Indulge yourself for a minute and imagine making a journey across the vast land of the United States of America. How would you travel across the continental 48 states? By car, train or plane? Either of those answers would be considered doable, although plane would be the most expensive and least fun of all. But what if you had to do the trip by scooter? At a top speed of 40mph, the Honda Ruckus may not seem like a candidate for a proper road trip vehicle, but don't tell that to Wan Lee of Seoul, South Korea who last year made a round trip across the country from his starting base of Fayetteville, North Carolina. With the gas tank in his Ruckus topped off, Wan enlisted the help of the perfect strangers on the TotalRuckus.com message board who aided in everything from the language barrier, technical problems with the scooter and providing the weary traveler a couch to crash on. We asked Wan a few questions about his journey and could see every exciting moment flash back in his eyes.

  • Ruckus Bowls T Shirt
  • Ruckus North Carolina
  • Ruckus Tipped Over

Super street: tell us how you got started on this trip.
Wan Lee: I worked at a Canadian restaurant in Korea for a year to save up some money. I always dreamed of going to another country to do some traveling, camping, seeing the beautiful nature and meeting the local people. My aunt lives in North Carolina, so I went there in July 2007. I wanted to buy a big dual-purpose motorcycle, like a 500cc Yamaha XT. I went to the DMV, but found out I had to pay for both an automobile and a motorcycle license with insurance on top of that. I gave up on buying a big motorcycle and considered taking a Greyhound bus or an Amtrak train. Also, I didn't have any friends here who would travel with me or help me on my journey; I was by myself. I had problems getting information from the DMV because on the phone they would speak too fast and tell me to call back with someone who was a native English speaker or just go to the DMV website. Then I started to think about a smaller motorcycle. In Korea, you don't need a license or registration for 49cc bikes and I was familiar with the Ruckus, so I began to think of that. I found the TotalRuckus.com forum and they were very friendly and kind. They helped me understand what was needed for traveling with the Ruckus.

  • Ruckus Wildlife Crossing
  • Ruckus Camping
  • Ruckus Montana

Did you have a plan of where to go and people you would meet?
No plan about meeting people. When I started driving with the Ruckus, it was October 22, 2007. It was getting cold, so I couldn't go north. I looked on the map and just picked something I recognized, which happened to be Miami, Florida. Before I started, I posted on the forum to say thanks and update them on where I was going. When I first posted about my wanting to drive across the country on a Ruckus, they thought I was kidding. But a lot of people cheered me on, saying things like, "If you do this, you're my hero!" or "Wan 4 President!" (laughs out loud). I didn't have a laptop; so a few days after I left, I went to a library and found that people (on the forum) were wondering how I was doing. Whenever I was having a hard time on the trip, I would try to look at the forum where people were very nice. It was so refreshing that the people were nice. In Korea, people are not like that.

By Terence Patrick, Wan Lee
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