New member, first mods

[Baizy]

Welcome to the forum! I have two suggestions for you right now before you start.

1. Slap all your exterior mods on first and see how that affects your top speed (assuming your a speed hunter)

2. Get a cheap 1 wire backlit LCD lawnmower tachometer as it's a MASSIVE tuning aid.

I highly suggest you do this before swapping intake/exhaust stuff so you have the new baseline set up for your Ruck.

[Baizy]

No problem at all. For the cost of them these days there really is no reason not to have one of them. Hope to hear back once you've dug into it!

[Baizy]

From my own personal experience and reading more forum posts than can be considered healthy I would 100% recommend a new belt and check your OEM (or whatever is in there) rollers for flat spots. Getting a GOOD baseline is really important. If you have the tools I'd recommend going as far as checking valve shims and compression before starting the more major mods. Why? Because an unhealthy engine with mods leads to disappointment... I've been a victim of it myself hahaha... Live and learn.

[Baizy]

To say something about living in a hilly area. It kinda sucks. My ride to work is downhill and the ride home is uphill. You have to go a little lighter on the weights to keep the revs up so you don't get run over on those 50KM/h (30-35MPH) hills. It's not super helpful for top speed but it gets you home safe. I'm running polini 5.6G rollers with an NCY golden pulley and Ruckus Gears, I like the setup. Would reccomend it to you with a similarly hilly region. The pulley is similar to stock but geared a smidge taller for a higher top speed with smooth gearing.

[Baizy]

Happy to help. Have fun out there making the Ruck work for you! I'm sure it'll be screaming down the streets in no time at all.

[Baizy]

drew I think you've got some great numbers there and your tach is performing correctly. I have to ask right away though: did you run out of space on the speed runs or did your engine run out of grunt? If the engine ran out of grunt I would see if there is anything you can do to make it hit 8800 rpm. Maybe go up or down a jet size and see if you can redline kinda thing. If you ran out of space try to find somewhere with the space so you aren't selling your Ruckus short. If you can't get any more grunt out of the engine try going down a minimal size on the weights to try and tap redline on a straight, make sure to sharpie some reference lines on the variator as they will make it easier to compare the different weights!

Dropping the weights is something to do when pursuing speed at the highest rpm possible. I wouldn't recommend swapping to Metro Gears until you're able to hit the limiter on the flats any day of the week, and you're completely satisfied with the pre-gear tune.

Pleased to hear that you're out there having fun. Happy Sunday!

[Baizy]

That's great stuff drew! Mid 40's just before redline is nothing to scoff at. I'm glad your tuning has gone so well and that the stock carbs still working out for you. Excited to hear what the Met gear does for you in the coming weeks!

[Baizy]

You did get a run in though. Still good data there to collect! Like did the gearbox leak oil after a rip, did it still get off the line fast enough for your taste. Every ride can glean a little bit of good info. Glad to hear your tuning saga may be coming to its end. I hope to one day be finished tuning myself hahaha

[Baizy]

Well shoot drew, the kids sure knew what to get you

I'm not sure how steep a slope you're using for the downhill there, but a long slow grade can only do so much for you. I try to avoid hills when tuning as they lead to some serious false hope, haha. Gearing and torque is always something you need to keep in mind when you play the low CC tuning game. That 45T gear you have installed will have increased the speeds at any RPM but also increase the demand from the engine, right? If you're concerned about that last 3/16 of sharpie you should just take off the CVT cover and just spool it up to redline *8800RPM (you don't have a CDI, right?) and see if the weights will even push it all the way out, because they may not. On that downhill circuit I have near me is about 2km long with a very shallow grade. I was able to hit 50MPH at 10000RPM and 9000RPM depending on the gearing, variator, etc. Being 100% honest I've never used a Polini so I dont know how wide it is overall, maybe 3/16 left is the same as a wound out stock variator, and with your new outer drive face my reference is completely off.

To just answer this question "However, I'm still leaving about 3/16 inch of sharpie ink on variator plate. I don't know if it's possible to get belt past that mark or not." clearly: I don't know either. Technically yes, because you could always use a longer belt, but with your current Daytona I don't know!

[barnabytoy]

Hello from Scotland!

Thank you for accepting me to your community.

I own a 2010 Honda Zoomer (ruckus) UK spec (fuel injected) model.

My Polini CDi unit has failed.

Can you please help me find a replacement (polini discontinued!) I dont have lots of spare cash, and everyone thats comes from the land of the rising suns does not work.
the only one i can find is like $200+

your help and advice will be gratefully received.

BT

[Baizy]

barnabytoy I hate to say it but North Americans never got the same style of CDI you did. We have the slow 2 valve rucks with the 18mm carbs over here. I don't know if any of the CDI's we like to use: Rolling Wrench, NCY, or POSH actually work on the FI Rucks my suggestion, sadly would be to just run stock for awhile while you source a replacement Polini Unit.