Honda Ruckus z125 swap Archives

WE WILL BE BUILDING THIS

FROM OUR 2009 ZUMA 125

HONDA RUCKUS

This all started about five years ago when I traded a Jeep on a 2003 Honda Ruckus. I did the normal mods and within a few months and then I was searching for one for my wife Karen. We then purchased a super clean Sno Camo Honda Ruckus and we were hooked. We enjoyed the bikes but for all practical purposes for where we live they just didn’t have enough power, even doing the mods to get them faster. I then located a 2009 Yamaha Zuma 125 and believed we found the perfect match. We then purchased another Zuma 125 for my wife and did the normal mods like lowered, headlight conversion, bigbore etc. I ended up selling off the there Ruckus we had in the corral and missed them ever since. We really enjoyed the Z125’s but we really liked and loved the way the Honda Ruckus were. So this begins the swap to part out her Yamaha z125 and build her the Ruckus they way it should have been all along.

This is our first 2003 Honda Ruckus.

Karen’s 2007 Sno Camo Honda Ruckus

Karen and I riding in California

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WE FOUND OUR LOW MILEAGE RUCKUS

We searched for a bit and came up with a 2011 Honda Ruckus with very low mileage.

TIME TO TAKE RUCKUS APART

We separated all the parts so we can eBay all the part we don’t need and reclaim some of the money.

2009 YAMAHA ZUMA 125 DONOR

Was kind of a shame to part out a perfectly running 22o0 Mile Yamaha Zuma but its the only was to have everything you need to do the swap. Its the second one it the picture. The one in front will be the next one I do.

YAMAHA Z125 TAKEDOWN

After looking over all the parts its was time to start mocking up. I ended up taking the lower triple clamp off the Zuma 125 and I cut the stem off it and drilled it out to fit the Ruckus stem. It was kind of a bitch to do but then I was able to use the Zuma fork and brakes.

I then used a piece of thin plastic and drew out how I wanted the lower brackets to look like. I was tempted to order a set online but I wanted to make them my self. After I took to a friends shop and he water jetted me a set out of 3/16 plate.

Next I cut out the bottom of the Zuma 125 tank to fit into the Ruckus tank. And here is the Ruckus tank that I cut open to make it all fit.

Here is the piece I cut out of the Zuma 125 tank to fit the Ruckus tank. Not a great fit but I can make it work.

I ended up sand blasting the Zuma tank piece and started to weld it into place. This is what I ended up with. After I took it to a radiator repair shop and had them line it so it wouldn’t leak.

We did a little mocking up and made the lower engine mount. Sorry I can’t find the pictures but when I pull the bracket off again I will snap some pics. I also used a thomson bar stem with some carbon fiber bars I bought on Ebay. Out of all the Ruckus’s I have bought I have never purchased a lower seat frame, I just cut the tube shorter and smashed the tube back down in the vise, drilled holes and bang lower seat frame.

Heres a few pictures I had taken during to process. I ended up using the factory Ruckus tail light in which I cut the bracket down to lower the light by about 4 inches. I also ended up using the Oem Zuma blinkers with the clear lens. If you look at the third picture in this series you will notice I used a Snapon shorty wrench and a kick stand. I still need to order a side stand for this bike. I also like the picture of the Ruckus next to my other Zuma 125.

Time to get this thing wired and running.

I bought a harbor freight electric winch a few years back and it comes in handy when needed to lift the bike up to working height. At this point I was moving the wires around to make everything fit. I ended up pulling the wiring case off and moved the fuel pump, tip solenoid, fuse box and extended the battery cable to reach where the factory Ruckus battery sit.