Behold, a Fireblade-engined Honda Ruckus scooter with 180bhp

Although we’re a little sad we don’t get the Ruckus - Honda’s cute, light trail-friendly scooter - in the UK, its 49cc engine might get a little boring after a while. The Ruckus you see here, though, has an engine 20 times as large.

YouTube channel Grind Hard Plumbing Co is known for its high-power Barbie Jeep builds (yes, really), but its latest project has involved something with two wheels. The idea was to stick a 999cc engine from a stolen/recovered Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade into a Ruckus (known as the ‘Zoom’ in some markets), making it truer to its name than ever before.

Such a thing is easier said than done, of course. A whole new rear frame section needed to be fabricated to make room for the considerably larger engine, and the bike has a custom swingarm. Rear braking is taken care of via a calliper and master cylinder from a Kawasaki ZX-6R, meanwhile. 

The extensively modified frame was even repainted, so it almost looks like a proper factory effort. We say ‘almost’, as we can’t think of an OEM with an unhinged enough management team to sign off on such a thing, sadly. 

The project has seen the stock power output of around 4bhp rocket to more like 180bhp - an increase of over 4000 per cent, if you’re interested in the maths. The ‘Ruckus Repsol Edition’ - as it’s been rechristened - will now happily light up its rear wheel on the dirt. It looks hilarious fun to ride, as well as being fantastically sketchy. The bike also runs open headers, so it’s rather loud at present. 

There are further refinements planned. As it stands, the throttle is a little bit binary, and if there’s anything you want a bit of throttle modulation on, it’s a 180bhp trail scooter.  

We can’t wait to see what Grind Hard Plumbing Co does with this bonkers creation next.