. Better bang for your buck is a Yamaha Bws50, especially a 2009 or lower one ( 2 strokes that have lots of torque), Bws is way more comfortable to ride, you are higher up and more visible to drivers. A stock BWS goes faster stock than some rucks that are modified. My 09 bws 50 did 70 km/h stock and 100 km/h with just a big bore kit and pipe, jet .
Overrated?? more like over priced, its almost 3 thousand dollars just for a scooter. I can get a decent used car or an actual motorcycle for that price!!!
I have the Yamaha C3, and do not need insurance in MI with a 49cc engine. All that's required is a moped sticker every three years. Also, yes, the C3 is faster than the Ruckus' I've come across....by quite a bit!
like an upstairs apartment? dude.. it doesnt weigh much.. personally id take it up.. but im pretty muscular. I just like the peace of mind that its WAY less likely to get stolen
Wouldn't that be nice, bringing it inside every time. I would but then the stairs and small landing at the bottom make it difficult plus the self closing door is sure to be a headache as well.
Hm ? Not at all. :-) My record is starting it with 1 kick in -10* F thats -23* C. 1- 3 was the norm. Warm it up and take it a mile to the grocery store. I live on a hill and my driveway is a hill. I’m pushing 60 yrs old - over the weight limit on the Ruck and get 40 - 42 MPH out of it when the Barometric Pressure is up and on dry days. LOL Plus between 70-80 mpg out of it wide open all of the time.
reliability king it just might be. i think the fake ones...in majority the bike life ones. Have wrongly tacked on allot of the shade the ruckus gets. It isn't the fastest or "wheeliest" but hopefully you aren't looking for that in this anyway. This will literally drive across the country if you don't already know that at this point.
Odd that your ruckus only does 36mph tops I find. Mine does 42mph flat or around 38mph on a hilly road (where I'm from they're the majority). Also haven't encountered the Handlebar issue and we're the same height. What model year is yours? I got a 2017 one.
thats your opinion and youre entitled to that but i say its the best you forgot a lot of key factors as to why and how the honda ruckus an amazing scooter. yes it has some down falls but they were built for off road not pavement queens. look up the history i can remember what the previous versions were called i briefly found out last week. but they were 49 cc 3 speed trial scooter. they sell to this day upwards a round 5k or higher. You forgot the liquid cooling. thats why they have the pep never running hot, even while on trials or mudd lol. cool video though
Strangely enough the yamaha c3 that i had previously ridden and compared to the ruckus was also liquid cooled. What other benefits does the ruckus have?
I think you are just as biased against this scooter as the Ruckus owners are for it! Yep, price is high for a 49 cc scoot, but construction is solid, not a chinese junker, and the resale price stays high, too, rides easy...I weigh in at 225 lbs abpnd can get to 39 mph on a flat, at 40 the govenor kicks in so that is top speed, and yep, I get 90 mpg due to my weight and keeping the hammer down on the throttle! Would get more if I weighed 175! Fun counts, and Riding a Ruck is more fun that most other scoots, partly because of the cool factor! And I can go fast enough in town to get a ticket! Ha ha. Any kid would love it and the kid in this 70 year old guy loves it! So if you got the coin and want a very reliable fun as a barrel of monkeys scooter to ride, buy one!
It's a good bike. But when I compare the Ruckus, i compare it to other Japanese bikes that have similar or better builds and are cheaper. But the important this is to ride what makes you happy.
This thing is the Jeep of the scooter world, realistically too much money for what you get, just like Jeep. Should be 150cc, better dash, disc brakes. If they put some upgrades on a newer version I'm in meanwhile I will keep my Piaggio.
the point I was making earlier is that the ruckus is NOT the jeep of scooters - - - -it looks tough but the low clearance and long wheel base limits it to only the smoothest of roads.
If the ruckus was still 2 stroke it would have more pep. I own a 2009 yamaha Zuma 2 stroke and I run circles around rucks. 4 stroke 50ccs are a bit too sluggish for my taste
I have a 2012 Bone Stock Ruckus and I weigh 397lbs. My Ruckus does 30mph on flat ground and 40mph down hills. I'd be interested in seeing what the other 49cc scooters would do with me on them. My son and brother in law both hit just about 40mph on flat surface and 45mph down hill.. Don't know what more you ask for from a 49cc scooter and they are getting over 20k-30k miles on them. The aftermarket world is insane for the Ruckus...Its Honda quality. Only thing i don't like is the gas tank below the engine and them putting a fuel pump on a bullet proof motor. JMO
Great bike slow as hell cant even go up a slight up grade without moving over for cars blocking traffic needs a bigger engine for a four stroke then it would be perfect.
I bought my Ruckus new in 2005...my insurance agent had to call corporate to figure out what it was. I have added ammo box side cans, a wind and leg shield, a Bluetooth sound system, a luggage rack, and enclosed the underseat area. I STILL get over 100 mpg! i.imgur.com/lJ1I27z.jpg
WAY too expensive and underpowered based on the availability of low mileage used REAL MCs on the market currently. Bikes are NOT like cars. Many are kept in the garage and lightly ridden. Shop the used market first.
I’m really not a fan of its look. I guess I just prefer the more classic style of the Super Cub, over the industrial look of the Ruckus. More power to you if you like them though. As long as you’re having fun that’s all that matters.
