ComposiMo

Introducing Project Raucous

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
rau·cous Spelled Pronunciation[raw-kuhs]
–adjective
1. harsh; strident; grating: raucous voices; raucous laughter.
2. rowdy; disorderly: a raucous party.

[Origin: 1760–70; < L raucus hoarse, harsh, rough; see -ous]


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This is a project that was brought to us by someone truely crazy. The concept started when he bought a small push-scooter that had a little tiny front wheel on it, and a big go-kart tire for the rear, and it was all custom built to look like a top-fuel scooter.

Well, he liked the scooter, but he wanted something that would REALLY run! We thought a lot about adapting a motor to the existing scooter, but lack of good brakes, no goodp lace to fit a motor, and an overall small size were making it not really feasible to do.

So, we decided it'd be best to scratch-build a chassis! About halfway through the planning process, the customer decided that he'd like to be able to ride his overpowered go-ped to the post office and the bank, and run a few other small errands, so he wanted it to be street legal! Weeee!

This would involve less of scratch building a chassis, and more of buying another scooter, and adapting it to fit our project and look good.... but WHICH SCOOTER to choose??? I had to find something that was still able to LOOK the part, yet be modifiable enough to adapt to what we wanted to do to it.

Thus enters the Honda Ruckus.. i looked at seemingly thousands of pictures of all sorts of different scooters, but something about the Ruckus just -clicked- in my mind... the separate front and rear chassis section is what really sold me on it, and once i saw what the actual aluminum chassis looked like, i knew that the Ruckus chassis would be the one to go with.

So, the customer agreed, and went to the dealership to buy the scooter! Before i went, i decided that this was too cool of a thing to pass up on, so i decided to buy one for myself as well, which will be another project right after this one is done

So, we got the scooter delivered to the shop, and now its here, we are beginning the project.

Here is the scooter this thread will be focused on, and some more pics of it:










And the motor going into it... a 450cc Honda CRF dirtbike motor!




So.... follow along, and enjoy yourselves! This project shouldn't take forever, but it isn't going to be done next week either. I'm more than happy to answer any questions about what exactly is going on here.. lol!

The rest of the page will be sorta journal-like... Enjoy!
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4/24/08
Well, the teardown didn't begin today, but i was able to drive down to my machine shop (almost an hour away), and pick up the ever-so-vital rear hub for this project, and then by the time i got back, the turbo arrived!

This is the custom rear hub that will mount the wheel to the chassis... i am having separate small hubs that will mount to this hub to hold the brake rotor, and the rear sprocket.


Here is the custom built IHI turbo that was made by Charlie at Evergreen Turbo (www.evergreenturbo.com)




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4/24/08 Update

Well, i wasn't feeling well tonight, and so instead of doing the proper thing and going home and making myself some soup, i decided it'd be far better to maybe start the scooter teardown...

So, i got a bit of help to get the contraption up on the official Project Raucous Worktable






Then, i broke out the baggies and bins to put spare parts in, took out my wrenches, and started removing parts! yAy!






















So, heres how she sits now






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4/25/08

Well, today was another rather eventful day

This time, our lead mechanic Tom decided to stick around and help me out tear this thing the rest of the way down, and BOY, did we get it DOWN...


First things first, we decided to start from the front, and work back... so, we removed the front wheel and forks...






Then, once that was done, we separated the chassis from the rear section, leaving the rear sitting there all by its lonesome...





Then, the handlebars came off, and a few other nickknacks found their way into the parts bin... including the rear frame section, most of the plumbing and vacuum/fuel/coolant lines...







So, then we kept tearing down the rear section....







Exhaust and radiator found their way off the Ruck...



Such a TINY exhaust tubing... haha!




Then, all hell broke loose, and everything sorta fell apart... Yes, the motor is just chilling there all by itself on the kickstand... lol!









Then we started looking at the motor once everything else was cleaned up, and tagged and bagged.



Its such a cute little motor.... since the motor is being sent off for some R&D, we decided to go ahead and tear it down a little bit, because curiosity was killing us as to seeing exactly how small the little piston, lavles and internals must be... so we wanted to pull the head So, Tom and I got to it!











Yay, we're in... man, this thing is SO TINY!!! Wow!





















Aaaannnnd all back together again




So, here is where we sit tonight!






Now some real fun can begin! yAy!

-----------------------------------------------4/28/08

Japan won't have anything on the two scoots coming out of Panducky very shortly

I started cleaning up the aluminum chassis. This chassis is going to be modified quite a bit in an effort to create the look, shape, and stance that my customer desires. To that end, my customer did not like how the chassis seems to run 'uphill', and he wants it to be flat. At the same time, this will increase the angle on the front forks, but the angle is not enough to affect the rake angle too much negatively, but it won't matter, because it will be getting fixed in the process as well anyway once the MAJOR mods start actually happening to the Ruck.

So, here is where the chassis was in the morning when i started on it...



The first thing i wanted to do, was start working towards flattening out the bottom of the chassis, so the first thing to go was this u-shaped part that holds/protects the underside of the fuel tank. This project will be receiving a custom tank setup, so fitment with the stock tank isn't important.





5 seconds later, it was cut off... haha!



Then, i got to smoothing out the cuts, and shaping the surrounding aluminum areas, so that it would look like it was actually meant to be this way, and less like some dude just hacked out a huge section of aluminum



Then, i went a little crazy with the flap disk, and started sanding out, and removing casting marks and other 'dirty' areas of the chassis... i smoothed out and eliminated the pouring spruce marks, which is where the aluminum flows into the casting to fill the mold.





Then i flipped it back around, and cleaned up the flange where the fuel tank used to mount. This entire flange will be cut off in the future, but for right now i wanted it to at least look halfway decent before i cut it off... it'll make cleaning it up after i cut it off easier as well.





Well, thats all i can show for now

--------------------------------------------4/29/08

So not much got done on the Ruck today... i spent most of the day organizing videos and processing them after my 500+ mile racing road trip i took this last weekend...

However, i DID finish what i was working on yesterday... A front end lowering kit for stock Ruckus Forks... this requires no disassembly of the forks. The only thing you have to do, is cut off the tab for the stock front drum brake. These will have a tab on them that replaces that one. Alternatively, you could buy one right-side fork instead of cutting off the tab, and use it on the left.

I started out with some steel tubing...



Then, i trimmed off the drum brake tab so the tube could slide over it





Then, i cut the triangles that will be the new mount for the front wheel, and tac-welded it to the tube for a test fit...











Then, before i left last night, i did a real fast mock-up to get a basic layout of how all of this might look...







Then this afternoon, i finally got finished up with the front end brackets, and also i flipped them over so it wouldn't lower the front by as much... i think it looks better, and at full compression, the tire clears the cast fork piece...





I also think that i'm going to mount reflectors or blinkers in the lower shock mounting holes, so that it doesn't look like it is just hanging down there by itself

---------------------------------------------4/30/08


Ok, so today was the day to work on the rear swingarm platform/chassis mount, which will also serve as the mounting point for several other items on this little scooter. Because it will be under a wide variety of stresses, it needs to pretty much be the most beefy portion of the scooter. So, i decided to build it out of 1/4" thick steel. Mounted on the underside of it will be the point where the rear swingarm, which holds everything, hinges on.

So, i first had to design and build the plate, which was relatively easy... just measure out, and place the 4 mount holes as precise as possible on a large piece of steel.



I also drew some marks in it, since i am planning on trimming it up a tad... mostly freehand stuff, just to envision what it would look like... Oh, and don't mind the blue "paint" everywhere... that is the 'Dychem' spray used to locat the bolt centers in the plate, and also the edges of where the Ruckus frame meet the steel, so that i can trim to that edge.

Next up, were the actual swing arm mounting points. For this, i took some rectangle tubing, measured the angles, and cut the tubing so that it would extend from the rear of the chassis, straight back. Then, i took a couple of bearing seats, and cut a nice precise hole in both peices, and inserted the bearing seat, and welded it in. Unfortunately i got so into doing what i was doing, i forgot to pick up my camera until i was at this point:








Then, it was time to close in the back, and smooth everything out..







And then make another one identical to it 8)





Once i had both of them, i measured 20 times, and tack-welded once 8)... got them in perfect alignment and height on the plate...









So then i had to cut the plate down, and make it look halfway decent..










So, thats where we're at with all of this for now...

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5/1/08
Not much got done today, as i had other projects that required my attention, and i am waiting for the new rear tire i'm going to be using to show up tomorrow, so that i have a better idea of my exact measurements for the rear-end of this thing... so i couldn't do much with the swingarm section... so i went looking at the front aluminum section again... and decided it was time to do some more mundane trimming and smoothing

This time, the target was the side rails that hang the tank, and mount the stock floorboard. I am going to be doing something slightly different with all of this, so i didn't need that huge ugly flange sitting there doing nothing... so, it was time to TRIM!

I laid the Ruck on her side, and went to work.



First cut along the rail using my trusty Dewalt angle-grinder with a cutoff wheel



Almost theeere!



And off she goes!



WHat it looked like after the cut





Then, i installed the flap disk on the grinder, and began smoothing everything out so that it looked really nice and smooth







Comparing before and after ( right and left sides)



Time to do the other side!







The finished product!





Smooooooooth! 8)
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5/8/08

Today, i wanted to get the rear swingarm carriers fully welded in place, install the Swingarm bearings, and then begin doing some aluminum work to the main chassis!

So, first things first, it was time to weld the Swingarm Bearing Carriers in place. Up until now, they have just been tack-welded in place. So, i broke out the TIG, and just finished the welds:





Once the welding was done, i pressed in the bearings, and installed the safety snap-rings



So now, i can begin construction of the rear swingarm, which is the biggest single hardest part of this entire project... it has to support the rear wheel, the motor, the brake, the chain drive, the nitrous bottle, and it'll have mounts to hold the turbo and other components.

With that done, i could start looking at the aluminum chassis now... it is my goal to smooth this whole thing out, and have it really looking sharp! I did a test a few days ago to see how the aluminum would be like to weld to, and i came to the conclusion that while the aluminum wasn't perfect, it was good enough to weld to for cosmetic purposes... I wanted to do more structural, and modify it a lot more, but for now i think that this'll be enough.

So, on this round of changes, i first wanted to make a floorplate. So i found some cardboard, and began tracing...








Then, i did the same thing for the front neck, since i'm planning on closing it all in and making it be nice and smooth





I then decided to weld the neck in first, so it went over to the welding table to become better



Heres one side down...



Then it was time to do the other side...



And of course the finished product...



Now, as nice as i think aluminum welds are to look at, for this project things need to be smooth... so, i had to now pull out the trusty grinder and flap disks, and carefully shape and smooth down the welds.

When all the smoothing was done, this is what it looks like:





I still have some welding to do.. there are some small gaps that need to be filled in a bit more so that i can grind them all down smooth enough without going TOO far in some spots... but for the first pass at smoothing it out, it sure came out NIIIICE!

Next up, its time to tack on the floorpan, and get it ready for welding it on...








I spent a bit more time fitting the aluminum plate in a bit better... i want it to sit almost exactly flush with the underside of the chassis, and it wasn't quite there before... So, after a bit of work, this is how it was sitting:










Alright, now it is time to WELD! It took a little while, because i had to weld small sections at a time, but in the end, here is what she looked like:






Then, it was time to grind it smooth... So, i moved it over to the table, and set it up...




And ground it smooth with the Dewalt:






So, that is how i am going to end the day with this project... its bloody hot in the shop, and i've got other things i need to get done today as well All in all, it was a pretty productive day. Maybe tomorrow i'll start working on the main rear swingarm

Oh, and here is the "Little Dewalt That Could".... if you can only buy one power tool for yourself, make it one of these...




It makes projects like this possible!


Dang, that was a good plug for Dewalt, wasn't it?... Anyone from Dewalt want to sponsor this project? hahaha!


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5/9/08

Today was another eventful day, but not with the ruckus I had to build a B-Pipe for a Subaru, and with how hot it is outside today, it just about killed me... lol! But that came out awesome!



So, the only thing that got done to the Ruckus today is a little bit more dreaming and planning, and i did get a lot of measuring done...

First though, i decided to see out of pure curiosity, what this would look like if the motor was mounted on-center, like a "normal" scooter or motorcycle would have it.












Not too bad But THIS is what we're going after:














So of COURSE, i HAD to get up on the table, and balance VERY precariously on top of this thing just to see what it'll look like with an actual rider on it... damn, i can't wait until this thing is rolling!










Thats all for today folks... Tune in Monday for much more Ruck-ROaring Adventures!

TsujenDB1

OH MY GEEZ! That thing is going to be sick cant wait to see this all done

xism

this is gonna be sick once its finished

JOeeeee y0

damn I want one when its finished!

American.Graffiti

iTrader: (7)

DAMN! You are doing work! I need to learn how to weld like that.

oldskol

Dope / love the custom work ...

RotiEatter

iTrader: (1)

Sweet build. I can't wait to see it finished.

D Type

This is a sick build!!!

StErN

iTrader: (1)

Sweet. Looking good so far. Can't wait to see it finished.

McDonagh

EPIC

.Grimace

in for the results

EG-Kaos

one of the koolest builds i've seen

ComposiMo

Thanks for the great comments guys!


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Another productive day! Yay!

So today was the beginning of the rear swingarm assembly... after a LOT of measuring, and planning, and tormenting my head with different plans and ideas, i finally settled on a direction. The first plan of attack would be to make an attachment for the swingarm to bolt to the swingarm carrier bearings that i built.

So, i set forth on my path... i first had to make spacers for the swingarm bolts, so that the bolt would be able to move around without anything hitting the fram... also, i would need them on the inside, so that the swingarm tabs would have something to tighten up against. So, i pulled out the tubing cutter, and a section of tubing, and began cutting...







THen, just for mock-up purposes only, i cut a long section of tubing to use to connect the two long bolts that i'm using to hold the swingarm in... i'm waiting for the shorter ones to get here, so i have to do something temporary to align the bolts.



Then, i made the tabs.. these are out of 3/16" steel plate



And then cut a section of rectangle tubing to attach them to, and i started tack welding it all together...





And its on! This will be the base for the entire rear swingarm.









So, it was then time to start working on the right side rearward extension on the swingarm... since i would be covering this up a bit with the rectangle tubing, i went ahead and welded one section of the swingarm pivot block, since once i tack weld on the rear swingarm extension, it won't be able to be welded... so i need to do it now.



Then i attached the rearward extension. Before i put it on, i did some pie-cuts in it, and created a little bit of a bend at the end of it... this all has function





Now, it was time to mount the motor... after a LOT of measuring and playing around, and mocking it up, i decided on a location for the motor, and set in place the first part of the motor mount assembly



THen i started building the rest, as well as constructing a lower mount that will double as a skid plate basically in case it gets leaned over too far.







And now the front of the motor is mounted!











Now, it is time to build one half of the rear mount for the motor...







And then welded it in...







And there you have it! That is what i got done for the day...














OH.... and since so many people were concerned with how far it could lean, i set it up to mimic a turn. I angled the trailing arm to simulate a bit of load, i put a board in the middle in front to simulate the front tire width, and then i blocked the rear trailing arm a bit wider to simulate the wider rear tire... and this is the angle it wound up being able to lean to:









Thats plenty of angle in my humble opinion...

Hope you enjoyed the latest update! 8)

Kevin

Badass build and documentation.

flaps

this is flippin awesome! cant wait to see it all done!

oldskol

I need to buy a welding machine and some skills to get something like this going ..damn

great build / love the detail

JReal

iTrader: (1)

damn lol.

FBP_Si

DAMN awsome work

grenthang

thats so freaking awesome

SIred91

Deffinately subscribed!.....LOL.....awesome

hatchling37

The sickness. Excellent work so far, looks fantastic!!

Infinity_Racer

niiice. SUBSCRIBED.

Wilky

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hatchling37 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The sickness. Excellent work so far, looks fantastic!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

For real! I opened this thread and was like:

xfrankx

sick build

gen2fanatic

Holy Jeebus. Talk about some Fab skills, something I could never attempt