Spree falling on its face? Hard to start?

pachood · Post by **pachood** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 7:34 pm

So I just bought my spree from my buddy who has owned it for the past 5 years. He daily drove it rain or shine and it hasnt ever let him down.
Well, he just bought a new vehicle and let this sit for around a month and a half.

When He decided to sell it, we went over there and tried to get it running. It took probably ~20 kicks (starter doesnt work) to get it started..Normally, it only took 1-3 if ridden day to day
I just figured it was due to it sitting for a decently long period of time. Since i have owned it, its doing this all the time, or atleast every time I start it cold.

Could this be something like the electric choke?

So I went in and replaced the spark plug (what is the recommended gap?), cleaned the carb (including removing the main jet and cleaning it out wel, cleaned the bowl of all of the red gunk that was in there..any idea what that was?l) and I cleaned and lightly oiled the foam air filter with K&N cleaner/oil.

At above 20, it will run fine, then fall on its face, run well again fall on its face...etc etc. It feels like it is leaning out/running out of fuel I rode it right after putting it all back together, is it possible the bowl hadnt filled or something is causing fuel to not reach the bowl?

Prior to taking it apart, it would hit right around 31, now Im having troubles breaking 27.

Any input would be great. I need to get to work on monday!

keithw · Post by **keithw** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:15 pm

The red stuff was most likely fuel residue. Clean the carb again. They have such tiny little passages and once they get gummed up it's tough to get them clean.

keithw

dr.ona · Post by **dr.ona** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:40 pm

I agree...clean the carb again.
The hard starting issues could be the bystarter. Have you cleaned the fuel filter yet?

R

pachood · Post by **pachood** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 10:46 pm

How do you guys suggest cleaning it better? Is there a thread somewhere by chance?

I have not cleaned the fuel filter yet. I will call my local dealer and see if they have a new one stocked..If not, how do you clean that?

I have tried using the search function but came up empty handed.

I rode the bike around a bit again, and Its having the hesitation spot right around 22mph, and doesnt quite feel as "zippy" above 15 anymore.

Im new to mopeds, and stuff of this scale. I have a previous history of 2 stroke yamaha ATV's and dirt bikes, so I have been through a bit of this before..

I took a second look and it appears one of the prongs on my bystarter was broken, so I will start with trying to find a new one..\

Thanks for the help so far.

stephan

dr.ona · Post by **dr.ona** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 11:09 pm

Cleaning the fuel filter is pretty simple...
You'll have to remove your petcock...and pull the filter out from the fuel tank. Sometimes they get stuck in there pretty good. It's just a screen type filter...like the oil filter. While your at it, you may want to flush the fuel tank with fresh gas and clean the petcock.
It sounds like your carb jet is plugged. I would clean it again and when your done...clean it again. I know it sucks but like someone mentioned earlier, these have small holes and plug easy.

Let us know what happens...

Robert

keithw · Post by **keithw** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 11:17 am

Don't go poking wires into the passages or you will mess up the carb. Get a can or two of good quality spray carb cleaner. Hose out all the passeges several times. Most of the carb cleaners make the o-rings swell like crazy so take them out. If you can find a jar or can that the carb will fit into spray the carb over the can to catch the cleaner. Then drop the carb into it and let is soak for a little bit.

The best way to keep the carb from clogging up is to ride it regularly. If you plan to park it drain the float bowl. That's what that lowest screw on the carb is for.

If you plan to park it over the winter or other long storage run the tank about empty then fill up with 100 octane low lead aviation fuel. The stuff just doesn't go bad in storage. You still need to drain the float bowl. Having the tank full keeps the moisture out. The avgas has a much longer shelf life, and the scooter will run fine on it.

Sorry, avgas will not give you a bunch more power. It just happens to have a great shelf life. It can be fussy to get, you need to go to a small airport where they have a bit of a sense of humor. Technically, since the road use tax has not been paid on it using it on the road is illegal. However, I've never been pulled over and had the fuel in my tank checked.

keithw

pachood · Post by **pachood** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 12:41 pm

Keithw:
Thats pretty much what I did. Although, I did not soak it, I sprayed it pretty well, and also took out the jets and hosed them well. I used a magnifying glass to check the passage on the jet, and it appeared to be clean. I may just buy a new one.

Is the idle jet the same jet used for the bystarter?

I didnt poke around for too long in there because I didnt have too much time, and I didnt want to lose something in/for the carb rushing..(been down that path..)

And my dads good friend builds light 2 seater planes, and owns an airport, I can always get AV fuel.
But, I dont plan on storing this anytime soon..I plan on riding it daily to work until it gets too cold to do so.

I actually urged him to sell this because my Volvo has been down for the past month and a half while Im on a waiting list to get it in the shop. My girlfriend was getting pretty sick of taking me to work at 7am every day.

Kenny_McCormic · Post by **Kenny_McCormic** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 12:59 pm

Yea AVgas is the best fuel available for storage, the FAA says its good for 5 years IIRC.

hondaman · Post by **hondaman** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:08 pm

All you have to do is add stabil gas treatment to a full tank of fresh gas. You can get Stabil just about anywhere. That will keep any gas good for up to a year. Aviation fuel? Give me a break.

keithw · Post by **keithw** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:28 pm

Sta-bil is a good product. Av gas is about a buck a gallon more than premium and you only need about half a gallon. I don't have any argument with either one.

BTW, we drained 10 year old AV gas out of my friends plane and it was in perfect condition.

keithw

Kenny_McCormic · Post by **Kenny_McCormic** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 11:19 pm

hondaman wrote:All you have to do is add stabil gas treatment to a full tank of fresh gas. You can get Stabil just about anywhere. That will keep any gas good for up to a year. Aviation fuel? Give me a break.

Aviation fuel will last 5x that and it cant lean ya out like alcohol in a bottle (stabil).

hondaman · Post by **hondaman** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 11:31 am

Stabil will not lean the engine out. I just think it makes much more sense to add stabil in the tank ,at the end of the riding season, to store the bike over winter, then to run around trying to find aviation fuel. If you are not going to run the bike for 5 years why even keep it?

keithw · Post by **keithw** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:56 pm

Now, now. Both are good solutions. One better for some and the other better for others. Not worth getting into a big argument over. I prefer Av gas because I have ready access to it. If it's a pain to get then Sta-bil is a better solution.

Let's just get along.

keithw

pachood · Post by **pachood** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:15 pm

Hey now kids..

I just ordered a used muffler off ebay. It was just a LITTLE different then the one on the bike, like the actual outlet tube was a little longer, and the canister seems to be a slight bit bigger. I heated the muffler up with a torch to burn some of the carbon out before I threw it on...

Heres the auction
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 32489&rd=1

Now its waay louder. I dont think its already drilled, but its possible. Could I have messed anything up with the torch? I did not go crazy, or heat one spot excessively.

Now its pretty much gotten rid of the dead spot..but iam not able to get up to 31 like I could. Now Im more around 28 when fully warm.

Could the jet have been dirty enough to be running slightly lean, and once clean running a little too rich? Its an 86 jet which I believe is the factory size.

I also just put in new injection oil, which was valvoline for a snowmobile..Now its smoking like crazy..Im going to dump it out and go honda once I can get accross town to the dealer.

Now that I have the bystarter disconnected, it seems to be easier to start, just takes a little more attention to keep it running until warm.