2020 Ruckus Not Running Correctly

[rich1234]

I bought a 2020 Ruckus from a guy that bought it from a motorcycle shop as new but modified with 37 miles on the clock. I t has a few upgrades but I will keep it short and get to the point. It ran poorly when i test rode the bike, at the time it had 175 miles, once warmed up it ran ok, not great.

Mods are
Yoshimura Carbon Exhaust
MNNTHBX Air Intake
K38 Jet
K85 Jet
NCY Drive Face CNC-Machined Alum
NCY Frame Brace
TRS Billet Rad Cover
TRS Billet CVT Cover
Fender Deletes

Things I have done,

Replaced Dr. Pulley Sliders, 4.5 Gram, replacing 6 Gram(Pulls hills much better maybe lost a couple on the top end), 8/10
Replaced Carb(New OEM), 8/10
Replaced OEM jets with K38, K85, 8/10
Replaced Battery
Replaced Spark Plug
Replaced Engine Oil
Removed Gas, Tank cleaned
Replaced Fuel Filter
Replaced Fuel Pump
Replaced Damaged MNNTHBX hose that was rubbing on rear tire
Removed Carb, cleaned bowl, removed jets, cleaned with carb cleaner, inspected, did not have carb cleaning tools to clean jets though.

Bike will crank and crank holding the start on for minutes at a time, not catch on, throttle input when starting it just chugs, bogging, enough that it killed the original battery and would stall multiple times.

I finally got it started today after many minutes, drove it for about 20 miles, didn't shut it off, as I returned it was wanting to stall, seems to run ok, steep hills kill it, I am 210lbs, at WOT on flats it gets over 40, feels like its hitting the rev limiter and starts missing.

I hate taking the carb off and back on so do I just buy another carb to eliminate all the BS that could be wrong and rejet? Or do I buy more jets try those and if its still acting up replace the carb? From my minibike collection issues this sure seems like a choke problem.

Attachments:

[rich1234]

I will check the valves, amazing a new bike would have valve issues, now 220 miles. I replaced the carb today and rejetted, a brand new oem carb(expensive) with k39 and k85 jets, changed the dr pulley sliders from 6 grams to 4.5 grams. Tried to start same symptoms, finally got it to fire off after many minutes of cranking, varying throttle, ect. Hammered the shite out of it for about 20 miles, not stopping, hills, ect. The 4.5 gram sliders fixed the super slow hill climb at the expense of a few miles per hour top end. I figure I have almost in the parts on this pos.

[Baizy]

After a good read of the symptoms it seems like your engine is still breaking in and with the solid style valves and shims it isn't uncommon at all for them to need replacing within the first 1000 miles as they find their new homes in the head.

[rich1234]

I finally got my Ruckus running after a nightmare of changing everything from fuel, fuel filter, fuel pump, spark plug, oil, carb, jets, battery, ECU resets out the ying yang. I finally asked RollingWrench on a live Utube broadcast and he said tight valves and he is the expert. That's what it was, Intake was a 2.02 and I had to drop it to 1.90 which is insane for a new bike to need that big of drop in shim size and honestly its still tight. On the Exhaust side I dropped one size down from a 1.98 to a 1.95 and the valve lash was spot on. I will say this I have learned alot about the bike, carbs, jets and valves. Also I changed the Dr Pulley Sliders to 4.5 gram from 6 gram and it pulls the hills much better. So should I hold on to my spare fuel pump and carb or sell them. And is anyone running RollingWrench CDI, its twice the price of the NCY but still has kill switch and upgraded spark wire.

[rich1234]

Aug 20, 2021 11:59:40 GMT -5 drew said:

Glad you're up and running. I hold on to any spare parts that I replace unless they're just trashed. It's funny you mention the rolling wrench CDI. I just ordered one yesterday and will most likely be installing it next weekend. Will post results under thread titled...NEW MEMBER FIRST MODS.
Have fun dude

Yes please do and let us know all your mods, elevation, weight, ect. I am hitting the rev limit sooner with the 4.5 gram sliders and sort of topping out around 42mph, major hills around here, I have the 5 gram and 6 gram sliders as well but only used 6 gram when it was running bad. I weigh 210lbs and very tall.

[rich1234]

Just an update. My Intake Valve tightened up AGAIN! I had to shim down from 1.90 to 1.75. Luckly it didnt leave me stranded but it started acting up on a long ride, literally stalling at WOT, scary stuff on the road with cars, ect. I also installed RW CDI. Went in good, have to use ziptie to secure it, the sticky didnt want to take. Now with the CDI and the 4.5 gram sliders I am able to wind her out, I was def hitting the rev limiter before with those sliders. I might go back to 5 gram but it seems to get more on the powerband on the 4.5's. My top rpm was about 9400 on the cheap tach on downhill, maybe hitting 9200 on the straights, who knows. I really didnt want to be at 10k anyways, not making much if any more power at that high of rpm.

[rich1234]

Sept 12, 2021 18:22:19 GMT -5 drew said:

Also interesting that no reviews can be found on this cdi ANYWHERE. If you do research you read about people installing this and then....NO review. I also found some very negative reviews on Rolling Wrench in general. If I have my intake valve tighten up again I'll be taking the Rolling Wrench Cdi off my ruckus and putting stock coil back on. I think Rolling wrench is a crooked company taking advantage but, time will tell. Keep us posted

I disagree. I think Matt is great. I am a member on his youtube and I watch his live videos every friday night. He actually did a valve adjustment live stream this weekend and a video will be posted on this soon as a how to, based on my request.

I also won(3 Times) a NCY Variator from Rolling Wrench this past weekend as well, along with candy, stickers, tshirts, I think for 2.99 a month to be a member I am making out like a bandit and his knowledge and help to troubleshoot my ruckus has been priceless to be honest, I spent a couple hundred bucks on parts trying to fix my ruckus before he clued me in on the tight valves.


My valves tightened up BEFORE I installed the RW CDI, the second time they tightened up had nothing to do with the CDI, I am super low on miles, and tight valves is a very common issue on Ruckus. My theory is the Yoshi Exhaust, Intake and carb changes MIGHT make this happen more often or sooner.

I'm really getting the rpm opening up on my ruckus and hit 10,400 rpm on a downhill run.

If you would tell me what your valves were and what you shimmed down to.

The thing about the RW CDI versus the NCY is no splicing and it should never brick your ecu, which the NCY can and has done. I like NCY parts and have many on my ruckus but RW CDI is the safest bet, I don't like no warranty but I am hoping for the best. I am just glad its running good and I am breaking it in good.

For your Ruckus check this video from BB, he works at TRS, this is a very informative video on mods and what did and didnt work on a customer bike.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=W66a5UahiNE