just bought a ruckus, tuned carb, need power!!!

[stormsurfin]

hi everybody! I've wanted a ruckus for a long time and finally have one. ;D the thing is, i moved to hawaii and its my only transportation. the roads aren't flat and i hate going 28 miles an hour up hills. I do 40 downhill which is all nice and good, but I need more power.

i've read a lot about variators, jetting and such. from what i gather the ruckus is built pretty good and properly tuned is the best way to improve power.

i have a leo vince exhaust.

would a jet kit and filter or honda elite 150 carb be a good step to take?

cdi? it changes timing and rev limiter, right?

[AweShucks]

variator try a KN or Daytona because they are geared lower.

A CDI will not help you. Same for a big carb on a stock motor.

You want more power? overhaul the engine and do a bigbore and cam, port the head. Other than that 28mph isn't too bad and typical of a 50cc Ruck.

Just about anything you do wont gain you much more than 2mph and most of that will come from the variator unless you bigbore.

[stormsurfin]

doesn't changing out the variator just change gearing? if i want faster acceleration i'll lose top speed and vice versa.....right?

[AweShucks]

No you will gain a couple MPH with an aftermarket variator. The stock one is just all around not that great.
I suggest the KN variator as it uses the 16x13 rollers which match the stock size and are the most common. I top out around 48 downhill and 42 on the flat and I weight about 210.

A pulley spring may also help.

[49rrinducedc0ma]

1.if you have already added an exhaust then your carb needs to be jetted.somewhere between 78 to 82 main jet w/stock slow jet.You can drop an 80 in with almost no tuning....
2.a cdi will advance your timing and remove the rev limit,some just make the rev limit higher than stock.-most cdi's have matching ignition coil and wire with a higher voltage/spark
*My 07ruck*Posh racing cdi w/ coil &wire,NGK iridium X plug
Yoshi exhaust w/ 82 main jet /35 stock slow jet-tuned
K&N drop in replacement air filter
polini variator w/ stage 6 6gram rollers w/ kevlar belt
blue clutch springs and yellow (big spring)
i run 45mph easy on flat. around 35 uphill.and i always max out 48-50 downhill,But my weight is only 155 pounds
read this web page....
battlescooter.com/22.html

[afalleking101]

CDi, variator, Exhaust and Dr.Pulley clutch setup and youll be flying

[stormsurfin]

any recommendations on where to get the KN or Daytona Variator? The KN is out of stock in the battlescooter store. Would new roller weights, even if they're the same weight, make a difference? I have 9600 miles on my Ruckus so I'm going to replace the belt at the same time I do the variator.

Every once in awhile I get some sputtering when the engine is under a load so I think rejetting would help (because of the exhaust I believe).

I've tried to understand how the pulley spring works and can't figure it out.

The clutch spring I don't think will change anything.

[AweShucks]

www.bowlsla.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=41&idproduct=3435


With 9600 miles you should do an all around tune up. Plug, air and fuel filter, belt , rollers, and new variator.

The pulley spring is intended to keep you in higher rpms hence more power/torque. A CDI is possibly needed with this mod.

Clutch springs raise your launch rpm nothing more.

[stormsurfin]

From Battlescooterstore
Fuel Filter, 90 707C 2.95 USD 2.95 USD
High Performance Air Filter, CHF50 5043CHF 5.50 USD 5.50 USD
From Bowls
KN Kikaku Variator Ruckus (knvariator)$65.00 $65.00
Posh Kevlar Belt Honda Ruckus (poshbelt) $45.00 $45.00
Stage6 Roller Weights Honda Ruckus (6.0g) (stage6rollers60) 2@$8.00 $16.00

here's what I'm going to start with. its a shame i have to go to bowls and battlescooter to buy what I need. I think I may be able to buy the fuel filter and air filter locally (it might cost stupid money).

Will the different brand variator, weights, and belt be a problem? I basically picked whats in stock.

[stormsurfin]

wound up getting the fuel filter and air filter locally. same price as online, no shipping.

tried to install variator today....the 17mm nut was put on with an impact wrench. fckers!

going to nearest place with air tools and ask for quick hand. i think i'm going to the the 10500 rpm rev limit posh cdi as well.

[AweShucks]

You can make your own variator tool do a search here to see what they look like. That will hold the variator so you can get the nut off.

I'd suggest you wait on the CDI to see if you actually need it. If you don't hit the rev limit on flats and slight downhills it won't help you. A CDI is not going to give you more power just more revs so unless you need the revs it's a waste of money.

[stormsurfin]

i hit the rev limiter all the time. if i can get a cheap (free + shipping) tach from my brother i'm going to get a 2nd hand posh cdi w/o rev limiter since they're sub $100 from 2 people on another forum.

i made a tool, bent the hell out of the bolts i used and started to round off the nut.

[stormsurfin]

posted on craigslist my need to an impact wrench, got my variator off with the help of a stranger's tool and changed out.

just as mentioned i don't need a cdi. the info i've gotten from aweshucks was a big help. I'm now doin 45 on straights and not hitting the rev limiter. i think i either need better aerodynamics or more power now.

i also sanded the drive face a bit btw. it was pretty worn already so i just took a tiny bit off and smoothed the groove near the edge of it

fyi for those who may look at this for reference my ruck has 9900 miles on it, has a recently rebuilt motor, leo vince exhaust, stock carb, kn variator, 6g weights, posh kevlar pulley, I weigh 150 and travel up and down lots of hills. I hit 45 on flats, slow a couple mph on small hills. I haven't tried any huge hills yet. I'll do that soon enough