Bolts FINALLY came in (been obsessively stalking that mail box a few times a day grrr!).
Bike is now ready to roll!
New forks too! Rides so much better now that it’s firm, especially over bumps and dips.
Also changed oil.
New oil vs. old oil.
Bike’s hitting 60 a lot faster than before, 5km faster up hills too thanks to more spark perhaps?
Little cap/cover makes the lead weatherproof. Lovely!
Bought a rad CTEK trickle charger (eBay) which is permanently connected to the Zoomer’s battery via quick connect/disconnect weatherproof lead which makes it easy to plug in and out of the wall to keep my battery fresh when I’m not using the Zoomer for long periods of time.
JDM lights.
Before and after.
Some good and bad news:
Bad news – was going to change the oil but the battery died (that’s what you get for not riding your bike!). I’ve ordered a trickle charger which I will leave permanently plugged into a new battery (also on the way).
Good news – I’ve been meaning to change the headlights to JDM ones. Deus had to change the headlights to compliance the Zoomer and they’ve used some retro motorbike lights which I’m not into. I found a few 2nd hand ones on Yahoo Auctions Japan, 7000Yen before shipping. I decided to drop into Deus today and one of the bike guys there (Japanese dude named Taka) helped me out heaps with a fresh looking set for $20. I’ve since wired it up, all good to go!
Photo by Victor Tran
Yes, this seat will be mine. ALL MINE!
Yoshimura Top Triple Clamp.
My collection of bars. Hmmmm, which one?!
I went straight :)
– Kijima side indicators
– Daytona dip stick with oil temp gauge built in (!).
– Motul oil and magnetic drain plug for oil change.
– NGK Iridium spark plug
– NGK Spark Plug Cap
I was going to go to one of the bigger names but instead I decided to drop into this little paint shop in Kingsford (same street as the Crystal Car Wash, near the big roundabout). The owner Roy was a top guy and we got along straight away. He’s been working there since he was 15, back in 1973. Amazing stuff huh?!
A few days and my battery box was done Same exact colour as Yonas’s JDMyard EG Civic
I should have drilled these holes before paint! Impatience gets the better of me. I took my time getting it right though and it all came out perfect.
Kijima clear indicators installed.
Re-applying the Honda logo.
All done for now, just waiting on some titanium screws to install the brake levers secure and tight.
Just a before shot so you can play spot the difference :)
Made big progress today with the controls. I ordered a Yoshimura Top Triple Clamp at the end of last month but it failed to get here. After some calling around it turns out Australia Post has changed contractors, makes sense as they’ve been screwing my mail over the past few weeks and parts delivered have been with a new guy (I miss Mr. Gonzalo who has been delivering my goodies for a few years now!). The triple clamp was at my door on the 11th, no slip was left and instead of delivering it to Maroubra Post Office it was sent to South Maroubra (not a Post Office but a Chemist/Post Office?!). In any case, after queuing up for what felt like years at the wrong post office, then the right one, I finally got my part and got busy!
Bars and controls removed.
Battery box removed to get painted!
Ugly tall bars will be replaced with much lower bars, not sure what just yet. Maybe some downhill mountain bike bars, or maybe some drag style cafe racer motorbike bars.
Working on the Zoomer is a lot like working on a bicycle, except the parts on it are way worse. Where every single part on a quality mountain bike is held on by allen key screws the Zoomer uses a lot of Phillips Head style screws with loctite to boot. The brakes were held onto the bars by 4 Philips Head screws and I’ve read lots of cases where people have stripped the heads when trying to remove them so I was extra careful in getting them off. I took one side off no worries but the other side I started stripping the heads. I kept at it though, with much patience and heaps of sweating and swearing I finally got it all off (phew!).
Who doesn’t love the freebies huh?! This screw top cup is made of sturdy and thick plastic. Very cool!
Complete Ruckus/Zoomer beauty bolt kit to replace all the ugly bolts.
I got an ATR lower seat frame which pushes the seat back a little more, it’s a little lower than the lowered frame I already had on the Zoomer but the main difference is the shortened rear “handle” which makes for a much cleaner look.
ATR low stance coilover – adjustable in height and rebound too.
Installed but the bottom stock bolt is a little short. I’ll be sure to source a longer one ASAP just to be safe.
ATR lowered seat frame installed + some beauty bolts to hold it down.
Some goodies came through today from the dudes over at Standard Functions in South El Monte, California. I almost didn’t get the stuff as the post guy wrote the wrong street number down and the delivery slip went next door! Luckily I get along nice with my neighbors!
I came across Standard Functions when I was searching for Ruckus culture over in the US. It seems like these well respected guys rep the Ruckus hard at all the big meets out there. They run a cool blog too in which they come across as good guys with big hearts that do good things outside of modifying and selling Ruckus goods.
Visit: http://www.standardfunctions.com
Blog: http://www.standardfunctions.com/blog
Yoshimura TRC exhaust designed and made for the US Ruckus market.
Sticker designed to save their asses.
Yoshimura forward control kit (frame brace and pegs).
Foot pegs.
Installed.
Riding position is now awesome, just need lower bars.
So many nice details like this logo on the exhaust spring.
And the red anodized spacer and logo etched into the exhaust hanger.
All installed.
It feels like it’s been a long wait but some Zoomer goodies finally came in the mail this morning :) More to come soon!
It’s a wrap! I’ll hopefully get Matt Mead to help me with a studio shoot some time soon.
Nads coming up the escalator to Kinokuniya/Ichi ban boshi.
A couple of mags I bought from Kino.
Yup S2K’s are low, here’s Nads trying not to scrape his front bar by going right before turning left haha.
Spotted Grant’s XS600 at MCC on my way home (I had to pick up a bike box to pack and send Ti).
Caught up with my mate Narada today, been ages. Turns out we’re both kinda in the same boat. Both getting married at the end of this year and both kinda looking for something new. I love that our catch-ups are always constructive. He gave me heaps of insight into the way he’s been running his business, fresh ideas, definitely food for thought.
