Installed new Handlebars and MTB stem on my Ruckus

[zoomerman]

I installed my new handlebars and stem 2 days ago and couldn’t be more pleased with the new riding position and road feel. I recommend this mod to anyone that’s tall and long armed. My Ruckus feels more like a sport bike now. I bought Free Agent cruiser BMX bars with a 4” rise and a short mtb stem. The install went quite well, though it was tough disconnecting the speedo wires from behind the ECU so I could pull them up through the stock speedo mounting bracket. Then connecting them again was tricky.
Mounting the stem on the Ruckus steer-tube required a couple shims; one from the bike shop that makes the inside diameter one inch, then I cut a band of sheet metal to go inside that. Bike shops also carry the shims to make BMX bars work with mtb stems.

If you’re unhappy with the feel of the stock bar set-up then do this mod, I’m very glad I did. The bars cost $30 and the stem and shims cost $50

Note: I recommend getting a short reach stem, this way it won’t get in the way of your cables. (side to side turning)

;D Pic’s … community.webshots.com/album/196796699QBVBWw/2

[chanito]

Congrats. I really like the look of those bars, i was wandering what did you do with the turn signal indicator, and did you use tie wraps for hanging the speedo, wow!
All you need now is a good tach to keep that speedo company.

[zoomerman]

Thanks Chanito ! ;D

The turn signal indicator is now just hanging out in the battery box, putting on the occasional show for the electronic stuff. I doubt I'll ever make a spot for it; unless a police officer orders me to.

Yes the speedo is mounted with simple zip ties (cable ties) they provide a little give so the speedo isn't shaken too much. I considered making a bracket, but it's working out just fine the way it is. A tach would be nice, but they're much more fun if you change your own gears.


Zooomerman

[scrible88]

Wow! It looks absolutely amazing.. I hope this idea really starts catching on

[Dandy Dan]

Very sexy, I like it!

You should really try to mount some speakers on the brackets that used to hold the turnsignals. Then you could have the tunes pumping when you roll up. You'd have the ultimate babe magnet. If you got some of those waterproof 'outdoor' speakers and somehow rigged a stereo you'd be in business.

Does anyone know what the output from the ruckus's alternator (if thats what you call it on the ruckus) is? You probably couldn't power much of an amp....

[zoomerman]

Thanks Scribble88 and DandyDan ! ;D

Yeah those old turn signal brackets bother me too. Though I'm torn between hacking them clean off or using them to mount some sort of military style storage container or fairing. So I guess for now they'll stay.

The speaker idea would be neat but crime is quite high in my part of town, so it probably wouldn't stay mine for long. Unless the entire system was completely removable... hmmm ... ghetto blaster... that might make me too fly for a white guy.

[pain merchant]

I was pretty big into the underground/hip-hop scene and I found myself an old school ghettoblaster from the eighties that I used to walk to class with. Turns out, she fits real well on the little rack above the headlights...

[Ruckass]

I love big old school b%tch boxes. Have you got a pic of it!!

Ruckass

[tedsmini]

Good pix, good job, looks great ;D

[zoomerman]

Thanks Tedsmini ! ;D

I agree it looks better now, and the riding position feels great too.
I kind of hated the old bars with the welded-on stem, raked back position and straw-sized crossbar.

It feels more like my BMX bike now.

[nicad]

nice job. glad to see you got all that stem business figured out.

-Ian

[zoomerman]

Yeah, I'm very happy with it now.

Thanks for your pictures and info.

[pain merchant]

Gettin' real serious now about swappin' those bars. I really like the look of yours. What did you have to do to the stem? You said you had a shim in there. Do you by chance know the stem dimensions or what size my stem needs to be? I really like that basic bar you picked, all the bike shops around here all have flared bars and I don't think those will look right. I also know there are some mtb stems that have little springs in them to absorb some stress from road bumps and what not but I bet those are a bit pricey and I don't know if they make those in clamp-on. I'm still workin' on tryin' to get some speakers on this thing too. The ghettoblaster kinda gets in the way of the bars when you're turning so that's not a permanent fix. Def. the old spot for the turn signals are a perfect spot for some speaker mounts though. I thought of maybe enclosing my seat storage space, (which I don't want to do), and mounting a car audio cd player and small amp and really having a blasting system but I think I could get by with a much smaller set-up, who knows though...

[zoomerman]

Most mountain bike stems are the same dimensions, but to make mine fit on the Ruckus steer-tube it needed a shim from the bike shop to fit a bike with a one inch steer-tube, then I filled the rest of the space with a band of thin sheet metal.

The handlebars are made for a bmx, so there's no bulge, and since I'm using a MTB stem I needed a shim from the bike shop to make them fit.

There is some trial and error involved when doing this mod. Most important is making sure your throttle and brakes work normally after the install. They'll be different because you'll be cramping the cables.

Also I recommend finding a mtb stem with the shortest overall length so your cables can still go comfortably into the hole in the front box (battery box).

[newscoot]

I am very serious about replacing the bars. Especially after seeing yours. They look a lot better than stock. It will probly be the first mod to my scoot. You mentioned that the cables are different after you installed the bars. How are they different? Do they function the same way? Do the throttle and brakes still work as they did with stock bars? Also, what size/length is your new stem? (50mm I'm guessing)

Thanks for the pics!!!

[CTRukus]

Why can't I view the page? It says "Webshots page not found" I want to see them dammit!

[zoomerman]

I just moved to a new apartment and got a new internet provider so all my webspace photos got dumped, but that one was a simple link to my other site so I can't explain it. It is fixed now.

I see I've got lots of reading to catch up on.