I'm a Yamaha Scoot guy and have alot of knowledge and experience on that brand but recently came across an Elite owner who bought an early to mid. 80's Elite last year.
Friends of mine have owned Sprees, Aeros etc. over the years and this one has me baffled.
At the store in front of me, I saw an Elite 50, kind of a candy apple red colour, no kick start, no brake lever on the left side which means the right one was a drum brake for front and for the back drum brake was a foot plunger coming from the floor board.
This thing had a bizzarro curly-shaped pipe coming out of the muffler-kind of like 3 pieces of elbow macaroni curving back and forth.
The owner who is older (retired) didn't tell me the year and if he even mentioned it, it passed me right by but this 50 IS a 4-stroke, I know this as I saw the crankcase plug on the right side.
It's insured as a "50" (supposedly) but I've also seen my local insurers (government insurers) who've made mistakes and insured Aero 80's as 50's and we do have the 50 CC or under regulations for mopeds, anything higher is a motorcycle.
My curiousity has been raised, he did buy it from the prev. owner with only 214 kms. on it for a cool $700 and one year later I saw 5500 kms. on the odometer. While waiting to hear from his son as I suggested he contact me later as I have experience with buying after-market parts on ebay etc. (the owner's computer illiterate LOL) I've been searching for a manual and do know that for the most part, all manuals on here will probably suffice to a certain degree.
He told me that Honda said they couldn't get a manual for his but I doubt it. I've been doing some searching but I cannot seem to actually find a 50 in the 4-stroke from say mid-80's and if I had to guess I'd say his might be an '88 but all I've seen are scoots higher than 50 cc's if a 4-stroke designation. My Yamaha's are all higher than 50 even though they are all registered as 50 and with cheaper insurance so could it be that he has a Honda which may have a higher cc engine than what the Elite 50 decals on the side say? I'm not talking modified original but a replaced engine maybe?
Canadian model purchased back in the mid 80's and I've suggested that he try to buy a few spare parts for the future while he still doesn't need 'em-he agrees. He also told me he needs a service manual and I mentioned that it should be pretty straight-forward for most things except maybe for certain specs. like torque values etc. Also, I believe he'll need to buy certain parts now while he can but it's not the same as say for Yamahas-I can still get parts for 20 yr. old models locally and actually pretty cheaply/easily.
So, Honda Scoot fanatics, 50CC 4-stroke in mid-80's range is this possible? Remember, no kickstart either. Nice long seat too, similar to the mid 70's CT70 trail bikes. On the right side where exhaust is, his is extremely low so-much-so that it hides most of his rear wheel and very unlike Yamaha's etc. where the exhaust sits up above axle height.
Thanks everyone in advance!
Early 80's Elite 50 4-Stroke???
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oggiedoggie
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Early 80's Elite 50 4-Stroke???
Last edited by oggiedoggie on Thu May 29, 2008 12:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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oggiedoggie
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Wow, quick reply! I have a pic of it and as I mentioned above, in some ways I think a fast one was pulled and this is NOT a 50 even though the decals say it is. Trust me on this too, I know alot about scoots and pretty fair minded-know some owners will mod it and cheat on yearly insurance etc.
Side-by-side to one of my '05 BWS's and it was pretty big, the seat was just the gradual 2-up and as long as my BW's. When I saw the floor brake it reminded me of the starter plunger on my '49 Dodge Fargo
Okay, in the open forum oggie admits he's dim, how do I upload a picture from within my PC????
Ahh, scratch that question, oggie read the faq's so the easiest way to see it, check out the link, picture #5 from the top of all Honda Pics and obviously change this to a live link (i've been informed from other places to disable the live part so you just change it yourself). //http://www3.telus.net/dougsimpson/HondaScooters.html.
Actually guys, this forum (yours) I happened on, very nice but it might help some of you to know about Doug's too-everyone always helping others everywhere you look
Side-by-side to one of my '05 BWS's and it was pretty big, the seat was just the gradual 2-up and as long as my BW's. When I saw the floor brake it reminded me of the starter plunger on my '49 Dodge Fargo
Okay, in the open forum oggie admits he's dim, how do I upload a picture from within my PC????
Ahh, scratch that question, oggie read the faq's so the easiest way to see it, check out the link, picture #5 from the top of all Honda Pics and obviously change this to a live link (i've been informed from other places to disable the live part so you just change it yourself). //http://www3.telus.net/dougsimpson/HondaScooters.html.
Actually guys, this forum (yours) I happened on, very nice but it might help some of you to know about Doug's too-everyone always helping others everywhere you look
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oggiedoggie
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Yes, this would be it.
me thinks a fast one was pulled
After signing up here on Wednesday, I started digging and came up with service manuals. No 50's but 80's etc.
I've been informed by the owner's son, it's a 1985 and yeah I've sent him some info as well as the online manuals. Curiosity will keep me going, I mentioned that for 1985 there weren't any 4-stroke 50's.
I do remember seeing the crankcase filler and cap so I know it was definitely a 4. I'll be asking him if he knows anything more of the bike's history as maybe a swapperoo was done and of course this is classified as a no-no in our province and would be based on false insurance. I could care less but insurance is null and void if caught with a different designation than declared plus the guy's close to being a senior citizen and of course no motorcycle license...
One of my friends once had a 1985 Aero 80 but since the insurer made a mistake many years ago, each time he insured it, it did say 80 on the document but for some reason it slipped their attention and he got away with not having a motorcycle license as it's required for anything over 50CC's here.
I'll add to the info later once I find out what's happened and maybe I saw the Elite 50 but there was such a large space between Elite and 50 that perhaps a "1" was removed? I know there was a CH150 in 1985 so......
You Honda "nuts" MUST know about Jack's???? LOL
//http://www.jacksscootershop.com/scooter_models.html
me thinks a fast one was pulled
After signing up here on Wednesday, I started digging and came up with service manuals. No 50's but 80's etc.
I've been informed by the owner's son, it's a 1985 and yeah I've sent him some info as well as the online manuals. Curiosity will keep me going, I mentioned that for 1985 there weren't any 4-stroke 50's.
I do remember seeing the crankcase filler and cap so I know it was definitely a 4. I'll be asking him if he knows anything more of the bike's history as maybe a swapperoo was done and of course this is classified as a no-no in our province and would be based on false insurance. I could care less but insurance is null and void if caught with a different designation than declared plus the guy's close to being a senior citizen and of course no motorcycle license...
One of my friends once had a 1985 Aero 80 but since the insurer made a mistake many years ago, each time he insured it, it did say 80 on the document but for some reason it slipped their attention and he got away with not having a motorcycle license as it's required for anything over 50CC's here.
I'll add to the info later once I find out what's happened and maybe I saw the Elite 50 but there was such a large space between Elite and 50 that perhaps a "1" was removed?
I know there was a CH150 in 1985 so......You Honda "nuts" MUST know about Jack's???? LOL
//http://www.jacksscootershop.com/scooter_models.html
That's an Elite 80. That bike is still sold today and its vertually identical to the one that first appeared in the 80's.
http://powersports.honda.com/scooters/m ... elId=CH807
http://powersports.honda.com/scooters/m ... elId=CH807
http://www.hondaspree.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4708
Post a picture of your bike by following this guide.
To me, going from the picture you told me it looks like is an elite 80. But i dont believe there was an 80 with a foot brake. Post some pictures of your bike and we will help you find out.
Post a picture of your bike by following this guide.
To me, going from the picture you told me it looks like is an elite 80. But i dont believe there was an 80 with a foot brake. Post some pictures of your bike and we will help you find out.
"Its not what you ride, its that you ride"
1996--------Honda Elite S-
1991--------Tomos Targa-
And a Bunch of other bikes.
1996--------Honda Elite S-
1991--------Tomos Targa-
And a Bunch of other bikes.
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oggiedoggie
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Well, mystery solved today. Had emailed the guy's son with the included manuals and I "suggested" that his "must" be something other than a 50? That space between Elite and 50, guess most with common sense could figure out, number's missing. His son is in his late 40's, guess he thought he'd advise his dad to have a talk with me about this pseudo-50 Honda. He said he scratched out the "1"
Got to talking with this retired fellow and he told me that when he went to the auto insurer and had the previous owner's reg., up came "150" but he told them "no, it's a 50." So of course he then has insurance for a 50CC scooter which is 23 years old. Or actually, he "thinks" he has "insurance" he actually doesn't and in the event of liability or accident, all null and void for many reasons.
I told him today, IF he gets into an accident, he can pretty much assume he'll be taking the bike home as there is NO insurance on it, he is retired and doesn't have a motorcycle license and yeah, criminal charges later. Hey, touch wood, hopefully no accidents but one can never tell huh? I suggested that the 150 appears to be very similar to the 50's but the difference is the rules for insuring and the potential. These ARE pretty fast IMO
I told the guy many of us are not strangers to pulling fast ones but had I been beside him and even heard his motor upon takeoff from a light etc.,, "I'D have known" what it was pushing. He tells me it can hit 100km on the speedo and what do you think about my warning to him when I mentioned "well, when at a light and the cops drive up, do NOT take off like a maniac." The 150 has some good output and believe it or not, insurance should be around $1200 but he's paying $125, plus no training on a motorcycle and here we have Graduated Licensing and the mandatory course at $360
So, mystery solved and had I seen this thing for sale at $700, I'd have immediately grabbed it, still has original tires which surprisingly aren't cracked after 23 years either. I think it was between $3000-$5000 new in '85 and yeah the 2nd owner now says he has the original bills etc. so I guess it's a good thing our Auto Insurers are often so overworked they don't know how to cross-refernce their previous insurer based on the fact he has the original docs.
It's all actually funny too, perhaps some of you reading this can use the advice, I'd say that it's even a heads-up for when modifying your 50 to higher output and your insurer requires you to be straight with them. Another thing I asked about when I mod mine and yes they hear it all the time-guy's insuring it as a 50, they ask a few questions to see if it's been changed and the guy says he installed a performance kit and well, oh-oh........
A p.s. too, in our province we are not allowed to take anything less than a 50 on the highways-guess because the trucks going by could blow us over. Actually still applies to scooter designated ones if they are still of same gvwr but have higher cc's like the 150. Makes sense too, ever get passed by a car on one of these, a little wobbly I'd say LOL. Technically though, the only thing about an Elite 150 being a motorcycle is b/c of the cc's 'cuz surely they aren't much different in size and weight from the 1985 50's are they????
Got to talking with this retired fellow and he told me that when he went to the auto insurer and had the previous owner's reg., up came "150" but he told them "no, it's a 50." So of course he then has insurance for a 50CC scooter which is 23 years old. Or actually, he "thinks" he has "insurance" he actually doesn't and in the event of liability or accident, all null and void for many reasons.
I told him today, IF he gets into an accident, he can pretty much assume he'll be taking the bike home as there is NO insurance on it, he is retired and doesn't have a motorcycle license and yeah, criminal charges later. Hey, touch wood, hopefully no accidents but one can never tell huh? I suggested that the 150 appears to be very similar to the 50's but the difference is the rules for insuring and the potential. These ARE pretty fast IMO
I told the guy many of us are not strangers to pulling fast ones but had I been beside him and even heard his motor upon takeoff from a light etc.,, "I'D have known" what it was pushing. He tells me it can hit 100km on the speedo and what do you think about my warning to him when I mentioned "well, when at a light and the cops drive up, do NOT take off like a maniac." The 150 has some good output and believe it or not, insurance should be around $1200 but he's paying $125, plus no training on a motorcycle and here we have Graduated Licensing and the mandatory course at $360
So, mystery solved and had I seen this thing for sale at $700, I'd have immediately grabbed it, still has original tires which surprisingly aren't cracked after 23 years either. I think it was between $3000-$5000 new in '85 and yeah the 2nd owner now says he has the original bills etc. so I guess it's a good thing our Auto Insurers are often so overworked they don't know how to cross-refernce their previous insurer based on the fact he has the original docs.
It's all actually funny too, perhaps some of you reading this can use the advice, I'd say that it's even a heads-up for when modifying your 50 to higher output and your insurer requires you to be straight with them. Another thing I asked about when I mod mine and yes they hear it all the time-guy's insuring it as a 50, they ask a few questions to see if it's been changed and the guy says he installed a performance kit and well, oh-oh........
A p.s. too, in our province we are not allowed to take anything less than a 50 on the highways-guess because the trucks going by could blow us over. Actually still applies to scooter designated ones if they are still of same gvwr but have higher cc's like the 150. Makes sense too, ever get passed by a car on one of these, a little wobbly I'd say LOL. Technically though, the only thing about an Elite 150 being a motorcycle is b/c of the cc's 'cuz surely they aren't much different in size and weight from the 1985 50's are they????