Question for a guy who knows nothing.

[dcbarner]

My dad is "gifting" me with an 86 Spree. I like Mopeds, but I know nothing about them. This marks the beginning of figuring out what the heck I'm doing with this thing. So, he says he done a bunch of stuff to it and the like, but there is a problem with the compression in the cylinder. He says that it's not make enough vacuum to pull the gas into the cylinder.

Question 1: What the * does that mean?

Question 2: How do I start to gain enough information to be able to assess the problem?

If you all could help, I'd appreciate it. I'll post pics when I take possession.

Thank you all.

Dane

[portable]

do a compression test. if you dont know what that is , try to find a friend that tinkers with cars or bikes . take off the side plastics, unscrew the spark plug(righty tighty, lefty loosy)and insert/thread in a compression tester. it looks like a hose with threads on one end, and a gauge on the other. crank/kick it over four or five compression stokes & observe the reading. it should be above 110-114 to get things poppin. if you can't find anyone with a tester, Sears has different types at a reasonable price.

[odinxxix]

first get a compression reading and see what you have,the min for the 86 according to the manual is 114psi, but if its less then say 110, you will need new rings,and worse case senario a whole new cylinder. check the petcock located just under the small front cover under the seat, suck(no joke) on the fuel inlet hose if fuel flows its good. thats a good starting point. lets us know what you come up with. and congrats on the spree. enjoy and have fun

[dcbarner]

take off the side plastics, unscrew the spark plug(righty tighty, lefty loosy)and insert/thread in a compression tester.

That's funny.

Okay. I'm going to need pictures of what to look for. If anyone can take a picture of what I'm looking for it would be helpful. I do have a buddy who tinkers (with Harley's albiet) and may be able to help me.

Any other information would be great guys.

Dane

[motomech]

Doing a compression test on something like a Spree is somewhat tricky.
The swept volume of the cyl. is so little, in comparison to the volume of the gauge/hose/adaptor, that usually the readings are on the low side.
Suffice to say, with one's thumb over the spark plug hole and cranking w/ the throttle open, it should "pop" one's thumb off w/ some authority.