My love of scooters started back in like 1985 when Marty, or maybe it was his brother Fry (Brian), got a Honda Aero 50 scooter. Man we used to beat the crap out of that thing (sorry Marty’s mom). I don’t even really remember being old enough to ride it, or having any kind of license either. I DO remember trying to wheelie it and snapping off the license plate and the bracket within 5 minutes.

We were kind of a wild bunch. We always said we were “causin’ a ruckus” or “rolling rudabagas”. We got on any machine with wheels and immediately rode it as fast as we could and jumped it off of anything we could find. And usually we busted it (or ourselves). I actually cut my ear in half one time after wiping out trying to ride up the ramp on the back of a bulldozer trailer (my mom was pissed), but I digress.

I’ve never really gotten over this pedal-to-the-metal philosophy. So WHY IN THE WORLD did I buy a 49cc Honda Ruckus? I have no idea. It doesn’t go fast (tops out at about 42mph going downhill with the wind at my back), work is too far to really ride to (I have a 1990 BMW K75 for that), and it can’t really haul anything more than will fit in a backpack, so what’s the deal? I guess I’ve just always wanted another scooter and it was super on sale (last year’s model + low interest + cash back incentives). Also my girl wanted to get one if I got one so that helped make the decision as well.

You can call me a weenie, I don’t care, but the ruckus has kind of a bad ass look to it. It’s very off-roadish looking and the skeletal frame and nakedness of it have an appeal to me. It’s only has a 49cc engine but still has some good pep. It’s fast enough to be fun but slow enough that I feel like I can still just jump off it if a car came at me and roll to a stop like TJ Hooker would do off the hood of a car. I also feel like if someone came at me I could super-quick in one motion hop up on the seat, launch up, and jump over the car while it plows into the ruckus and then into a fruit stand.

You still get that feeling of freedom and wind in your face. You actually experience the world rather than watch it come at you through a windshield. It’s hard to describe unless you ride. It’s lightweight, can be parked anywhere and picked up and moved if need be. It gets like 100mpg also. It’s good for garage-sale-ing too, over at merrypad.com Emily’s actually making an under-seat ruckus storage basket for hers.

If you’re so inclined you can also customize the crap out of a ruckus. Just google around for it and there are sites for parts everywhere.

Maybe I just love saying “CAUSIN’ A RUCKUS” every time I hop on it to go ride. All I know is I love the ruckus.