Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

hello everyone. i just purchased an 85 spree thats been sitting for the past nine years from what ive been told. i just replaced the fuel petcock, bystarter, plug, plug cap. i not having any troubles starting it anymore but when i'm riding it it just bogs down when i try to give it more than half throttle.

also i have noticed that while i'm riding if i put my finger over the carb inlet covering more than 50% of it i can give it all the throttle i want. ive had it up to just over 30mph doing this but as soon as i take my finger away from the carb it bogs down.

any help is appreciated at this point. i'm really confused. thanks in advance

Put an airfilter on. and adjust throttle screw

if your running it without the airbox its running lean thats why its bogging.if you got the airbox put it back on.If you don't have a airbox for it ,get a pod filter and rejet.if you keep running it without rejetting or putting back the airbox you will seize the engine and have to rebuild.

thanks for the reply guys. it does have an air box on it but i'm waiting on the lid to come in that ive ordered. i did try to put the filter in to see if it made a difference but it rode the exact same.

will the airbox lid make that much of a difference? also how do these vacuum petcocks work. can i just put on a regular one and cap the vacuum nipple on the intake?

romulus22 wrote:thanks for the reply guys. it does have an air box on it but i'm waiting on the lid to come in that ive ordered. i did try to put the filter in to see if it made a difference but it rode the exact same.

will the airbox lid make that much of a difference? also how do these vacuum petcocks work. can i just put on a regular one and cap the vacuum nipple on the intake?

No lid is the same as no air box. Makes a major difference. The filter seems to make so little difference as to be unnoticable, at least on mine.

The valve opens only when there is vacuum in the intake manifold. You can install a manual valve and plug the hose goint to the intake.

well that pretty much just cleared up what i was thinking. i guess i'll hold off till my airbox lid comes in and see how it does after that.

thanks again for the help guys

Also if you ordered a brand new one it does not come with the rubber seal that goes into one of the grooves on the bottom of the lid. You need to order that sperate. That rubber is key in getting an air tight seal and running proper.

No lid is the same as no air box. Makes a major difference. The filter seems to make so little difference as to be unnoticable, at least on mine.

Not sure that I can agree with that, at least in one situation. On my 2001 SR50 bbk, airbox alone improves performance. Put the lid on and it bogs. So when I get it completed, I intend to open up the intake hole (open up the second square presently plugged) and may drill holes in the cover if necessary. I definitely want something holding the filter in place. As I stated in another thread, when you start making mods, all bets are off on problems created and means of solving.

Lunytune wrote:

No lid is the same as no air box. Makes a major difference. The filter seems to make so little difference as to be unnoticable, at least on mine.

Not sure that I can agree with that, at least in one situation. On my 2001 SR50 bbk, airbox alone improves performance. Put the lid on and it bogs. So when I get it completed, I intend to open up the intake hole (open up the second square presently plugged) and may drill holes in the cover if necessary. I definitely want something holding the filter in place. As I stated in another thread, when you start making mods, all bets are off on problems created and means of solving.

A stock Spree will not run without an air bow with lid.

Bear is right. The stock spree is designed by Honda to have the carb jetting to be lean (low on fuel, higher on air) without the airbox. By imposing a restriction from the complete airbox housing, the size of the fresh inlet hole combined with the foam filter element provides the necessary adjustment to the incoming air volume (by reducing it) to become the proper mixture setting at the carb. If the carb jetting was perfect without the airbox (or lidless airbox), by installing the foam filter element and the lid, the engine will run severely rich.

Vacuum petcocks are mechanical switches that's activated when you apply vacuum. It's basically a valve that is normally shut (closed) blocking flow when there's no vacuum. When you apply vacuum, the valve opens up allowing flow to occur. When a petcock goes bad, when there's no vacuum, the valve inside is not sealing properly so it allows some flow to leak past it, so it never closes the valve completely. In some rare cases of extreme temperature or neglect, sometimes the valve won't open and will be stuck in the closed position even when you apply vacuum.

well guys i finally got my lid in and installed it along with a brand new honda seal and filter. started it up and took off, does the same exact thing.

does this sound like it could also be a dirty carb issue?

another thing to note is. since ive bought it and got it running ive gone through over a half tank of gas and ive only put 6 miles on it. i thought these things were supposed to get close to 100 mpg? right now i have the carb set at the recommended 1 7/8 turn out