Honda Ruckus (carb) vs. Honda Metropolitan (FI)

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Nov 20, 2013
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Eastern Wa.
Looking at these two scooters for my kid, the Metro has fuel injection and storage and is $400 cheaper. Is there a lot of maintenance with a newer Honda carb? It's funny they have done nothing to the ruckus since it was introduced, just new colors.
 
Looking at these two scooters for my kid, the Metro has fuel injection and storage and is $400 cheaper. Is there a lot of maintenance with a newer Honda carb? It's funny they have done nothing to the ruckus since it was introduced, just new colors.
People end up swapping the engines anyways for the Ruckus (for 150cc/232cc GY6 Chinese junk) for more power, so Honda isn't investing any money in a power train that will be thrown out anyways.

My 2020 Honda Ruckus just crossed 4000 miles. Zero issues. Carb has auto-choke, so starts up easy even at freezing temps. Yes, I commuted on it in 30F degree weather. I do add an ounce of Marvel Mystery Oil to every tank of gas, because I saw how clean my other small engine carbs stay when I use MMO in fuel. Key is to ride it often. Issues start when they sit for a long time.
My heavy 310lbs self is easily propelled by the mighty Ruckus 49CC engine, 40mph on flats and downhills, 30mph on uphills. Lighter riders seem to squeeze out 45-47mph stock. Modded ones do 50mph-55mph, heavily modded top out at 60mph.
In stock form they are slow and amazingly reliable. There is also a guy who rode all over North America on his Ruckus, and racked up over 80,000 miles as of today. Here is an older video of him a few years back.
 
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Here is my little mule. Love it. Absolutely the most fun anyone can have at 35mph.

All things considered - Ruckus is definitely the way to go. And Ruckus looks best suited to guys, while Metropolitan is more female oriented. Just aesthetically speaking.
 
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can't go wrong with either one...which one fits your child better? I recall the Metropolitan as being a little tighter fit...but they are both super reliable, fun transportation.
 
Metropolitan does have longer gearing than Ruckus. As result, due to tiny engine, the top speed on the Metropolitan is a lot lower than the Ruckus, if we're talking stock form on both. Just not enough oomph to take advantage of the longer gearing and reach higher speeds.
Metropolitan is a little tighter than the Ruckus. I'm 6'1" and could not fit on the Metropolitan without my feet touching the handlebars at turns. No such issues on the Ruckus though. Plus, due to Ruckus naked frame style, I was able to buy a lowered seat frame that also sits farther away from the handlebars, giving me more room.
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My advice would be to buy used, stock, and low miles. New ones not worth the premium, upgraded ones are usually plagued with issues from people not being able to tune the carb correctly. But in stock form - a reliable little bugger with plenty of style and smiles per gallon. 100+ MPG is nice too.

Despite being very similar mechanically, they are very different. For example for upgrades: It is possible to give the Metropolitan a "big bore" upgrade at 83cc, while Ruckus only had 58.1cc "Big Bore" option. Both 49cc originally. It's discontinued these days, unless you can find one on forums for big money. And due to being liquid-cooled the big bore upgrade isn't done with a simple afternoon head&piston swap (like the chinese mopeds), but is more car like. You'd actually have to disassemble the engine and take the block to machine shop to get bored out.
Oh and btw - in Europe and Japan Ruckus is called Zoomer, and does come with fuel injection. Just not in USA. And they received next ZoomerX model, while we are stuck with old Ruckus from early 2000s labeled as a 2022 model.
 
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