Hey guys!

So after much toiling about the Ruck, I finally got her back in one piece. After bringing it outside and breaking it in, it ran! Not well, but it ran! And it made me happy. Now I am in a fit of tuning and trying to figure out how to get my moneys worth out of my big bore and BSS cam mods.

Right now, I can't get it to perform better then it did previously. I'm topping out at about 41 mph (or 65 km/h). This is with the following mods:

-Big Bore kit
-Camshaft BSS
-Opened up stock intake.
-Stock Var/weights

The acceleration in the mid and low is a little better, but not amazing, and I feel like it could do a lot better. I have been experimenting with several different jetting combinations, and I have found that 40/92 is giving me the best results so far. It's still lacking though. Does anyone know what I should do to help get it up to speed? I've heard claims of 45 with the stock variator, and would love to be able to match that. I used to have a KN, but it self destructed (!) during a trip, and I feel ancy about putting another one in my ruck. I have a new belt installed, etc.

When I was setting up the engine, the cam belt tensioner went all the way out. I couldn't get it back in, and after much kadoodling, figured out (no info on the internet) how to make it go back up. Now, the thing is, im not sure if I put too much tension on it or not. Im not sure how much I need or how to gage it. Should I have a little or a lot of tension there? Right now, it probably went into the hole and I had to screw it down about 1/3rd of an inch and that was my tension. im not really sure how it works automatically. I need some help with this in case I manage to destroy something.

As well, I think I am burning a little bit of oil. The exhaust smells and looks slightly oil burny. For some reason, I an thinking the valve seals? Because I did not shim them and I have heard some people have to give the valves more clearance... but I could be wrong.

Help anyone? Thanks for all your help so far with this! I am a happy guy!

Paul

You really need to just give Chanito a call.

Also, if you're not running a CDI then you're severely limiting the BB.

Two obvious things are that you should change your variator and ditch the stock airbox. You can't get a really smooth air flow with the hacked open box, and the gearing of the stock variator is probably less than optimal for the big bore engine.

get the engine tuned properly before doing anything to the variator or you're going to increase the number of factors that may contribute to poor performance and make tuning sucks. I would definitely change the airbox out too because it's a huge bottleneck

You need to shim the valves w/ the cam....THAT could be the magic limiter.

swapACKUS!

...warning... threadjack imminent...

hey ruckus, when you gonna get your page up? im saving up cash as we speak for your kit.. what's the dealy, yo?

Give it time, break the motor in first and she'll get faster trust me. Mine was slower than it is now and was using a little oil before the rings finally finished seating.

So, i've determined my valve seals are messed... and my valves defiantly need gapping. Here is my question...

Will I need to completely remove the head to gap the valves/replace the seals? And if I do, is it reaaaaaaalllyyy necessary for me to get a new head gasket from chanito?

I have new seals on the way. This time i'll shim them hahah.

gapping valves can be done w/ just the valve cover off...Replacing seals however needs to head off.

Regarding the cam chain tensioner, it will automatically lower to the correct tension so you just need to raise it up to put the timing chain on and then let it go and it will lower correctly.

Regarding your oil use, I wouldn't be so hasty to accuse your valve seals. Your Ruckus could be burning oil because it's just been rebuilt and needs some time to burn off oil in the combustion chamber but more likely is that the increased piston clearance is causing some oil to slip past the rings when it's cold. That's pretty normal for a forged piston.

Regarding your setup, 40/92 doesn't sound too bad. If you go with a smaller slow jet (35 or 38) it'll probably idle nicer but you never know...the idle is finicky. A 92 main jet is a little bigger than I usually need (85-90) but it sounds about right.

I would say that you need to reshim your valves and you need to do something about your intake. The stock airbox is fine as long as you remove the inner snorkel to enlarge the opening. I've found that BB Rucks with this mod do just as well as ones without airbox...perhaps better. The stock airbox does a great job of filtering out turbulance in the airflow (unlike aftermarket pod filters) and so as long as you open the entrance up enough to allow sufficient flow you should be fine. In theory, a proper airbox will outperform a pod style filter because you can tune the resonance of the airbox.

I've tuned a Ruck with the big bore + h.o. cam and it did about 43-45mph normally...that was a pre-2006 though. We added a CDI but that didn't do much other than allowing him to bomb hills faster.

I'm in the anti-CDI camp...I've used a Daytona one on my 2003 Ruckus and the Posh one in my 2006 Ruckus and in both instances there was no change...and there shouldn't be. All a CDI does is:
1) Get rid of the redline
2) Bypass the throttle position sensor so you can run an aftermarket carb
3) Advance the timing slightly for maybe 2% more power.

So if you are sticking with the stock carb then beside letting you exceed the redline down hills all your $165 CDI will get you is a wee little bit more power which is virtually unnoticable. Others disagree with me but I haven't heard a good explanation yet as to why a CDI would add a significant amount of power (unless you're hitting the redline which normal Rucks don't on flat).

That there's some good info. I'm about to do the same mods with mine and this was a great help. Thanks TR!

Dan,

Thanks for the info, but I am not completely sure that my problems are engine break in related. Since doing the mods, I've probably put on about... 100 and a bit km. Is that enough for the break in? The oil consumption just seems so high. I'm pretty sure the head gasket is alright... my radiator is still full of coolant and the exhaust isn't particularly moist. I don't want to end up killing or damaging the engine somehow by running it while its eating so much oil, if that makes sense. Could improperly gapped valves cause excess oil consumption?

My airbox has had the little snorkel completely removed (dremelled out), so now there is a nice big hole there. I am pretty satisfied with that and how it worked out.

But yeah, will I still need to replace my head gasket, even with just 100 km on it?

Paul

how long do you ride? It takes about a block to warm up
it will sm0ke for a block or two

If it smokes on startup, its the valves. If it smokes while driving its the rings. If there's white smoke its the head gasket. There's relatively little oil in the valve train, and it will usually seep into the combustion chamber while dormant.