Motorcycles are surely practical, but that’s not what they’re all about. Indeed, a lot of us ride motorcycles because they’re just fun. That said, fun means different things for different people. For some, it means hanging out with friends while admiring their motorcycles at a bike night. For others, it means hitting the open road and tackling the twisties. Meanwhile, for some, it’s much crazier than any of that.
Take for example this Honda Ruckus which has been engine-swapped with quite a potent motor. The Ruckus is by no means a fast bike, as it rocks one of the smallest production internal combustion engines from the Japanese manufacturer, a 49.4cc single-cylinder engine. Indeed, it’s about the furthest thing from a Fireblade, which sits on the opposite end of the spectrum dishing out around 180 ponies and displacing 1,000 cubes. That said, the idea of a Fireblade-powered Ruckus doesn’t usually cross the mind of the average motorcycle enthusiast. It does, however, for the folks at YouTube channel Grind Hard Plumbing Co.
In the latest video, more fine-tuning was done to the bike in the hopes that it would finally fire up. At first, a few issues were encountered, particularly with the fuel feed line which couldn't keep up with the fueling demands of the CBR motor. A new bung was welded in place and a new line was installed. Up next, a battery holder was fabricated to ensure the bike’s battery had a secure home, and a custom shifter was made.
With those details out of the way, the team focused on actually getting the thing started. They made use of a custom fuel pump they’ve used on previous projects, fabricated a mount for it, and tuned it specifically for the CBR1000RR engine. With all that work done, however, the engine simply wouldn’t fire. The issue turned out to be compression, more specifically, a ring problem on cylinders two and four. With that being said, there was really no other choice than for the engine to be opened up and repaired right there and then.
At the end of the day, the team decided to just clean everything up and un-seize the seized piston rings in the hopes that the engine would just start. However, new pistons and a new cylinder will be needed should they want the engine to run properly. Once everything was put back together, it finally fired up, but not without stumbling, stuttering, spitting smoke everywhere and eventually cutting out. Nevertheless, it was quite a success, all things considered.
The folks at Grind Hard have yet to take the Fireblade-swapped Ruckus on a test ride, presumably because it isn’t quite running up to spec just yet. We assume they’ll do so in a future episode once all the bike’s issues are sorted, so we’ll have to wait and see.
