Monday, April 27, 2009

REVIEW MONDAY!

So today I bring you the Honda Ruckus! I have had mine for almost a year now. And it is time I wrote some words about it.

I will start off by saying I LOVE IT! And if you know me, you know that it's true. It is the best purchase I made in a long time. Yes I love my bike(s) and My guitars (but all of my guitars were purchased before The Meepers, so my statement is true!).

Let me introduce you to The Meepers. Here he is day 1.
I had just drove him home from Wilkes-Barre to Taylor. Bone stock and at this point did not have a name.

Side Bar:

The name Meepers came from Amy. When I was a slave at Gander Mountain, she came to visit me from time to time. Well they use to let me pull my "scooter" inside the back of the store. Then someone got a hemorrhoid and didn't want me to park it there any more. So said manager, who was afraid of/didn't know how to manage told a co-worker to tell me that "I can't park it there anymore." So Kryptonite NYC Noose and disk lock kept him safe in the parking lot. Well Amy came to visit on one day and brought me the best ice-tea in the world. She looked out into the parking lot and saw my "Scooter" all alone chained to a poll. She said "Awwwwwwwwww, look at that meepers out there." And BAM! The Meepers had a name. The perfect name.

After much Internet searching, reading and pondering, I was going to buy a Yamaha Vino 125. I wanted a bigger engine so I could hit 55 mph. Well after getting screwed over on a few of them, I said fine I'll get a 50 cc scooter. Now I always wanted a Vespa, but they are crazy expensive, so I was going to get a Vino because they are basically a rip off of a Vespa. But once I got up close and personal with the Ruckus, Honda had pretty much won me over. Only snag was the engine size.

Now in the state of PA under 50 cc does not require a motorcycle license. Over does. Now that was not a concern to me, seeing as I have a class M endorsement on my licence. And for the record YES, The Meepers is more fun than my old motorcycles. I loved them both dearly, and wish I didn't sell them, but I still have more fun on my scooter.

Ok to the review!

There is something to be said for not being able to top 42 mph with a stock scooter. But I'm not going to say it, I want you to do it. I have yet to do any performance mods to my scooter. But one cosmetic mod did rob me of a little top end speed. I use to be able to hit 45 going down hill. then I took off the floor boards and put on a frame brace. Well part of the floor boards. I took off the top, the bottom half acts as a guard for the fuel filter and the gas tank. I am sure I would be fine without the bottom half, but I am paranoid as you know. But next week I am going to cut The excess plastic off so you will never know.

With that said, I can still hit the proclaimed top speed of 42 mph no problem. Acceleration is a bit slow, but if you start on a nice flat strip you can hit 30-35 with in a block or two. But there are factors with that that, wind. Now I am personally use to slow starts, my other mad ride is an 06' Scion xA, dubbed The Egg.

But if you start with a decline you are going to hit 30 pretty fast. I normally get up to and cruise at about 40 mph. I am waiting to get pulled over, knock on wood, to see how fast I am really going. In my experience with motorcycles, the spedo is often off by about 3 mph.

When you hit a rise, you will lose speed. That's a given. If you tuck, you'll lose a little less speed.

Verdict: A 125 cc engine would be great for this scooter. More top end speed, faster acceleration and less cars riding your ass, but you get over that in a hurry. But then cost will rise, you'll need a motorcycle license and you lose fuel efficiency. WAY AROUND ENGINE SIZE. You can do an engine swap. Get a donor bike and pull the motor. There are some great tutorials at TotalRuckus.com. I don't mind going slower. OVERALL: If I wanted to go faster I would have kept looking for a bigger scooter. I am fine with my speed.

Fuel efficiency. Now I don't need to type more than a few lines here. 1.3 gallon tank. Last time I checked the Honda web site they were pitching 99 mpg. I get from 98-110. A+++++++ on this.

Customization: Well I got on board unknowingly, until I tried to buy mine, at the Ruckus boom. Now parts are every where. From some great TR members to some great website (look at the bottom of the page). As I said earlier, I have only done cosmtic mods. Black Lower Seat frame

Some Tanak mirrors and head light covers

One of my favorite additions is my Rising Sun radiator cover:

Comfort: Well the stock shock isn't the best, but it loosened up a bit and is now riding OK for me. The biggest difference were the lower seat frame and the pegs. The pegs you can see above. Just some $15 pegs from my local LBS. I got them because I was use to riding my Triumph SS bike. So I kept my feet/legs crunched up on the floorboards like I was ridign a Sport bike. The seat frame can now be found pretty easy. But when I got mine I had to order from eBay, and it eneded up being a fellow TR memeber. Every one was out of stock. At first I didn't think I liked it, but it grew on me and made it much more comfy. The frame brace came with pegs that attach on the front so you can be more streached out, but agan I like the "Sport Bike" seating, so i use the BMX pegs. If I were a little taller, I may be more comfy streatched out. But I'm not.

Quality: It's a Honda. Do I really Need to say more? I will say this, The Meepers stared in the dead of winter in 15-20 degree weather. I didn't ride him around, I'm not that crazy, I let him idel for while. My Buel would starts a little below 30, Triumph if it was below 35, not a chance, below 40 was pushing it. Just think about that old Civic you have. How many 100,000 miles do you have on it? And it's still running strong. Ya, that's Honda. A+! And if you don't believe me, read about Wan.

Over all, the Honda Ruckus gets a 98%. Only thing keeping it back is that Honda made a 250cc Big Ruckus (that I personally don't like) and not a 125cc Ruckus. Other than that, it is the best bang for your buck. The MSRP went up $350 after the first of the year, but taking into consideratino that the cheap Chinese scooters only have a life span of a year or two, the little bit more money is worth it. You will have this scooter for the rest of your life.

This is a two post day. So either scroll down or click here to see more pictures of The Meepers. I didn't feel like making two photo heavy posts so I will just send you to the other one.

That is all. Carry on.

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