My New Chinese Big Ruckus clone thread...

I still can't understand how companies can make such a blatant copy without being shut down.

First ride into work at 4am. Might just keep the goofy headlight . It's pretty bright. Need to make a rack for the back for sure.

i asked the same question when the Reflex clones popped up and nobody could really answer it.

on another note, this BR clone is ~1500 and the real one was north of 5 grand. honda's profit sure as hell wasn't 3500 on the BR and the difference can't be just because the clone has a smaller engine.

i hope the OP comes back with a lot of pix and even more real world experience - because, dammit, i always like the BR but couldn't find one when i wanted it. in fact, my metro area is over 300,000 and i've never even seen one in the wild.

I posted several pics of it on the first page. Should I put them in the first post?

well, crap, DZ, when i got a notice of new posts it immediately took me to the second page and i didn't look back at the first. thanks for the heads-up.

Theres a huge difference in quality for one ,durability is also a big issue. These knockoffs are cheap because everything on them is cheaply made. Thats not saying their not a bargain for the money. Ridden at moderate speeds with good eyes and ears for telltale problems and being handy with a wrench can make one of these a money saver.Just don;t expect to hit the open road and take off for A few hundred miles like you could on a water cooled BR. The little aircooled 150s don't like being stressed.

The biggest pain I have had on the 150cc Chinese scooter is the exhaust studs, nuts and gasket. I would upgrade those immediately with the copper gasket before stuff starts falling off. I am at nearly 5,000 miles now of in town driving and the scooter is doing good. Just do the rounds of keeping things tight and change oil every 1,000 miles and it should be fine.
Zip tie the fuel line connections too, there is usually nothing holding it on.

SSR is one of the better brands. They have made killer pit bikes for a while now and know what they are doing.

Looks like the hoses have clamps pretty much everywhere. I don't know about the 200 miles in one day.. I did put 190 on it though in the 100 deg heat.

Seems like it handles it just fine?

The fit and finish is quite a bit better than the typical China scoot. But yes it is still Not a Honda..

I agree ^.

If you look long enough, and know where to look ,deals are to be found...

I found an original owner BR in EC with 6k miles for $2250 two weeks ago in KY. I almost bought it to flip, but just got back from a long road trip and didn't feel like going out again.

searchtempest.com

jaxed.com

scooterfinds.com

^ 5 minutes on each site every morning, and you can find whatever you are looking for in 1-2 weeks.

WTF is that? I ain't never seen one of those before! I was thinking of another model when I said it'd be slow and hardly do 50 MPH even though it has 150 cc. I was thinking of an $800 model, it looked nothing like yours and looked almost exactly like a little Ruckus but with 150 cc.

Man is that cool! Looks just like a mini Big Ruck! Sweet!

If I were you though I'd dump that China oil out and no more top speed runs.

The China oil is sometimes although now always cheap crappy oil. And usually for the first 600 miles your not supposed to floor it. But its no big deal just don't do it regularly until you get past break in. Oh and variate your RPMs the best you can.

But VERY cool scoot! 59 MPH GPS is great. I just looked and seen this model on power sports max. Does yours also have a tach?

Are you sure its only 2 MPH off of GPS? Thats wild, most china scoots are way off.

Big difference between the chinese model and the original Big Ruckus is very apparant. The Chinese clone lacks water cooling, lacks the Dual headlight setup, needs high octane gas, lighter weight, and probably lacks the linked braking system for the front and rear brakes, along with different size tires and rims than the original Honda Big Ruckus.

59MPH is impressive, but mine tops out at between 75-85 MPH depending on the grade and road conditions, cruises along at 65MPH without breaking a sweat. That's the difference between riding the original and a clone.

Now after your flogging for the clone, I have to say I am impressed, which is not very easy to do as I've been there and done that. Cool color, and with the exception of the color, looks exactly like a 2007 Big Ruckus, mainly due to the headlight.

Personally I would dump the single 55W/65W for a Dual 6" 55W/65W, they are bright enough to go deer jacking with, plus makes it look more like the OEM than a clone.

Also keep track of your MPG, the BR gets between 60-75MPG with the watercooled 250cc engine, wonder what
that lightweight 150cc air cooled gets?

And for storage, the Honda OEM water resistant storage container for the cargo rack is a Rubbermaid Action Packer, available from Walmart, and tied down with bungee cords or a bungee net.

I'm still not sold on the dual headlight setup. I like the single headlight because it does a Dang good job on the bike.

I looked at the Honda big Ruckus before buying this but I would have had to get rid of my 08 bonnie t100 to get one of those with super low miles. My main goal is to use this on my 7 mile commute back and forth to the shop. I could have easily bought a 49cc scoot in a bigger frame for a little less to do the same ride but felt I needed a little more power.

So far it has been great. If I feel I need more power I will let the scooter shop pit a 200cc bbk in it but I am pretty happy with it right now.

Thanks for the tip on the rubbermade storage box. I will pick it up.

Don't know how well the 200 BBK will work for you, I know I did a 82cc BBK on a 50cc air cooled, worked fine but not much difference over the 50cc performance wise other than the extra power for hill climbing, which gained me about 3MPH over the 50cc, but top speed still is the same.

One thought would be a way to cool the engine down more, reason I say this is I just did a Saddle Sore 1000 ride (1093 miles in 22.5 hours) on my BR last week Tuesday, and it was 80+ degrees during the day, and running mostly WOT through the mountains, the concern I had was running the engine for long stretches at top RPMs, and engine failure due to lack of being able to keep cool. But that wasn't the case with the water cooling, the indicator never came on for the "hot" engine temperature. I know if I was running an air-cooled, I would have had problems later into my long distance ride.

Don't forget along with the Rubbermaid, stop by a bike shop and get one of those bungee cargo nets. I used bungee cords for about 6 months, and as soon as I bought the net (buy the largest available), I ended up tossing the bungees in a bag behind the seat of my truck. I did keep one bungee for the front, I choked it on the top of the frame over the front cargo rack above the headlight and hooked the ends on the pins on the bottom of the front cargo rack, then use a cheap colapsable lunch cooler for a front bag.

here's a pic of my BR loaded with the front bag and cargo box held down with a net from last week tuesday's ride....


And how I load up typically for most rides where I need to switch out gear, I use the box and net, carrying a full face modular and gear in the box and jacket outside the box under the net.....


and the back with the saddle bags and the box (didn't tie the box down with bungee cords yet) but the saddle bags work, tie the loop straps to the cargo rack handles.....



The front bag....


I don't use the saddle bags as much as I used to, mainly due to storage restrictions, and only use the box when I really need it, but I do use the net and the front bag every trip.

hope this helps with the cargo situation.

The charging system on the clone won't handle the dual headlight set up thats on the BR.If you do any long inclines on your commute you should stock up on the drive belts as heat kills them and they are pretty wimpy compared to the BR. Otherwise ,for the money and what you're using it for, its a good deal.

No big hills and I have a appointment at 2500 miles at the dealer to have him check the belt so we can get a idea on service life so we should be set on that.


Thanks for cargo pics SM!

I still find it incredible that you can buy three of these things and still have money left over for what you'd pay for a BR. I think I'd druther have a two-fiddy instead (and the performance of the BR?) but it's still a helluva deal in my book.

When I first saw the BR in the showroom I thought to myself what one of the plastics makers ought to make are splash/wind shields out of the same kind of plastic that dirt bike fenders are made of. One of my gripes with scooters is the fragile plastic bodywork and this is the reason the Ruckus' tickled my fancy. Sadly the BR didn't sell in enough numbers to justify making the molds to do it. Maybe the Chinese will read this and someone will try it...

Well of course the BR is gonna have better performance! Its ridiculously overpriced! And its a Honda Scooter, not a little known chinese scooter. For what you pay for a Big Ruckus, I could by myself a nice beautiful used Harley Davidson Sportster, much more bike for the price.

Hell, for the dealer prices of a BR I could by a Sportster AND a Elite 250. Best of both worlds.

The Big Ruckus is without a doubt a AWESOME scooter. I would absolutely love to have one myself. But for those who simply can't find or afford one like me [I'm sure I'm not alone on that one] the Chinese scoot is a reasonable alternative for short distance riding.

The Honda is a well designed 249 cc water cooled engine. The Chinese is a little 150 cc GY6 air cooled engine.

But hey air cooling isn't that bad! I've never had a problem with an air cooled Harley overheating. They've been air cooled for 108+ years. Yes water cooling is better, but in my experience on old bikes it becomes a semi hassle in some cases. Air cooling is no maintenance and simple.

Water cooling does typically provide better performance though. My Water cooled 86 Elite 150 will do 65-70 MPH by GPS so I wouldn't say 59 MPH is impressive for 150 cc, its just decent.

I am satisfied with the performance of This bike for sure.
I took all the side panels off last night to just know how to do it. I will get some pics right away.

I plan to go over the harness to put dielectric grease here and there. I am pretty impressed with the underpinnings of the bike as well nice clamps everywhere unlike most China stuff. I will get some pics.

Needs a tad louder pipe on it though :)

Put me down as someone who only wishes he could afford a BR. I sat on one when they were still in production, then hopped off when I saw the price... and sulked back to my truck and left. I think they were like $5500 MSRP then... insane!!! Even the Helixes they had (this was in 2006 or so) were WAY over my price range.

Interesting.
I put the GY6 in my little Ruckus and it does just around 60mph. I imagine the BR does a lot better. I think for the money I still would rather put the motor in a small Ruckus. If it were a 250 knock off I would be melting my CC right now on one.




I like the smallness. It's just big enough to haul me and the dog around.