Post by kenneth on Jan 23, 2021 7:16:57 GMT -5
Hi there!
In 2008 I went to Japan with my girlfriend for holidays and I saw a weird Honda bike I really liked. It look completely custom built: just a frame, a seat and a tiny motor, and I took some pictures of it. Back at home I tried to find what bike was that. It seemed it was a Ruckus but in my place it was called Zoomer. I don't remember if there was a 80 or 125 cc Ruckus in other countries but in Spain it was only 50 cc and the bike was not sold anymore. Wasn't really going to buy one because I was broke back then, but you know I was curious. Years went by and from time to time I was thinking about the bike. Once I saw a red one in my town and I was amazed so for a while I was investigating again only to find out that the used ones were extremely rare and expensive. Since then I am lucky to have been a few more times in Japan and I have always seen a Ruckus parked in front of a family mart or iconic shops like that. Even in the US I saw an extremely modified one and then I saw it was quite popular there. Always took pictures of them and though at some point I'm gonna have one.
Few years back some new apps became popular to buy used stuff so it was easy to look for things you liked. Every few months I was searching for Ruckus / Zoomers in the whole country, also in France because I live near the border. There was always 3 or 4 available, but expensive and far. I have to say I was never actively looking for one, so it was like when you get into a shop and you have nothing to buy but you just like to see what's available. At some point I remember telling my then girlfriend and now wife that if I ever saw the red one in my town again I would stop the guy and make an offer right there, but I have never seen the bike again.
Earlier this week I was thinking about it and opened up Wallapop (the name of the app to sell used stuff here, like a spanish craigslist) and searched Zoomer. There was 5 available and a black one was available 5 minutes from my place. It was expensive but it had 4.290 km, full stock and looked brand new. I talked to the owner that it happened to be a woman my age. She told me the bike belonged to her father, who passed away 3 months ago. The bike was a present of his wife for his birthday in 2007. She wanted to give him a scooter and went to the Honda dealer. She didn't like any of the bikes they had on stock but she saw in a catalog the Zoomer. Dealer said the bike was really strange and not popular because besides it was weird looking it was very expensive, and they didn't have one but they could ask Honda in Spain. They had one for sale and she ordered it. Apparently the bike was imported in 2004 but wasn't registered until 2007, not sure why but that's what the paperwork says. The happy owner loved the bike and kept it in the summer house only to use it to shop around in town in July / August. The rest of the year the bike was stored. Next summer the bike would start right up which I am not sure if it is total BS. Anyways... Unfortunately the man died and no one in the family wanted to keep the bike and decided to sell it. When I heard the story I just said this is it, I am getting the bike. We met yesterday and I took the bike home :-)
Last service was in August 2020 and they told me when they took the bike to the Honda dealer all the people came to see the bike because most of the people working there had never seen one.
Also they told me at some point some years back the dealer told them they only sold 2 of these bikes and the other one was yellow.
The first thing I noticed yesterday is that it is extremely slow ;-) Top speed around 40 kph, 45 downhill. It is fine, I don't need to go any faster because I am going to use it in my town just for fun. The other thing is the rear shock that is bottoming (I am 100 kg), so thanks to this forum I have ordered a Honda NH 80 rear shock from Ebay. It is an original unit of 1989 brand new and coming from Belgium part number 52400-GC8-612. To be honest I don't know if it is normal to find a brand new 32 years old shock, I paid 100 EUR including transport. I am a lot into JDM cars so used to prices of car suspension components at least 10x higher, therefore 100 euros is like a joke even if they ripped me off.
Well that is the story! Now I am going to dive into the forum to learn more about the bike because the only thing I knew until yesterday was that I liked how it looked and nothing else. I had a scooter when I was 16 (over 20 years ago) that I sold as soon as I bought my first car and that is my only experience on two wheels ;-)
Cheers!
In 2008 I went to Japan with my girlfriend for holidays and I saw a weird Honda bike I really liked. It look completely custom built: just a frame, a seat and a tiny motor, and I took some pictures of it. Back at home I tried to find what bike was that. It seemed it was a Ruckus but in my place it was called Zoomer. I don't remember if there was a 80 or 125 cc Ruckus in other countries but in Spain it was only 50 cc and the bike was not sold anymore. Wasn't really going to buy one because I was broke back then, but you know I was curious. Years went by and from time to time I was thinking about the bike. Once I saw a red one in my town and I was amazed so for a while I was investigating again only to find out that the used ones were extremely rare and expensive. Since then I am lucky to have been a few more times in Japan and I have always seen a Ruckus parked in front of a family mart or iconic shops like that. Even in the US I saw an extremely modified one and then I saw it was quite popular there. Always took pictures of them and though at some point I'm gonna have one.
Few years back some new apps became popular to buy used stuff so it was easy to look for things you liked. Every few months I was searching for Ruckus / Zoomers in the whole country, also in France because I live near the border. There was always 3 or 4 available, but expensive and far. I have to say I was never actively looking for one, so it was like when you get into a shop and you have nothing to buy but you just like to see what's available. At some point I remember telling my then girlfriend and now wife that if I ever saw the red one in my town again I would stop the guy and make an offer right there, but I have never seen the bike again.
Earlier this week I was thinking about it and opened up Wallapop (the name of the app to sell used stuff here, like a spanish craigslist) and searched Zoomer. There was 5 available and a black one was available 5 minutes from my place. It was expensive but it had 4.290 km, full stock and looked brand new. I talked to the owner that it happened to be a woman my age. She told me the bike belonged to her father, who passed away 3 months ago. The bike was a present of his wife for his birthday in 2007. She wanted to give him a scooter and went to the Honda dealer. She didn't like any of the bikes they had on stock but she saw in a catalog the Zoomer. Dealer said the bike was really strange and not popular because besides it was weird looking it was very expensive, and they didn't have one but they could ask Honda in Spain. They had one for sale and she ordered it. Apparently the bike was imported in 2004 but wasn't registered until 2007, not sure why but that's what the paperwork says. The happy owner loved the bike and kept it in the summer house only to use it to shop around in town in July / August. The rest of the year the bike was stored. Next summer the bike would start right up which I am not sure if it is total BS. Anyways... Unfortunately the man died and no one in the family wanted to keep the bike and decided to sell it. When I heard the story I just said this is it, I am getting the bike. We met yesterday and I took the bike home :-)
Last service was in August 2020 and they told me when they took the bike to the Honda dealer all the people came to see the bike because most of the people working there had never seen one.
Also they told me at some point some years back the dealer told them they only sold 2 of these bikes and the other one was yellow.
The first thing I noticed yesterday is that it is extremely slow ;-) Top speed around 40 kph, 45 downhill. It is fine, I don't need to go any faster because I am going to use it in my town just for fun. The other thing is the rear shock that is bottoming (I am 100 kg), so thanks to this forum I have ordered a Honda NH 80 rear shock from Ebay. It is an original unit of 1989 brand new and coming from Belgium part number 52400-GC8-612. To be honest I don't know if it is normal to find a brand new 32 years old shock, I paid 100 EUR including transport. I am a lot into JDM cars so used to prices of car suspension components at least 10x higher, therefore 100 euros is like a joke even if they ripped me off.
Well that is the story! Now I am going to dive into the forum to learn more about the bike because the only thing I knew until yesterday was that I liked how it looked and nothing else. I had a scooter when I was 16 (over 20 years ago) that I sold as soon as I bought my first car and that is my only experience on two wheels ;-)
Cheers!
