Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Ok I bought this 87 Elite. The clutch was blown and the front wheel was bent, he wanted $40 for it so.... I bought it.
So I got a clutch from VT Cycles and installed it. I thought I want to hear this thing run! so I stole my battery from my 86 Spree and threw it in. the starter would turn but only about 1 revolution. then would only go TICK. If I turn back the bendix gear it would turn again just the same. Also once I reinstalled the cover with the kick start I couldn't push it down. I got scared and thought seized motor. so I pulled the kick cover back off and turned the gear where the starter connects by hand and I could turn it! YEA! (I hope) So.... If any of you have any suggestions on WT@#$!! is wrong with it PLEASE HELP!!! I don't know if my battery had a full charge or if it has enough juice to turn over an Elite but.... Once I reinstalled my battery in the Spree it wouldn't start. So I kicked it and let it run until it would start again. Although I really tried alot on the Elite and may have drained it partially. Batttery should be in good condition I bought it new in October. PLEASE HELP!!!!

Why can't you kick start the elite? Get that fixed.

Charge the battery with a charger less than 2 amps then try again.

it sounds like the previous owner fiddled with the kickstart mechanism inside the belt cover. my guess is that it is jammed into the front drive pulley keeping it from turning while the drive cover is on. and when the drive cover is on the starter wont be able to turn the front drive pulley because the kick start spring/is jammed into it. if you take the cover off it might look of but really actually be a little off. here are some pictures of mine, i have it dissasembled now because im doing a build so i snapped a couple pictures for you.
if this isnt the problem then good luck!

martynkim wrote:Ok I bought this 87 Elite. The clutch was blown and the front wheel was bent, he wanted $40 for it so.... I bought it. starter would turn but only about 1 revolution. then would only go TICK. If I turn back the bendix gear it would turn again just the same. Also once I reinstalled the cover with the kick start I couldn't push it down. I got scared and thought seized motor. so I pulled the kick cover back off and turned the gear where the starter connects by hand and I could turn it!

Is the gasket for the cover missing or messed up? Sounds like cover is causing binding. Been there.

Gasket is not messed up looks fine. I know I messed around moving the gear for the kickstart along as the spring I'm gonna try and match the the pictures

Yeah, get the kick-start mechanism working first, can you move the kick lever by hand with cover off?

I can move the kick on the cover. I'm not sure hoe it eorkd on the bike.

how it works on the bike. ( I mean)

Sounds like a dead battery. When the battery is dead on my jog (using electric start) all it does is click. Try charging it at under 2 amps, and it should run fine once charged.

All I have is a trickle charger and a full on 12 volt charger. Should I use the trickle charger? Then wait how long?

martynkim wrote:All I have is a trickle charger and a full on 12 volt charger. Should I use the trickle charger? Then wait how long?

Either should work, my charger gets up to 16volts at times. Trickle charge is what i see recommended a lot though..

About an hour should do. Does either charger have a charge%? It should fire right up at 80%+

No I got an super old school charger could be older than me and im 40 but it works. Then I have the trickle from harbor freight $5 never used it. Just got into this back in October and the guy at the battery shop said just start it about every 2 weeks. Well I haven't been that good about that cause I've been working on the 77 express and the 69 Z50 and keep forgetting. Now I have the Elite too many projects out of 4 2 run and only the spree runs good. my first that's what got me hooked.

Well leave it on for atleast an hour, my battery took about 6hrs to charge from completely dead.
Just keep charging it, eventually it will turn over, once you hear it acctually firing normally just unhook the charger.

nOW i'M JUST GONNA PUSH IT OFF A CLIFF. d*** CAPS LOCK I tried to align my parts like the pictures shown and I could get like a 1/2 kick. Then it would bind and wouldn't move so I removed the cover again. Aligned the parts again and now bolts are snapping off. Ineed to get an ez out and some NEW bots I guess. I also bought a brand new battery, Installed it and I got the same thing as before. I can't imagine that installing this cover is that difficult but, I can't seem to get it to work! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!

What bolts are snapping, the side cover bolts? Let me know before you push it off that cliff, i might have a working cover for you. I have an 87 elite motor with damaged crank, the rest is ok. Where are you located?