Trail bike [?] for field work
- Thread starter Elric
- Start date
JonB
Halcyon member
I own a 50 cc Honda Ruckus and love it (shown below). I'm glad to hear a couple other people recommend it.
I bought this 2003 model, four years ago for $900 (it had 1200 miles on it, so it was like new). There is some china clones of the Ruckus, I would avoid them, I've read of horror stories of all the rubber tubing cracking/degrading after 6 months...plus the carburetor issues already mentioned about other China made minibikes.
The ruckus weighs 194 lbs and fit's nicely on a HF aluminum motorcycle carrier that fits a 2" receiver hitch.
The Honda Ruckus has a 4 cycle, liquid cooled engine that is whisper quiet. It has a belt drive with clutches like a snowmobile means no shifting, just twist the throttle and you are moving down the trail. Top speed is around 35 mph with my 275 lb ass on the seat, I'm told that top speed is closer to 45 mph if the driver is closer to 120 lbs, LOL.
ONE big thing about the Honda Ruckus, is it is a very popular design, that hasn't really changed since it came out in 2003, which means there are many aftermarket accessories the fit universally over all the years of production. If I was to ride one regularly "off road", I would get off road tires...there are many different style of tires available in the correct size. I think the standard size would be fine for off road, but I've seen fatter tires/wheels offered for this thing.
Viva Ruckus !
I bought this 2003 model, four years ago for $900 (it had 1200 miles on it, so it was like new). There is some china clones of the Ruckus, I would avoid them, I've read of horror stories of all the rubber tubing cracking/degrading after 6 months...plus the carburetor issues already mentioned about other China made minibikes.
The ruckus weighs 194 lbs and fit's nicely on a HF aluminum motorcycle carrier that fits a 2" receiver hitch.
The Honda Ruckus has a 4 cycle, liquid cooled engine that is whisper quiet. It has a belt drive with clutches like a snowmobile means no shifting, just twist the throttle and you are moving down the trail. Top speed is around 35 mph with my 275 lb ass on the seat, I'm told that top speed is closer to 45 mph if the driver is closer to 120 lbs, LOL.
ONE big thing about the Honda Ruckus, is it is a very popular design, that hasn't really changed since it came out in 2003, which means there are many aftermarket accessories the fit universally over all the years of production. If I was to ride one regularly "off road", I would get off road tires...there are many different style of tires available in the correct size. I think the standard size would be fine for off road, but I've seen fatter tires/wheels offered for this thing.
Viva Ruckus !
Last edited:
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Oh, only one arm, not bad. I was expecting more like 6-8K
I bought a Rokon in 2005. I still ride it every year. I have hauled out an elk with it in one trip (boned out). I can get it to go anywhere a horse will go. It has racks on the front and the back. It will climb over a downed tree up to 3 inches above my knee. It just don't go very fast. About 30 miles an hour tops on a smooth road. I can ride it all day long on a half tank of gas. It has a 6.5 horse Kohler engine. We have a lot of trails around here that are open to two wheeled motorcycles. I have a blast on it. You can get in trouble though because of gravity. It will climb some pretty steep stuff. It weighs about 250 lbs. It is not nimble and easy to ride like a Honda dirt bike. The steering angle is different. It is called a mototractor for a reason. It is basically a tool. I use it to get me where I need to go.
