RUCKUS SEAT RAIL ADAPTERS

Photo of the Rukus in standard trim - we figured that we could take the rails back about 50 cm.

Although when compared to most other small scoots, the Ruckus is relatively spacious, it's still too small for anyone over 6’ tall. However, its design means that with the addition of a pair of relatively simple rails, the rider can move the seat back and up to suit.

What we did was fit a pair of aluminium rails onto the sides of the Ruckus's rear frame – bolting it up to the existing holes where the seat is currently affixed. All that was left to do was drill an extra set of holes further up the rail, and then remount the seat. Et voila!

Of course, it’s never that easy, but we managed to make something work and what follows is the breakdown of what we did and how it came out in the end.

PREPARATION

Side and top views of the right side rail showing original mount holes and new mounts to their left. Illustration: Rob Harris

The material we chose was 2-inch corner-stock aluminium – available at any Home Depot style store. The corner element gives it strength against twisting (without getting in the way of the mounting holes), and the aluminium means that it’s light and corrosion-resistant (Aluminium will oxidize rapidly on its surface, but that oxidation stays in place and the structure stays intact, unlike steel which rusts away).

The next step was to work out how long each rail should be. The idea was to cut them so that they were roughly flush with the rear – about 55 cm ... or 554 mm, to be precise. This would allow us to drill new mounting holes as close to the rear as possible, thereby giving us the option of maximum seat height and leg-space.

Side and top views of the left side rail with measurements for slots and holes. Illustration: Rob Harris

It's a good time to mention that the rail-mounting section of the main frame is set at roughly a 30 degree angle, so sliding the seat back along the rails also has the effect of gaining some seat height too. Ideal, really.

Once we’d cut the stock to length, it was time for the drilling to commence!

MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE

New seat location with rails attached.

The first thing we had to do in order to get the rails to line up, was cut out a slice on the upper side where it mates to the plastic floor of the cargo bay (that’s the 32/16 measurements on the diagram above). Once these were cut, the rails could be held in place and a pencil used to mark the centre of each hole (total of three).

Of course, they never do quite line up, and there was some ovaling of said holes to make it work, but I think the final measurements shown are pretty accurate.

Note - Since the rear mounting hole is strengthened with two flanges and set back (and so not inline with the front two), I had to cut two 4 mm slots in the rail and then use a spacer to keep the rail inline once it was attached. The appropriate spacer turned out to be a 10 mm nut, which happened to be 10 mm thick as well, and was just perfect.

Once both rails were attached, the seat could be lodged over them and located in a roughly suitable place, while a lanky bastard checked the position for feel – all the time trying not to put any weight on it. Rough, granted, but it got us in the ball-park.

Lovely!

You can do this to try and set the seat to your personal preference – the dimensions given worked out to be perfect for me, and I’m 6’ 4”.

As far as bolts go, you can use the original ones to fix the rails to the frame, but you’ll need 2 sets of three additional bolts to refit the seat to the new rails. For reference, here's the hardware we had left after we removed the rails and refitted the seat to its original location:

6mm diameter bolts:

2 x 30 mm
2 x 25 mm
4 x 15 mm
2 x 13 mm

6 x 6 mm nuts

8 x split washers

2 x 10 mm diameter nuts for spacers

CH, CH, CHANGES

Increased drag means a radical riding position must be adopted in order to catch up with other scoots!

Okay, if my memory of Sine, Cosine and Tangents is still good, I should be able to calculate exactly how much further back – and how much more height – our adaptation garnered.

Remember, the rear frame of the Ruckus is upswept by roughly 30 degrees, and the new mounts meant that the seat was moved back a total of 155 mm along that 30 degree incline. That gives an additional 77.5 mm (3") of height and 134 mm (5 1/4") of legroom, and worked out to be just about right for me.

No adverse effects on the Ruckus handling were noticeable, except for it being a tad jittery, due to the extra weight being carried higher up. However, after a few hours in the saddle I was completely adapted to this. The other downside of the extra height is that it increases your overall frontal area and thus wind resistance. With only a 50 cc motor to propel you along, this is noticeable - especially if you're trying to keep up with a pack of scooters!

Still, the overall gain in comfort way-outweighed these drawbacks – if you're 6' +, then consider the adaptations recommended.

NOTES & DISCLAIMER

Final drawings. Click for bigger, printable version. Illustration: Rob Harris

The rear mounting holes on our rails were actually slightly higher than shown, with the two forward mounts turned counter-clockwise a tad to match. I’m not sure why we ended up with these drillings, but it may have something to do with the rear seat arms not spreading enough around the rails to mate with the original geometry.

To be safe, before drilling the new seat mounts it’s a good idea to check where the seat actually sits on the rails and adjust accordingly. Let's just say that these are not defects, but they are proof that each piece is a handcrafted work of art, or something like.

Also, we can’t take any responsibility for the strength and safety of these adaptations. We did them on our long-termer and they worked fine, but we don’t know how good your handy-work is (hopefully better than ours) and so if you mess it up, don’t blame us. In fact I’m going to say that any adaptations to the standard set-up are very dangerous and foolish.

This article is for amusement purposes only.

There – disclaimer done.