Much has happened....

Somehow I got busy with preparing to go to school in the fall and other mundane stuff and posting on this blog just fell by the wayside. Shame, because I DID have quite a bit of fun on my Ruckus this summer!

It traveled around the county and took me to a few local festivals, up to the grocery store several times, up and down the road visiting neighbors, and just exploring some back roads that I had not been on as yet in my county. I have a map on the wall and am highlighting the roads traveled on the scoot and got a few more covered.

I did not log on the mileage that I had anticipated I would, but I did learn a few things from the experience of riding my Ruckus. One thing I learned is that no matter now much I think I want a bigger engined scoot, I always come back to my little Ruckus and feel that it is "just right" for me as my primary scooter. Really, going faster than 45mph at this point does not interest me all that much.

I have gotten used to mapping out back roads for travel and do not want to be around cars going fast! I just enjoy the peaceful experience of riding out into the countryside on the scantily traveled roads.

Not to say that I would not mind upgrading my Ruckus' engine to 125 or 150cc. I would if I could justify the cost. But really, 10 more miles per hour? It just makes no sense to me. A lot of people are doing just that, but they are doing their own wrenching for the most part and are also doing a lot of "mods" on their Rucks. I guess if I had that talent I might consider doing so. There are times when I would like to get to a destination a tad bit faster, that's for sure. But I sacrifice speed for the joy of riding this little scoot. It is just a joy to ride!

Here it is Thanksgiving weekend and I was lucky enough to get a few rides in this past week or so. We had temps in the 60s, but now it has gotten colder and scooting is not so much fun in the chill of 30s and 40s. Unlike past seasons, however, I plan to get her out as much as I can during the winter, even if it's for a few minutes.

Over the weekend I have ordered some new decals, an underseat bag, a cargo net, 2 30oz fuel bottles (MSR from Campmor), and some foot pegs. The bag is a close-out item from Battlescooter that I've wanted for a while and evidently they are discontinuing it. It will greatly expand my underseat storage area.

The cargo net is from an Ebay motorcycle merchant and I plan to use it to pack on a sleeping bag and tent next season. It is red, 16x16 inches with hooks for securing.

The fuel bottles will expand my range for travel. I will likely order another 1 or 2 of them to give me close to a full tank of gas at 100mpg. Right now the 1.3 gal Ruckus tank gives me 133 miles. More is necessary for longer trips, which I aspire to next spring. This is really where all of this planning is going...longer rides, maybe some day trips, maybe some over-nighters!

The foot pegs are from a 2010 Harley and I am hoping to improvise and fit under the seat frame. I have an idea that they might fit behind the footboard area.

Today I improvied a front foot peg set-up and will finalize it's fit and then post a few pics on here showing the set up. These will be portable and will offer a relaxed "cruising" position while riding. It is going to be awesome! I am so excited about riding like this and for the fact that I created this model myself!

I also re-situated my rear basket set-up today and can't get away from seeing it as the best option for hauling stuff on the back of the Ruckus. I just don't like cargo topcases with their buzzing, vibration, and limited capacity.

This basket also can carry my bottle cages for the fuel bottles, another 2 soft cases for groceries, bungees, etc., flies a red flag for visibility, and sports a hi-viz yellow reflective bicycle triangle to warn motorists of a slow-moving vehicle (me!). I want to be as visible and safe as possible, even if it borders on "geeky"!

I also added red reflective tape to my scooter's frame for hi-viz in car lights. This does not show on the scooter until light is shone on it and then it forms an outline which is truly hi-viz. I have learned a lot from observing the tricks that local Amish travelers are using on their buggies to make themselves visible at night.

Not your highway hog....

I felt it was time for the little scooters (49cc) to be highlighted, so I started this blog to share my fun adventures of owning and riding a 49cc Honda Ruckus. I think that riding and owning a 49cc IS a different scooter culture all together from the mid (80,125,150cc) or maxi (250cc+) scooters. Why? We do go slower than our bigger sibs, but we also ride differently in a lot of other ways as well.

We pick different types of routes, ride for different purposes to some degree, have to adher to different safety precautions, and have different kinds of adventures due to our ability to go where some of the bigger scoots cannot go. This is in direct contrast to what one might think it would be! But it's true! Of course there are the exact same differences from the bigger scoot point of view.

I hope to someday own a bigger scoot myself due to some of the limitations of the smaller 49cc machine. However, I cannot emphasize enough the joys and thrills of riding a smaller scooter like my Ruckus. I guess I will have to accept the reality of 2 scooter ownership at some point. Oh well, someone's got to do it!

Anyway, I hope this blog captures some of the joys, the fun, and the thrills of 49cc scooter riding. Sometimes "less is more" and in the case of the 49cc scoots it often is! Safe rides...