Honda Ruckus or Honda Monkey ???

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318willrun

318willrun

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Anyone with experience with these?? Do they do good trailing or back roads? Dirt trail? Gravel road? Pavement?
I do know they are expensive little boogers, new and used! :eek:
Is there a better choice out there of the same type of machine? ?? ?
 
Unconventional said:
The Monkey looks like a Hot Rod Mini Trail like I had in the late 60s.
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It's a 125cc, and has more speed/power than the ruckus. Ruckus is lighter, smaller which has it's advantages but it's just a 50cc (but runs out decent for the cc's it has). I've not rode either of them, but looked at them and watched videos of them
 
I see quite a few Groms round here. The riders ride them like they have no motorcycle driver's license, like engine equipped entitled bicyclists. :realcrazy:
 
the ruckus is slow. like S.L.O.W. slow. and the brakes are hot garbage. however, everything under the sun exists for upgrades, if you're into that sort of thing. myself, i'd skip all that and go straight to a zuma 50 2T swap and call it done-- with a better front fork.

speaking of zumas... for what it sounds like you want to do, the zuma 50 2T would be perfect. great bike in stock form, even better with a kit and a pipe. equally at home on the pavement and fire roads. good chassis, great brakes. tons of aftermarket support. cheap used.

if you want something that is super capable, the honda ADV 150 is a great choice and if you like shifting the grom as well. both a spendy, but really great bikes. same goes for the zuma 125, albeit you don't pay the used honda tax.

don't discount the piaggio typhoon. a great bike, but again can be a little spendy. plastics can be a little problematic, but all the hard parts cross over to vespa. used they can be a real bargain.

avoid anything aprilia no matter how cheap.
 
junkyardhero said:
the ruckus is slow. like S.L.O.W. slow. and the brakes are hot garbage. however, everything under the sun exists for upgrades, if you're into that sort of thing. myself, i'd skip all that and go straight to a zuma 50 2T swap and call it done-- with a better front fork.

speaking of zumas... for what it sounds like you want to do, the zuma 50 2T would be perfect. great bike in stock form, even better with a kit and a pipe. equally at home on the pavement and fire roads. good chassis, great brakes. tons of aftermarket support. cheap used.

if you want something that is super capable, the honda ADV 150 is a great choice and if you like shifting the grom as well. both a spendy, but really great bikes. same goes for the zuma 125, albeit you don't pay the used honda tax.

don't discount the piaggio typhoon. a great bike, but again can be a little spendy. plastics can be a little problematic, but all the hard parts cross over to vespa. used they can be a real bargain.

avoid anything aprilia no matter how cheap.
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I have thrown some thought at the zuma 50. Zuma 125 looks decent as well. 3.7" of ground clearance is somewhat of concern. the ruckus has 5.7"
 
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I have been wanting a Monkey since they came out. They are right up my alley for being out in the country (trails and dirt roads) with a 15 minute ride to town (pop. 32,000) through 45 mph roads in corn field county. My Dad lives 1/8 mile from me and I could zip it down to his house. There's a little country market a mile away. There's a lot of times I would just love to skip riding in a car and get the breeze on the knees.
Around here the restrictions on those machines are 65 mph roadways and it's not like I would ever even take one there.
 
go-fish said:
I have been wanting a Monkey since they came out. They are right up my alley for being out in the country (trails and dirt roads) with a 15 minute ride to town (pop. 32,000) through 45 mph roads in corn field county. My Dad lives 1/8 mile from me and I could zip it down to his house. There's a little country market a mile away. There's a lot of times I would just love to skip riding in a car and get the breeze on the knees.
Around here the restrictions on those machines are 65 mph roadways and it's not like I would ever even take one there.
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Kinda the same purpose
 
My dad is 81 and owns a Monkey. I can remember he had a Sears mini bike when I was 4 years old. Later I had a Honda 50, and now years later the Monkey is in the stable. Dad is only 5' 2" so it fits him well. I am 5' 11" so it's a little small for me, but still fun to ride. Monkey all the way. There are packs of Grom's around me too and they all drive like idiots. Occasionally they crash out each other and you hear about it.

Tom
 
I've had a 2012 zuma 125 since 2014.
Rode the hell out of it to the tune of almost 5K miles.
Zero issues except the factory battery eventually went bad.
Super quick 0-40 and does 50-52 easy.
IDK how well it would do primarily off-road.
I do ride on gravel but not for very far at a time.
If I was gonna use it that way, I'd put knobbier tires on.
The seat height is a little high...and I'm tall.

I only stopped riding it because I bought a 1200 sportster.

They do make a 125 ruckus.
Much lower.
Might be a little better off-road.
Open storage only.
zuma has a lockable underseat that holds a helmet.
 
318willrun said:
I have thrown some thought at the zuma 50. Zuma 125 looks decent as well. 3.7" of ground clearance is somewhat of concern. the ruckus has 5.7"
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i don't know about that... but also, i don't have one sitting here to measure and confirm. i've absolutely thrashed zumas all over the city and on fire roads, trails and beaches and never blinked going off a curb or given a second thought to clearance issues.

having owned and ridden both (and worked on a crap ton of 'em), the ruck is absolutely a fine bike for flat city streets. i wouldn't try it on any kind of a trail or gravel road or anything that has a hint of incline unless you're thinking about riding at basically a brisk walking speed.

also, you sit up way higher on the zuma. ruckus saddle position is like riding a milk crate.
 
Neither is going to work on the trails I ride !

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If I thought I could get away with it round here
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I have a vintage Igloo ice chest, all aluminum and a Cadet sized kart chassis and a Briggs
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About 15 hp outa the box :steering:
 
I have been thinking of getting another duel sport.
I most likely will end up buying a CRF300 looks like the best bang for the buck in the small bike market.
 
sireland67 said:
I have been thinking of getting another duel sport.
I most likely will end up buying a CRF300 looks like the best bang for the buck in the small bike market.
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My thing is I want something that if needed, I can haul on a receiver rack/cargo carrier.
 
If you are wanting something dead nuts dependable for ripping around trails and gravel roads, you can't beat a Honda XR100. They are cheap, plentiful and with proper maintenance, they will last forever. The power won't pull a hat off your head but it will put a smile on your face! My wife and kids even took turns on ours.

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Zuma (and Ruckus) are more new school street scooters with limited off-road capabilities.

Monkey is more like an old school trail bike.

All are street legal.

I've lost count of how many beer runs and parts runs I've made on mine.

I keep it at the shop now, just in case.

I actually bought it specifically to go back and forth between my house and shop, which is .5 mile.

It's comfortable on 50 MPH roads but not 60, but I have rode on 60 MPH roads for short distances.

If you "tuck" you can get 60 on a good day.
 
not sure what kind of triails/gravel roads ya want to ride but i think they would both suck for that purpose. they are under powered. fun at first on the street then the bordom kicks in because htey aren't powerful enough.

are you looking at buying new? what are they? 2900-4300ish? i think i'd spend now and just buy a small dual sport . i think it would be a better all around bike for what you are doing...

jamie and i have kawisaki z125's. they were fun for what we wanted them for in the begining. boring now.. just not enough power. i can get them to 54mph but they just aren't cutting it any more.. we will probably sell them and buy a dual sport. it will do more things that we like and do them better.

my daughter has a klx140. fun little bike. not street legal though and while the suspension is fine for her at 100 pounds its not enough for my 190 lbs..
 
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abodyjoe said:
not sure what kind of triails/gravel roads ya want to ride but i think they would both suck for that purpose. they are under powered. fun at first on the street then the bordom kicks in because htey aren't powerful enough.

are you looking at buying new? what are they? 2900-4300ish? i think i'd spend now and just buy a small dual sport . i think it would be a better all around bike for what you are doing...

jamie and i have kawisaki z125's. they were fun for what we wanted them for in the begining. boring now.. just not enough power. i can get them to 54mph but they just aren't cutting it any more.. we will probably sell them and buy a dual sport. it will do more things that we like and do them better.

my daughter has a klx140. fun little bike. not street legal though and while the suspension is fine for her at 100 pounds its not enough for my 190 lbs..
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Yeah, street legal is a must. Really not planning on going "all day off-roading", but we have a place that's sort of isolated. Thought it might be handy to run up to the gas station and back, or a few other places. Maybe a little "horse'n around" on one, but a little more practical than pleasure... or maybe mixing practical with pleasure?? lol
 
I had a friend that had the Ruckus. It was a nice in town or light trail duty scooter. I rode it for about 7 miles on some local country roads with my wife on the back to The Iroquois Cafe for wings and spirits. It took forever to get there and seemed even slower on the way back. The Big Ruckus is much better for short trips and "grocery getting." The Ruckus was great to ride through the timber on our friends property or a short trip to the neighbors.
 
318willrun said:
Yeah, street legal is a must. Really not planning on going "all day off-roading", but we have a place that's sort of isolated. Thought it might be handy to run up to the gas station and back, or a few other places. Maybe a little "horse'n around" on one, but a little more practical than pleasure... or maybe mixing practical with pleasure?? lol
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cool.. i still think you will get bored very quickly with any of the two you asked about.
 
318willrun said:
Yeah, street legal is a must. Really not planning on going "all day off-roading", but we have a place that's sort of isolated. Thought it might be handy to run up to the gas station and back, or a few other places. Maybe a little "horse'n around" on one, but a little more practical than pleasure... or maybe mixing practical with pleasure?? lol
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That's another thing I can't count the times- gallon or 2 of gas.

Might as well take the ride that gets 78 MPG to fetch a gallon for the mower, or to pour down a carb.

I'm 6'3" and right at 200#. No issues with just me but I would NOT ride 2 up.
I'm all the way at the back of the seat and I don't think it would handle or accelerate well with another 100# on it.
...although the seat is long, and there's a behind the seat hand hold bar.

I believe honda has a relatively new 150cc scoot, possibly mentioned above.
I've seen a couple in the wild and they are intriguing.

We have grom crowds here, too.
I raced one in the wal-mart parking lot.
Smoked him 0-40 but he top ended me and kept going.

I can smoke a LOT of things 0-40 on the zuma.
Let me tell you, most harley guys are NOT happy about that.
 
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