Post by Dandy Dan on Mar 4, 2006 16:17:21 GMT -5
Your Honda Ruckus comes stock with Kenda K761 tires. The front tire is smaller than the rear with the sizes being:
Front: 120/90 -10
Rear: 130/90 -10
The '-10' at the end of that number means that the tires require 10 inch rims. The first number (ie. 120) is the width of the tire (in millimeters). Lastly, the middle number '90' is the percent of the width that they are tall. So for the 120/90-10 front tire it is 120mm wide and 90% of that tall which means it's 108mm tall. FYI, our rims are obviously 10" rims but they are also 3 inches wide.
As for your options for aftermarket tires, first you must choose the size you want. Normally you are going to want to use the same size as stock because that will handle the best. However some people like to go bigger, largely so their scooter looks tougher. You can definately fit a 130/90-10 tire on the front and you probably can fit a 140/90-10 on the rear but there aren't very many 140/90-10 tires made and since they are wider they may hit a wider aftermarket shock. If you are going to change the size of your tires consider the effects which are: changes in handling, changes in your wheels weight (which is important), a change in the front tire size will mess up your speedometer, and a change in the rear tire will mess up your gearing.
Next you must choose the style of tires you want. Do you want to offroad your scooter? Or look like you do? Or do you want to race it around town? Do you ride in the rain? etc. Consider that knobby tires will slow you down because the rolling resistance is higher and they handle worse too. You can expect to gain 1-2mph with well inflated slicker tires like the Michelin Boppers compared to the medium tread stock Kenda tires. Tires that are very sporty don't handle as well in the mud or rain though so be cautious of that too.
As for pricing infomation, scooter tires are generally 30-50$ US each (40-60$ Cdn) and they typically cost about 25$/set to have them installed provided you bring in the wheels off your bike (which requires removing the muffler ).
Once you generally know what kind of tires you want you can start looking around but be warned there aren't that many options available.
The following list of tires is all I could find that come in the sizes we need:
[glow=red,2,300]BRIDGESTONE[/glow]
ML50
TW38
[glow=red,2,300]CONTINENTAL[/glow]
ContiTwist
ContiTwist Sport (yeah I don't know what the difference is...)
ContiNavigator
Zippy2
[glow=red,2,300]Deestone[/glow]
D7020
D805
[glow=red,2,300]DURO/DUNLOP[/glow]
Duro HF910 aka Dunlop K960
HF903 - 130/90-10 only
[glow=red,2,300]Heidenau[/glow]
K59
K59 Snowtex
K61
[glow=red,2,300]INNOVA[/glow]
3115 - Matrix
3008
Both Innova tires are available in an assortment of colours including forest camo, desert camo, urban camo, blue, red, black and yellow
[glow=red,2,300]IRC[/glow]
MB99
[glow=red,2,300]KENDA[/glow]
K329 - 120/90 and 140/90 only
K761 (stock tire)
K413
[glow=red,2,300]Metzeler (by Pirelli)[/glow]
7teen
[glow=red,2,300]MICHELIN[/glow]
Bopper
Reggae
[glow=red,2,300]Mitas[/glow]
S07
S09
[glow=red,2,300]MRP[/glow]
6TT
[glow=red,2,300]PIRELLI[/glow]
SL26
SL60
[glow=red,2,300]SHINKO[/glow]
SR426
[glow=red,2,300]SWALLOW[/glow]
Power Track
The pictures above may or may not be the corrrect size of tire for the Ruckus. Several of the pictures show lower profile (lower sidewalls) than the size that fits our bike so the tires may not look as sporty on our scoots ie. the Bridgestone ML50.
If you have changed your rims to aftermarket ones then there are a few more things you need to consider. If you have purchased aftermarket 10" (stock size) rims then they likely are only 2.15 inches wide or maybe 2.5 inches wide instead of 3 inches wide like the stock rims. This is because the aftermarket rims were designed for Honda scooters that require smaller tires (ie. Dio) so the rims are narrower accordingly (hopefully aftermarket rims aimed at the Ruckus will be released soon). You CAN run the stock size tires on these rims but it isn't ideal for handling and you may even run the risk of your tire folding over under hard cornering but you'd likely need to be running very low pressure for that to happen. I do know people who are running 130/90-10 tires on the front and rear with aftermarket 2.15 inch rims and I haven't heard of any problems yet so it's unlikely something catastrophic will happen.
The other type of rims you may be running are the 4x12 inch rims from Battlescooterstore.com. These rims are bigger (and more expensive) and take completely different tires so your choices are much different. If you choose to run these rims you will need to run low profile (short sidewall) tires so the actual outer diameter is similar. You will need tires that are approximentally 110/70-12 but you can vary this somewhat to suit your gearing and handling needs.
Front: 120/90 -10
Rear: 130/90 -10
The '-10' at the end of that number means that the tires require 10 inch rims. The first number (ie. 120) is the width of the tire (in millimeters). Lastly, the middle number '90' is the percent of the width that they are tall. So for the 120/90-10 front tire it is 120mm wide and 90% of that tall which means it's 108mm tall. FYI, our rims are obviously 10" rims but they are also 3 inches wide.
As for your options for aftermarket tires, first you must choose the size you want. Normally you are going to want to use the same size as stock because that will handle the best. However some people like to go bigger, largely so their scooter looks tougher. You can definately fit a 130/90-10 tire on the front and you probably can fit a 140/90-10 on the rear but there aren't very many 140/90-10 tires made and since they are wider they may hit a wider aftermarket shock. If you are going to change the size of your tires consider the effects which are: changes in handling, changes in your wheels weight (which is important), a change in the front tire size will mess up your speedometer, and a change in the rear tire will mess up your gearing.
Next you must choose the style of tires you want. Do you want to offroad your scooter? Or look like you do? Or do you want to race it around town? Do you ride in the rain? etc. Consider that knobby tires will slow you down because the rolling resistance is higher and they handle worse too. You can expect to gain 1-2mph with well inflated slicker tires like the Michelin Boppers compared to the medium tread stock Kenda tires. Tires that are very sporty don't handle as well in the mud or rain though so be cautious of that too.
As for pricing infomation, scooter tires are generally 30-50$ US each (40-60$ Cdn) and they typically cost about 25$/set to have them installed provided you bring in the wheels off your bike (which requires removing the muffler ).
Once you generally know what kind of tires you want you can start looking around but be warned there aren't that many options available.
The following list of tires is all I could find that come in the sizes we need:
[glow=red,2,300]BRIDGESTONE[/glow]
ML50
TW38
[glow=red,2,300]CONTINENTAL[/glow]
ContiTwist
ContiTwist Sport (yeah I don't know what the difference is...)
ContiNavigator
Zippy2
[glow=red,2,300]Deestone[/glow]
D7020
D805
[glow=red,2,300]DURO/DUNLOP[/glow]
Duro HF910 aka Dunlop K960
HF903 - 130/90-10 only
[glow=red,2,300]Heidenau[/glow]
K59
K59 Snowtex
K61
[glow=red,2,300]INNOVA[/glow]
3115 - Matrix
3008
Both Innova tires are available in an assortment of colours including forest camo, desert camo, urban camo, blue, red, black and yellow
[glow=red,2,300]IRC[/glow]
MB99
[glow=red,2,300]KENDA[/glow]
K329 - 120/90 and 140/90 only
K761 (stock tire)
K413
[glow=red,2,300]Metzeler (by Pirelli)[/glow]
7teen
[glow=red,2,300]MICHELIN[/glow]
Bopper
Reggae
[glow=red,2,300]Mitas[/glow]
S07
S09
[glow=red,2,300]MRP[/glow]
6TT
[glow=red,2,300]PIRELLI[/glow]
SL26
SL60
[glow=red,2,300]SHINKO[/glow]
SR426
[glow=red,2,300]SWALLOW[/glow]
Power Track
The pictures above may or may not be the corrrect size of tire for the Ruckus. Several of the pictures show lower profile (lower sidewalls) than the size that fits our bike so the tires may not look as sporty on our scoots ie. the Bridgestone ML50.
If you have changed your rims to aftermarket ones then there are a few more things you need to consider. If you have purchased aftermarket 10" (stock size) rims then they likely are only 2.15 inches wide or maybe 2.5 inches wide instead of 3 inches wide like the stock rims. This is because the aftermarket rims were designed for Honda scooters that require smaller tires (ie. Dio) so the rims are narrower accordingly (hopefully aftermarket rims aimed at the Ruckus will be released soon). You CAN run the stock size tires on these rims but it isn't ideal for handling and you may even run the risk of your tire folding over under hard cornering but you'd likely need to be running very low pressure for that to happen. I do know people who are running 130/90-10 tires on the front and rear with aftermarket 2.15 inch rims and I haven't heard of any problems yet so it's unlikely something catastrophic will happen.
The other type of rims you may be running are the 4x12 inch rims from Battlescooterstore.com. These rims are bigger (and more expensive) and take completely different tires so your choices are much different. If you choose to run these rims you will need to run low profile (short sidewall) tires so the actual outer diameter is similar. You will need tires that are approximentally 110/70-12 but you can vary this somewhat to suit your gearing and handling needs.
