Brian Yoshino - Honda Ruckus

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Brian Yoshino

Honda Ruckus

Instagram: @super_agent_yoshi

Photographer: Marvin Recinos

Instagram: @mr2mivin

I currently reside in Santa Ana and I own a retail store with my partner Theresa Tran. Together we run @hnrsoc which is a boutique for tuner enthusiasts where we sell apparel, Hot Wheels, make custom diecasts, promote car culture, and when time and space are available build custom Ruckuses and maintenance scooters for the mini moto community.

I consider myself fortunate because in my teens I was consumed with gang life and was a complete juvenile delinquent. I was constantly looking for trouble and dropped out of nearly a handful of high schools for always getting into fights. If it wasn't for a family friend who was a mechanic, Paul Nakama, my life would be completely different. He took me under his wing and let me learn a little bit of his craft despite me ridiculing him about his choice of cars.

During this time in the mid-90s, he owned a '71 Datsun 510 with the BRE livery and he was constantly working on the motor and trying to tune it just right for how he wanted to drive it. He was the one who introduced me to cars and the concept of modifying and customizing them. Prior to him, all I ever wanted to drive was a Buick Regal or Monte Carlo because that's what all the gangsters drove but after learning more and more with Paul I opened up to Japanese cars.

When I could finally afford a car on my own I picked up my first Honda Civic. It was a 1995 Honda Civic Coupe and things really snowballed from there. I took what I learned from Paul as far as customizing and modifications and went all out on the motor and had it turbo-charged. My car was completely modified with upgraded wheels, a body kit, graphics, and a custom white interior with a matching white dashboard. It was chosen to be on the flyer for the first Hot Import Nights in Long Beach back in 1998. You could say I have been in the import car scene since its genesis.

Now having been around for decades I have seen the import car scene go through changes and watched trends come and go. However, I still remain on the scene today because I love the car culture and I'm grateful for what Paul did for me all those years ago. I love my family of chosen friends and fellow builders and I don't think I'll ever be walking away from it. It's also the place where I met my partner and it's where we love to be to this day. I guess you can say I have an illness and the only cure is more project cars or builds. 

I chose the Honda Ruckus because I fell head over heels in love with it the first time I saw one in person. About five years ago, I went to my friend's Toy Drive Car Meet and a Ruckus pulled up. As I was checking it out and walking around it I noticed the rear wheel was an SSR wheel and it had a deep dish lip. My jaw just about hit the floor after seeing my favourite wheel brand on a little scooter.

After that day, all I could do was search on the internet looking at other Ruckus builds and knew I had bit the bug.  I have built numerous cars over the years for myself, helped build cars for my friends, and for companies to be displayed at trade shows like SEMA but nothing had taken me like the Ruckus. I jokingly told my partner WE needed a Ruckus, and all she could ask me was where I planned on parking it since we had no enclosed garage and we live on the second floor of a condo.

I had already thought about this and knew I was going to use the Ruckus as a showpiece for the @hnrsoc shop. My next hurdle was coming up with the funds because we had just opened up our shop and all of our money went to construction and inventory but luckily I had found a used Ruckus locally on Offerup. After negotiating for weeks with the previous owner I traded him three BMX bicycles, a carbon fibre road bicycle, and tools in my storage, and gave him $700 in cash.

Now having been around for decades I have seen the scene go through changes and watched trends come and go. However, I still remain on the scene today because I love the car culture. I love my family of chosen friends and fellow builders and I don't think I'll ever be walking away from it. It's also the place where I met my partner and it's where we love to be still to this day. 

I chose the Honda Ruckus because I fell head over heels in love with it the first time I saw one in person. About five years ago, I went to my friend's Toy Drive Car Meet and a Ruckus pulled up. As I was checking it out and walking around it I noticed the rear wheel was an SSR wheel and it had a deep dish lip. My jaw just about hit the floor after seeing my favourite wheel brand on a little scooter. After that day, all I could do was search on the internet looking at other Ruckus builds and knew I had bit the bug.  I have built numerous cars over the years for myself, helped build cars for my friends, and for companies to be displayed at trade shows like SEMA but nothing had taken me like the Ruckus.

I jokingly told my partner WE needed a Ruckus, and all she could ask me was where I planned on parking it since we had no enclosed garage and we live on the second floor of a condo. I had already thought about this and knew I was going to use the Ruckus as a showpiece for the @hnrsoc shop. My next hurdle was coming up with the funds because we had just opened up our shop and all of our money went to construction and inventory but luckily I had found a used Ruckus locally on Offerup. After negotiating for weeks with the previous owner I traded him three BMX bicycles, a carbon fibre road bicycle, and tools in my storage, and gave him $700 in cash. 

Owning the Ruckus I feel like I've never enjoyed one of my builds so much. It has freed me in a sense. I've owned plenty of cars and most were built for the car show scene but the problem is you've built a car to the point you can't even enjoy it anymore. You're afraid of getting rock chips, door dings, or putting on too many miles but with the Ruckus it's completely different. All I ever want to do is get on it and ride it. It's something I'm extremely proud of and riding it is so fun and exhilarating. I look for reasons to ride every day and with it only taking one gallon of gas it's cheap thrills and gives you smiles for miles.

I'm very fortunate to have numerous parts from @tokyoparts Japan that are no longer manufactured as well as several components that are from the first generation of aftermarket pieces from other companies which are also no longer available. The combination of these parts as well as the style of how I built it helps make it stand out but it's not necessarily what makes my bike unique but what my bike represents to the mini moto community.

Riding is a lot more fun when in a group setting so I organize meetups and rides so we can collectively enjoy a cruise out to a car meet, a car show, or even a lowrider cruise together.  Our Taco Night Cruises have become quite popular and every time we host it more and more riders come because it's a fun ride and we treat ourselves to something delicious to eat at the end and enjoy the time with other fellow riders. One thing I've learned from riding is most often it's not necessarily about the destination but more about enjoying the journey together. It's like that saying, "Life's a journey, enjoy the ride".

My partner and I also host an annual event at our shop called The Honor Roll Mini Moto Show. It's a show specifically for custom-built scooters and we have trophies honouring the best builds and have the support of models as well as numerous companies as sponsors. It has become recognized as the event to show off your build and compete against the best scooters on the west coast.  We have several competitors who travel out of state just to see how their builds compare to the rest.

Additionally, since I ride so often I have become knowledgeable about the Ruckus and the ins and outs of it. I've broken down plenty of times and each time learned what happened and what to do to repair the issue. Now because of this, I have extended my retail boutique with half of a garage set up to help support other scooter riders with maintenance and custom builds.

What do you think?

Please leave your comments in the comments section at the bottom of the page

Gold Ruckus Specs:

WHEELS:

• Machine machine CCW2 wheels 12x7 rear 12x4 front
• Shinko SR723 white wall tires 120/70/12

ENGINE:

• Steady Garage Gy6 motor
• NCY camshaft
• NCY clutch
• NGK spark plug and wire
• Yoshimura monkey exhaust
• Steady Garage custom header
• ATR wiring harness
• ATR engine mount
• Antigravity lithium battery

SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:

• ATR front lowering shocks
• ATR lowering mount
• ATR rear shock
• ATR front disk brakes
• ATR rear disk brakes
• ATR triple tree

EXTERIOR:

• Password Jdm handlebars
• Password Jdm carbon fibre rear fender
• Password Jdm carbon seat
• Password Jdm carbon gas cover
• Tokyo parts carbon neck
• Tokyo parts carbon side skirts
• Tokyo parts carbon fibre front fender
• Tokyo parts tow hook
• SCR ankle biter plate
• The Ruck Shop carbon side steps
• The Ruck Shop lowering headlight bracket
• The Ruck Shop carbon frame splitter
• The Ruck Shop rear tail light
• The Ruck Shop ultimate ankle biter kit
• Full custom dress-up kit
• Chimera lowered seat frame
• Chimera foot pegs
• Chimera gas tank protector
• Custom luggage cover
• CRG mirrors

Tiffany Blue/White Ruckus Specs:

WHEELS:

• Machine machine Millennium Star wheels 12x7 rear 12x4 front 
• Shinko SR723 white wall tires 120/70/12

ENGINE:

• Steady Garage GY6 motor
• Steady Garage Torpedo exhaust
• Steady Garage custom header
• OKO 26mm carb

SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:

• Feign front disk brakes
• Adelin brake handles
• Rolling wrench front lowered shocks
• Standard Functions mount
• Standard Functions rear shock

EXTERIOR:

• Full custom dress-up kit
• The Ruck Shop stabilizer bar
• The Ruck Shop front footrest
• Ace well speedometer
• CRG mirrors
• NCY chrome handlebars
• ATR harness
• ATR engine mount
• Chimera lowering headlight bracket
• Chimera rear tail light
• Custom seat upholstery by @rau.gelio from an authentic Gucci purse
• Frame, seat, and headlight bracket powder coated Tiffany Blue

When I first picked up the Ruckus I had no clue what I was looking at and so I reached out to @steadygarage and they helped me get the bike dialled in with maintenance and tuning as well as installing some upgrades. After some time riding it and enjoying it I became a little bit more familiar with the Ruckus but it wasn't until a really good friend of mine @homemadepowa truly helped me understand how to work on the ruckus.

He would drive up from San Diego when he was available and would help me take apart the motor or complete electrical work with the wiring harness. I owe a debt of gratitude to him because if it wasn't for him taking the time to show me I would not be able to work on my Ruckus to install upgrades as well as help other fellow riders with their bikes now.

The blue and white bike is a 100% @steadygarage build. At this point, I just help maintain it and make sure it's in tip-top shape for riding. 

Future Plans

Our next project we have coming up involves a sidecar we recently picked up. A couple of years ago we were inspired by seeing other scooter riders who took their dogs with them on rides but the dogs were small and would sit in the rider's backpack. We've always wanted to take our 100lb Pitbull @fishythe_atomicdog on rides but because of his size and weight we knew he wasn't going to fit into any backpack and we definitely needed a sidecar.  In order to safely accommodate his size and weight during turns and braking, we knew we needed help customizing the sidecar

We have been working with a fabricator, David Gutierrez, on getting beefier mounts and custom parts which will help increase the overall safety for Fishy and last time we checked it's almost ready to be picked up. Our dream of having Fishy join us on rides is going to become a reality soon and we cannot wait. It is going to be a very special thing to see him enjoying the rides with us.

Advice/Tips

My advice would be to do some research first to see what kind of style and theme you want to go with and decide how extensive you want to take the Ruckus. If you want to keep the stock GET 49cc motor there are internal upgrades you can complete and then change the look of the bike with a stretch, lowering and wheels. If you're looking to do a full build with an engine swap, paint change, and fatty wheel set up you're going to have to decide on these major components first because you will have to order your parts, break down the entire bike, and build it from there.

It's much more costly for someone who decides to go with a motor swap on a skinny wheel set up and then months later go with a fatty wheel setup because the hub and engine mount all correlate to what wheel and engine set up you have so it's best to think of what your end goal is first and then work your way backwards. I would also say to reach out to people within the community for advice because scooter riders are some of the most helpful people you will ever meet. They'll happily lend you a hand, lend you some tools, or even fill up your gas tank. I would also strongly recommend anyone who picks up a Ruckus or a scooter to go on a group ride with other fellow riders because it is a whole new world of fun and happiness riding in a group.

Shout Outs

I'd like to shout out the entire @hnrsoc squad of riders and supporters. We are nothing without our support system. I'd like to thank my sponsors @steadygarage @yoshimura_rd @antigravitybatteries @shinkotires @tokyoparts @theruckshop @riderbag @mobil1

The car scene has brought many friends whom I like to call my chosen family. It has brought me the support I never knew I thought I could have. It has brought me a passion that I get to enjoy sharing with other people. It has brought me a partner I couldn't live without. It has given me a reason to get up and enjoy my days with everyone who also enjoys tinkering on cars and bikes so passionately the way I do. I don't think I would be able to enjoy life as much as I do without the car scene.

Dream Vehicle

My dream car right now is a Sprinter Van decked out with a sleeping area and kitchen space and a garage to store my scooters so I can transport them to different destinations around the country so I can ride in other beautiful places.

Please leave your comments in the comments section at the bottom of the page

'The future is bright as long as we can still Smell the Fumes'

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