What's the Big Ruckus?

Do you know what the Big Ruckus is about? Somehow I almost missed it. Thankfully, I discovered it in beautiful downtown Wetumpka, Alabama. And I have pictures.





This is a Honda "Big Ruckus". It is a scooter that was made in Japan 2005-2007 and sold in the USA as 06-07 models. Surprisingly, they are not selling them now. Timing is critical and if they were widely available while the gas prices were over $4 per gallon everywhere, the near 80 mpg probably would have made them attractive to folks that don't normally crave a motorcycle.





In the above picture you can see the "Road Kill" vanity tag. I am not sure of the owner's intentions, but I would guess that it has to do with the fact that the scooter is so utilitaritian and unrefined (no plastic panels anywhere) that its ugliness becomes its cuteness.



Notice that the cool, wide backrest actually folds down to become the passenger seat. The bike has a 250 cc engine which is plenty big. My first motorcycle was a 160 cc and my second was a 250 cc. I rode both many, many miles and had lots of fun on them. The 1100 cc (like I have now), 1300, 1600, 1800 and larger are just overkill to appeal to the vanity of would-be easy riders. This little scooter is obviously not about showing off engine size and chrome--or great style for that matter. The downside is that it is heavy for a scooter and the ride is not as smooth as a larger bike. The price is almost as much as a regular cruiser bike. In fact, you can get a nice, well-equipped dual purpose bike for about the same price. Since its main appeal would be simple economy, the price probably prevented it from becoming a best-seller. I hope they come back, however. There is a place in our traffic future for this cool little scooter.