The straight skinny on our Honda Ruckus clones

This post first appeared on the PCM blog in 2017, and was written by former owner Stephen Pamboukes.

The Honda Ruckus was introduced to the American market in 2002, and has really gained some traction since then.  With this model, Honda sort of redefined the look and feel of scooter, moving away from the traditional Vespa-inspired, fairing clad baguette-getter to a more aggressively styled, dare I say "macho"-looking city shredder.  This machine has struck a chord with riders in the greater Portsmouth area, and we see more and more on the road every year.  

This year, we're excited to be offering new Honda Ruckus clone scooters. 

Our Ruckus clone in effect.  Ooohhh.. shiney!

Huh? A clone?  Yes, this product is made by a third-party Chinese manufacturer to replicate the Honda Ruckus scooter.  We find that they do so quite nicely, and it results in a product that is comparable to the Ruckus, but available at a fraction of the cost.  We sell these scooters with confidence along with our tried and true warranty, and a free tune-up at 300 miles.

I wanted to come right out and explain some of the differences and similarities between our Ruckus clones and the genuine Honda product.  They range from minor to major, and many of them actually pose advantages over the original Ruckus design.

For one, lets talk pricing:  Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) on the Honda Ruckus is around $2649.  This means you will be buying a new model for no less than $2649 - however dealerships are free to apply additional charges (freight charges, assembly charges, warranty, etc) so the "out the door price" is frequently in excess of $3000.  Damn.  I love the product, but that's some serious cake.

Enter the Ruckus clone.  We order these units in as a dealer, assembled them, upgrade them, and test them thoroughly.  We "stamp" them with our warranty, and sell them out the door at $1599.  In fact, they're on early-bird special thru May 1st for $1499!  So I had to get that out of the way, but that is one huge and obvious advantage the clones have over the Ruckie.

Now lets talk about the scooters themselves!  Stylistically, the clones come very close to the original:  a square-shaped battery box, dual headlights w/ protective grills and front rack, an open-frame design that ditches all the extra plastic to expose the tubular steel frame.  Some cosmetic dissimilarities are that the clone tends to use chrome on a lot of accessories/peripherals (handlebars, controls, gauges), instead of black on the Ruckus.  This is a matter of preference, honestly I love the color black, but chrome is a close second.

Functionality!  These clones perform right alongside the genuine Ruckus: good acceleration, top speed around 35-40mph.  This scooter uses the very common GY6 engine.  The GY6 configuration was pioneered by Honda in the 1980s, and has been used on just about every scooter - Honda or otherwise - since then.  Its a little different from what the genuine Ruckus uses today, but as far as performance and reliability goes, its right there with it.  We do upgrade the batteries and carburetors when we assemble these units.  From experience, we've found that the bikes run much better, and more consistently, with the install of our high-quality, upgraded components.

The GY6 engine used on our Ruckus clones, and pretty much across the board on every scooter since the 1980's

Oh, we can TOTALLY get parts for these engines, and any part on the bike.  We get that question a lot, and the stigma of "you just can't get parts for those things" is simply false.  Check out www.idcusa.net - this is our parts distributor, and they have all the parts.  They're located in South Carolina, so shipping time is not too shabby.  

Features! So the last little details would be in the features.  There are some pretty modest features that the Ruckus clone incorporates, which are actually better then the genuine Ruckus.  For one, the clones have a rear rack.  I know that doesn't sound groundbreaking, but as far as practicality goes, its pretty clutch.  Our scooters come with a pod-style cargo carrier, which we can install by request.  You could also go old school and strap a milk crate to that sucker.

Nice rack!

Probably more important than the rear rack, are the tires and brakes.  Our Ruckus clones use a hydraulic disc brake up front, while the genuine Ruckus uses drum brakes front and rear.  I wouldn't say the drum brakes are unsatisfactory... but this hydraulic disc will definitely stop you much better than drum brakes.  Beyond that, these clones do lack the trademark nobby tires featured on the Ruckus.  They are replaced with a 12" street tire, which in all honestly will perform better on the road, which is where I expect you'll be riding 90% of the time.  Yes, if you care for the brief foray into a packed dirt trail, the Ruckus' hybrid tires would do better.  You could always swap the street tires out for all-terrains if you wanted, but I think most would be happy with the stock tires - we'll think about replacements in a few thousand miles.

The Ruckus clones feature a 12" street tire with hydraulic disc brake up front - this setup will handle better than the genuine Ruckus out on the road.

 For you technical junkies, here's a listing of all the nitty gritty product specs, for your information:

So thats the jist!  I hope that's explained it for ya, now you know what to expect.  You can always purchase a Ruckus clone right through our website.  Or, give us a call to set up a test ride, and we'd be happy to set you up.  Happy riding Rucksters!