I bought a 2006 Honda Ruckus last fall. It obviously doesn't suck, simply for the fact that it is a Ruckus. However, this is no showroom quality scoot either. Someone had (too much?) fun with it before I got it. Something took a bite out of the front frame, and one of the holes where the exhaust mounts to the block has been sheared off. This has been an ongoing problem for me and has caused 2 exhaust pipes to crack and break on me.



She had 7200 miles on her and was COMPLETELY stock. And for the most part, she's stayed that way. It wasn't long before I relocated the horn and gave her a shitty rattle can spray paint job, but up until Carolina con she even had the same rollers in that were in it when I bought it. Who knows how long they had been in before that.

That was 11,111 miles (I was at 11, 110.6 as I joined the caravan headed to Con) Finally, I cracked open the transmission and put some met rollers in.



I doubt that actually qualifies me for not being stock, but here I am with about 12,000 on and I'm finally starting to play. I have installed blue clutch springs, an iridium spark plug, and a gates premium belt. I also relocated the blinkers to where the reflectors are. I also have Dr. Pulley sliders and a variator (NCY) but have not installed them yet.. Did you know NCY variators don't come with the rear cover? I didn't..

I just recently (as in 2 days ago) bought a 'new' motor for her.. (an 07 with 750 miles) and will be doing a swap soon. I also bought a newer and NOT spray-painted seat, battery box, coolant tank (I didn't paint mine, it just looked like crap.) and who knows what else.. I'm kind of on a shopping spree. (Thrift style! Used parts FTW) I can't wait for this stuff to start arriving so I can get my hands dirty.

Once I get it apart I may even take the frame down and get it powdercoated but hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to reassemble the bike once I get it apart because I do want to do it primarily by myself. I like learning how things work, and it will make me love it more in the end.

So that's the story of my Ruck, who had gone unnamed until recently. Now Breeze, my girlfriend, won't stop calling it "The other woman" and so now she has a name, and apparently a gender.

The Other Woman seems too long.....maybe Mistress

just my $.02
I'm planning to do a motor swap this fall as well. I've got an '03 and want to switch to the updated setup with PCV.

Good luck with all the work.

Do you have any advice? This will be my first time doing any kind of engine work.

I have a ton of stuff coming.. I might have to take pictures of the packages in front of my Ruckus - Dr.EZP style.

I did get my service manual today!

On its way still..

(Mind you most of this is just stock stuff. At 12,000 miles some stuff just isn't pretty anymore!)

black seat frame, coolant tank, motor mount, blinker indicator, Engine, Variator, rollers, carb, (blue) Kitaco rear shock, an extra set of hoses, and a gunmetal battery box.

The engine stuff I just want to have an extra of so I'm not pulling stuff out of the older engine so if I need to swap back everything's ready to go. (stock variator, hoses, coolant tank)

The blinker indicator on mine broke so thats a stock replacement.

Rear shock is a long awaited upgrade!

I did a crappy rattle can job on my seat frame and my battery box so these should clean it up a lot.

Anyone have any other goodies for me?

In no particular order, these are things I want for or to do to my Ruckus. Not a complete list, but

SS bolt replacement kit (all kinds of mismatched/missing bolts on my poor ruck) (high priority)
KN variator (very hilly around here)
jets (sooner or later I'm going to need learn to rejet..need these to do it!)
Tach
integrated tail light/turn signal combo

powdercoat- Blue/Silver/Orange theme
Sanjuro mudguard
metal luggage board
gas tank cover
side step trim

So powdercoating is out in the near future... fuck.. 2 week turnaround!? I like to ride my ruck! I don't think I could do it. Maybe down the road I guess..

ANYWAY, I got some mail today!!

Well, I have since installed the NCY variator and 5.5g Dr Pulley sliders and have seen little to no increase in performance. My poor scoot is actually feeling very sluggish, taking quite some time to get to 35ish. However, once it gets there, it usually goes to 40+ quickly and has no problem hitting an estimated 45. (no gps) I have also put some new tires on (pirelli sl26s) which was long overdue. I'm going to take a picture though.. I'm fairly certain one is mounted backwards despite the dealer's insistence that it isn't. (It just seems really weird to me that the treads wouldn't go in the same direction. Anyone?) This morning I was going to a job fair and last night I stupidly left my keys in the ignition (thank god I live in the country) so I had to jump it off my lawnmower. If that isn't a "you might be a redneck" joke, I don't know what is..

Awesome rad cover is in the mail

Ruckus is a ruckus. Looks cool in all levels.

BTW, I could stare at your avatar all day long... hope its not your gf or wife

That is how they are suppose to go, if you check on the tires there's one that will say

->
Front
<-
Rear

better traction going the opposite way and for rain if memory serves me correct. Most everyone mounts them the same direction for looks though

The ass on my avatar is not my girlfriends, but this is:

Gawk all you want, it's mine
(She gave me permission to post this for the record.)

Thanks for the info Krooned! Style is nice, but I am definitely more of a functional type and am glad they are mounted right I would prefer not to trade style for loss of function in most cases.

Lucky you! That's a smooth ass, you need to take care of it every day, rub it in with soft oil to keep it like that.