Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

lol i miss read that before. it might work but if there bad ( like cracks or splits ) i think its time to replace. it cant cost that much for 2 mini rubber rings. If you get them from honda they might charge allot but a hardware store would be cheap.

I fooled around with the bike today and now I'm just wondering if I can just richen it up a bit, because I tried moving the air/fuel screw on the carb half a rotation to the right (richer I THINK), and then riding it, and the problem was much better. It's back where it was now but I think just setting the needle another notch (richer) would be better than keeping the mixture screw improperly adjusted.

Thing is, the carburetor cap is being really hard to get off - first of all does it screw off, or pop upwards?

snikro wrote:I fooled around with the bike today and now I'm just wondering if I can just richen it up a bit, because I tried moving the air/fuel screw on the carb half a rotation to the right (richer I THINK), and then riding it, and the problem was much better. It's back where it was now but I think just setting the needle another notch (richer) would be better than keeping the mixture screw improperly adjusted.

Thing is, the carburetor cap is being really hard to get off - first of all does it screw off, or pop upwards?

Tinkering around with the carb can be fun, and I wholeheartedly suggest you indulge in this as a learning process to understand how it works. BUT...if you have an air leak (those o-rings) you should attend to them first, as all the tuning in the world won't fix the underlying problem, only mask it.
Setting the needle a bit richer can compensate for the additional unmetered air (the leak) in the air/fuel mixture, and if it works it will be further proof that you have an air leak, or that it was set incorrectly from the beginnning.
The cap on the carb should screw off counterclockwise, and you can pull the slide and needle out with the cap. If you can't turn it with your fingers try pliers and a rag so you don't bung up the aluminum. Be careful and note the position of the slide as it comes out, 'cause it goes back in exactly the same way, and it's possible to jam it in there backwards. I think that the short slot in the slide is away from the engine, that's what your idle adjustment screw sits on. It's pretty obvious how the throttle cable comes off the slide (don't let the spring get away from you). Note the notch that the needle jet is set at. The lower the notch, the higher the needle, the richer the mixture. Don't bung up the needle and keep everything clean, clean, clean. Since you've gone this far you might as well loosen 2 more bolts and take the whole carb off and clean it out. Dare to disassemble. Print out a parts diagram, this is a dead simple carb.
BUT...try new o-rings, which may be an odd size for a hardware store, and if you find something that fits make sure that it's made of nitrile or something that's compatible with gasoline, which rubber plumbing orings ain't, and you're asking for trouble if you use them.
I have an o-ring kit with a zillion orings, and none of them are the right size. You may get lucky, though. Keep us posted, I'm on edge of my chair.
JohnP

Just to be safe should I readjust the mixture screw before fooling around with the notches? How many turns out from tight is it for an aero 50?

Its probably in the tech docs.

Ok yeah I found it in the manual, but it doesn't say whether to readjust the air screw with the engine on or off, but just to make sure the engine is warm.

Also, it says after adjusting the air screw you should reset idle speed, but I don't have a tachometer. Is there any other way to guage the rpms? (The engine has to be on for this so that's why I think it might have to be for adjusting the mixture screw as well)

Set the mix screw to what manual says, then set idle so the back wheel doesn't spin when its idling on the stand and when you throttle it on the stand the back wheel stops after a few seconds.

Kenny_McCormic wrote:Set the mix screw to what manual says, then set idle so the back wheel doesn't spin when its idling on the stand and when you throttle it on the stand the back wheel stops after a few seconds.

Ok and all of this is while the bikes running, right?

Well I adjusted the screws and since that didn't seem to change the engine behaviour much I thought I would see if I could move the needle clip. Thing is, I canNOT get the carburetor cap off. I used pliers, and while I can get grip, when you twist the thing is so tight on that instead of it screwing off itself, the whole scooter moves Ideas?

no ideas for the cap , but napa has metric and inch sizede orings,
if you can measure it i can get u a part #, I werk ther'

All while its running and the cap might be loc tited or something, try warming it up.

What do you mean warming it up? I mean the engine was pretty warm when I tried to take the cap off at least... the thing does not budge at all

So any more ideas about getting that dam cap off?

snikro wrote:So any more ideas about getting that dam cap off?

It's an odd thing that you have there, the cap is just screwed on. Kenny mentioned that it might be loctited on, and in that case you would apply heat, like from a torch. Some loctite needs heat to un-loctite it. Not red hot or anything, just hot.
I'd be hesitant to do this, there's a small gasket under the cap that you'd probably have to replace, and there's a rubber boot on top that keeps it airtight. You don't want air creeping in here either, it'll throw off your settings. I don't know why anyone would want to loctite it, though, unless the threads were really screwed up and they just glued it together.
It's probably just corroded, can't be rusted since it's aluminum. Try squirting some of your favorite penetrating oil up in there and give it an evening to penetrate. After that all you can do is try to muscle it off.
Get the biggest set of pliers you can find, 10-12" long if you have them since the longer they are the more leverage and control you'll have. Have someone hang on to the bike. Get comfortable. Think about where your knuckles are going to end up when you slip or it lets loose. Try not to bung it up too much, use a rag to pad it. If you hold your tongue just right it should come off. You're turning it counter clockwise, right? Getting stuck stuff apart is part of mechanics, it ain't the end of the world, but you really don't want to break it either. But if that happens I've seen carbs on ebay for pretty cheap.
That's about eight ideas, and all I can think of that don't involve explosives or monkeys with hammers. Good luck.
JohnP

Ok I got the cap off but I can't get the grey part off the spring/needle no matter how hard I try.



Is there a special trick or something to get it off? In the manual it just says "remove" (yeah that's pretty helpful)