Honda Ruckus In Los

[jaideeguy]

Honda is selling a new little utility scooter in the states and it is selling like hotcakes. The honda thailand website doesn't have it listed and I haven't seen it.

tried to copy and past foto, but can't...but you can view it at this link

http://powersports.honda.com/scooters/mode...;ModelId=NPS508

any sightings here yet????

[Boksida]

[LivinLOS]

Yeah that and the 'big rukus' are both cool in a crazy kind of way..

I have to say.. If this 250cc restriction drops on taxation I will really have to fight hard to resist this bad boy..

http://www.italjetamerica.com/

http://www.italjetdragster.com/gallery_pic22.html

The 180cc version does 060 in 4.8 secs !!

[macan]

I think I saw one parked up about a month ago, it looked pretty similar but bright orange and had a bare metal checker-plate foot bed. It looked cool but distinctly like some enterprising local welder had made it himself and stuck a Honda labelled seat on it (maybe he did). If i had time I would have stopped to ask the owner who was making them because I thought he could make me one with a little single cylinder diesel engine for pottering around on.

[Richard-BKK]

It is some time ago that Honda stopped selling 50cc motorcycles/scooters. They have no commercial value for the user, who in Thailand will pay 65,000 Baht for a 50cc if he can have a honda Click/Icon/AirBlade for much less...

[jaideeguy]

Actually the [basic] price in the states is just over $2k.......my brother is getting one to carry in his pick up and 'scoot' arund town as they need no plates or driver's licnese. The world gas prices are turning the whole world into third world with transportation.

Great little scooters, hopefully they will be made here so that they will be cheaper.

Thanks guys for posting pics........

[Richard-BKK]

2000 US$ is still around 64,000 Baht (You can ride a Honda CBR150R for the same price)

Forget about import duty and transport cost...

[jaideeguy]

but, in the states [and here too] you need a lisence and plates and the rucus at 180 lbs is easier to load into the back of a pick-up.. also much more storage space for shopping.

[Richard-BKK]

What is the difference between a 40,000 Baht 110cc Yamaha Fino with a weight of +/- 110 kilo or a 64,000 Baht 50cc Honda Ruckus with about the same weight?

Yes you need a drivers license in Thailand and you need to register the scooter, the 40,000 Baht for the Yamaha Fino comes including plates. For the drivers license, I keep forgetting, was it now 50 Baht or 150 Baht (Some small voice in my head tells me 50 Baht was for motorcycle and 150 Baht for car license) anyway who cares (1.6 US$ or 4.70 US$).

We had a Yamaha Fino, and cannot tell how many times we have loaded it into the back of our pickup.

[Bowery99]

What is the difference between a 40,000 Baht 110cc Yamaha Fino with a weight of +/- 110 kilo or a 64,000 Baht 50cc Honda Ruckus with about the same weight?

Yes you need a drivers license in Thailand and you need to register the scooter, the 40,000 Baht for the Yamaha Fino comes including plates. For the drivers license, I keep forgetting, was it now 50 Baht or 150 Baht (Some small voice in my head tells me 50 Baht was for motorcycle and 150 Baht for car license) anyway who cares (1.6 US$ or 4.70 US$).

We had a Yamaha Fino, and cannot tell how many times we have loaded it into the back of our pickup.

You can get one here but it won't be new.

I have a Honda Zoomer (japanesse name for the Ruckus), you can ride one in Bangkok without a licence or plates. But you have to stay off the main streets, on sois they are great. (ok on occaision I do go on a street but it is indeed not legal) Just like any "pop" 50cc scoot in Thailand people buy old ones from Japan and a used Zoomer generally goes around 30-35,000 baht. I really don't like getting on the back of a motorcycle taxi or taking a taxi to the supermarket. I was lucky, I bought mine for 21000. You can find used scoots on www.pantipmarket.com and www.mocyc.com you can use www.thai2english.com to translate what you are looking at. If you want a legal bike you need to buy a bike with a paper or invoice (and a green book). I have two pop scoots and love them both, I had three for a while.

If you buy a 50cc pop scooter chances are you will not get a reciept and that is because it was likely brought here in some sort of improper way or something. Plus, you really don't need one.

I use mine to ride to the supermarket and to work which is close by (or used to be now I have a new job). It holds 5-6 bags of grocries and cost barely anything to run, there are places to get parts but that could be a bit of an issue if it was something major.

They are very cool scoots but they don't go very fast 45MPH is like its top speed on 06 and up before that they only went 35-40 tops. They come with a water cooled four stoke though which is pretty cool. I rented some bikes in Thailand and Laos that were not any faster to be honest.

As far as I can find out it wouldn't be possible to license it though. Or any 50cc scoot unless it is an old c-type with an invoice or maybe a vespa that was old too.

There is a good web site in the states called Total Ruckus dot com and there are tons of people who have modded them really cool. IMO they are great looking and very relieable scoots but in Bangkok they would be special purpose like mine is for me.

I have a thread on that site with my bikes

http://totalruckus.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14483

I have been considering using the frame and engine from a suzuki step or a Icon type bike to combine them and make it a legal bike but keep the look of what it is. In many ways they are the same bike so it should be easy.

I also like the idea of going three wheeler with it, by buying a cheap chinesse ATV and swapping the rear end and engine in. The first option would make it plateable but the second might be cool if you are a little outside of town or somewhere else where you won't have to have a license on it.

I am thinking of moving to Nothaburi and it would be out in the sticks a bit. That might be an okay place for riding one, I know up north they drive whatever, I have seen them taking group road trips on some websites here in thailand (up around ChainMai). There are also a couple of sites about minibikes.

www.minibike-club-thailand.com and another that i can't find the link too, sorry.

[jaideeguy]

Great to hear that they are starting to bring them into LOS, altho a little pricey [compared to fino and other small scooters], they do have their charm with the 'basic' look and possibilities to customize/modify and much better engineering as they are made for the western/japan market and require safer and stronger frames/ wheels etc.

I do like the fat tires on the rukus and the extra storage space under the seat

A close look at my wife's fino shows that it is

a throw away bike, skinny tires, bad balance.....like most of the other 'made in Thai' market bikes.

I think that we will be seeing more of Rukus and maybe the price will come down. Japan is a throw away society and they will throw them our way.