one of our investors picked up this ruckus from my cousin and immediately wanted to redo it. we stripped it down to frame and found the closest powder coat color to the subaru dark grey metallic. once the main and the sub frame was mated together again, we went ahead and reran the wiring towards the back section and tucked it up a little bit more. a lowered front end with disc brakes was installed as well as a low rear shock to achieve that nice squat. the engine stayed stock as we only installed a lighter weight variator and an unlimited cdi. an air filter pod and a carbon fiber exhaust was added. we lowered the seat position but wanted to keep the handle bars high. so instead of using the stock bars. we added a bar clamp stem and used a honda grom handle bar. a set of full solid 12″ wheel set was used and a 2 position foot bar was installed and gave him the option how he wanted to set his legs. the owner had a subaru wrx so we added a little bit of flair to resemble his car. first his engine mount, kick start and keyless gas cap, we powder coated it subaru blue. then we studied the interior of his car and matched it with a black cloth side, storm grey top with red stitching. since the build we have upgraded and added a few things. we continued the blue bits on his new lowered and angled handle bars and we added a honda metropolitan fuel sending unit. that way, the digital speedometer that we used can send him fuel level information. lighting was also touched up by upgrading the headlights to led as well as an integrated tail light. i would like to upgrade his power plant in the future, so we’re going to have to convince his wife about that upgrade.

photos by @roybotvision on instagram

i got a message on social media from this girl who had a stock ruckus. the message contained a photo of her ruckus with a bunch of red circles to everything she wanted to do change. i set up a meeting and here comes this blue haired energetic girl. she started off with what wheels she wanted and from there, we came up with a build blue print, no pun intended. this was my first complete build with an engine swap. she loved the warriors’ blue and of coursed because it would match her hair. we used a billet modular mount and i accented the engravings with blue. from the adjustable bars, battery box, tank cover, stretch and engine. it was all black. a 150cc engine was transplanted and a stand alone wire harness was used to run the electronics from an upgraded stator. stubby pegs and a set back low seat bracket was installed. disc brakes and billet controls was used and slammed forks and rear shock set the stance. the seat composed of smooth vinyl side trim with black suede top with double stitched pleats. mesh style 2 piece wheels wrapped in 2 compound tires had this build as a rolling chassis finally. nothing too special was requested from her but i always wanted to do something or try something new. so i decided i wanted to cut off the basket part of the headlight bracket and see how cleaner it would look. i remembered one of the more specific parts she wanted was a brembo caliper. at that time, only a gold colored one was available. so i took it apart and painted it black. right then, i decided since i accented other black parts. i might as well do it to the brakes. so i carefully sanded off the paint from the brembo logo until it was the raw caliper bare, then carefully painted the logo by hand blue. it turned out so good, so from there i gave it a good clear coat and reinstalled it. as i was rummaging through her stock parts i came across the amber reflectors that was once attached to the head light bracket. i also found the rear frame caps. they are circular in shape. and so was the reflector. i thought about the word, repurpose. what i did next was a brilliant idea, which i haven’t seen anyone do. i took the reflector and mounted it on the frame cap. then i reinstalled the frame cap onto the frame. the result was unique. sometimes ideas will come to you just like that, and you really just have to trust your gut and do it. you’ll never know how it will turn out if you don’t try.

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my brother and i got our ruckus’ at the same time. even our plate number is just one character difference. when we started to build his ruckus, we really didn’t have an idea what we wanted it to look like. at first it was a gold and white colorway. which did not last long. then he got into wanting to represent san jose by doing a san jose sharks colorway. we used a candy teal frame and white wheels. we even had a friend who is a local tattoo artist paint a pattern on his battery box. as the powder coat technology advanced, i finally convinced him to rebuild it into it’s final form. this time we tried a candy chameleon powder and added purple, blue and green micro glitter on the clear coat. the result was a color changing effect with the glitter seems to have movement since it’s floating on top of the base coat. we kept the wheels white but removed the orange stripes that was on it. got a new battery box, without any paint or stickers of any kind. just a clean stock box! upgraded his lighting to led and was able to source a super rare foot brace. we also reupholstered his seat using a louis vuitton bag and brown suede. the power plant remained the stock 50cc but upgraded some transmission parts with lighter roller weights and kevlar belt. an unlimited cdi was also installed to get the most out of the top end and a carbon fiber up exit exhaust was used. his bike was also the first time we used a ram mount. since he was not using a speedometer. we installed a ram mount ball on the bottom of his main frame neck which already has a hole from the factory. attached the xgrip to the ball mount and he uses a gps enabled app on his iphone. this way, his handle bar set up was minimal and clean. another modification that i tried was to relocated and hide the coolant reservoir. first i removed the pcv/pulse air electronic control that was behind the right rear metal garnish cover. then i created a bracket in which it mounted the reservoir right behind the cover. although not completely hidden, it was still behind something large that it look like it was from factory. sometimes when it comes to doing a clean build. less is more. the simpler the idea, the easier it is to do. in my brother’s case, his ruckus looks like your typical stretched out build, but a little closer look and it will surprise you!

photos by @roybotvision on instagram

our second shop build was to pay homage the 2015 – 2016 golden state warriors’ season. the season they achieved a record breaking 73 wins and 9 losses. although they would ultimately lose the championship to the cleveland cavaliers, it was one of the greatest season in the history of the nba. we started off with a 2004 model year ruckus found in the outskirts of sacramento. picked it up from a young seller who used it to get around. it was barely running with a few minor modifications on it. we stripped it down and salvaged only the engine, harness, main frame and subframe. inspired by the warriors’ team colors. we powder coated the frames candy electric blue, this included the lowered seat frame and the bar stem. from there, we got brand new oem plasma yellow battery box. the next thing to complete the chassis was to powder coat the engine mount and to keep the colorway going, that was done in yellow as well. since we did not intend to do a motor swap, we ordered a custom cut, 12×4″ rear wheel to match a front end kit with wheel and disc brakes. once we had it on a rolling chassis, it was time to machine some custom pieces. using the iconic san francisco/oakland bay bridge warriors logo as a template. we machined 3 custom pieces, the rear wheel cover, radiator cover and a battery box front emblem. the headlight bracket was removed to accommodate this piece so a single led pod light was attached to a fork mounted bracket. next we tackled the upholstery and used black carbon vinyl on the sides and suede top with yellow stitches. we used a drag bar and really got creative with it. powder coated white, we opted to make our own grip, we cut out a children’s rubber basketball and made grips out of it. the funnest part of the build was to make a basketball court out of the tank cover and a basketball hoop out of a carbon fiber cup holder. we wrapped the cover in a wood grain wrap and printed a pair of “roaracle” decals to make it look like the floor of what was then the oracle arena. this was also the build where we designed and tested out a bluetooth speaker floating mount. we molded a clear plastic rectangle and added a white border in it so symbolize the backboard and mounted it atop of the cup holder. this was a very fun build and it demonstrated a lot of creativity when it came to a subject build. a custom, up exit exhaust was added, rear derlin slider pegs and a side stand.

photos by @roybotvision on instagram