Honda For 2015

[kz1000st]

http://motorscooterguide.net/

Can somebody explain to me why a naked scooter like the Ruckus costs $650 more than a plastic coated Metropolitan?

[wheelbender6]

I guess the Ruckus is more cool and Honda is capitalizing on that. America loves naked bikes and naked scoots.To my knowledge, the Ruckus and Metro share the same 49cc thumper engine.

[cheapeto]

My guess would be plastic covers hide the frame and brackets.
The (frame work) does not need to be visually pleasing to the eye so to speak.
The naked exposed frame has more flowing bends, and needs to look well crafted, from all around it as less panels or plastics to hide any imperfections.
More bent tubing would be more costly then slapping on a mounting tab bracket, spot welding it then bolting a plastic cover over it.
Looking at it with fabricators eyes, I can see why myself. I never really thought about it much.
That is my guess anyway.

[kz1000st]

I might buy the flowing tube work if it was a couple of hundred, but $650? I could buy a Metropolitan and a spare Chinese 50cc, heck maybe a 50cc Chinese Ruckus replica, with $2600.

http://www.greenearthscooters.com/detail.cfm?id=923

[cheapeto]

I personally have no idea why the Zoomers have built this huge pack of followers, but they have.
Not just here in the USA, but it's a world wide appetite.
The ones I saw and rode with with in North Carolina in June, some were $5,000.00 dollar machines, some went well above that figure.
I'll never consider buying another china scooter, for any reason. I love my Honda.

[kz1000st]

I have both in the garage, a Honda and Chinese and I can see the difference in quality and MSRP. The point here is that a 50cc "Stock" scooter will only do 30-35mph. As John noted here:

I have been speaking to a few of my dealers recently and have heard that there are quite a few of our 50cc ZNEN built Motorino scooters out there that have over 20,000 miles on them and are still going strong. No major work had to be done on any of them, they just had proper regular maintenance.

I can't see paying $2650 for a stock Ruckus when an $1800 Metropolitan or an $859 China Ruckus knockoff will go as far reliably and as fast....stock. I think the Ruckus is a cute bike but its lack of storage and high price, for what it is, doesn't really make sense to me.

[wheelbender6]

The Hondas are nice, but when it comes to the 50cc scoots, I prefer a 2 stroke like the Rough House or the older Zuma 50.
I don't think Honda has sold a two stroke scooter in the US since the Spree.

[bnc]

The Ruckus is a liquid cooled 49 cc vs. the Metropolitan's air cooled 49 cc. Plus the Ruckus weighs 17 lbs more than the Metropolitan both wet. Subtract the plastic and I suspect the Ruckus weighs more like 25 lbs more. That is a lot more steel, aluminum, etc.

Plus the Ruckus has this almost legendary story behind it. 18,000 miles for $640 gas.

http://www.superstreetonline.com/features/130-0901-honda-ruckus-wan-lees/