Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

So I went out of town for the weekend with two decently well running spree's, an '84 and an '85. I came home to two dead spree's.

I had trouble throughout the summer getting them to start consistently unless they were being ridden everyday. To remedy it usually if they wouldn't start I would unscrew the idle screw, they would start, and then I would dial it back in during the ride. Well my girlfriend attempted this method while I was gone and unscrewed the air/fuel, so much so that they fell out on both scooters during the ride.

So needless to say they both stopped running. Now I'm trying to get them up and going again. I don't think she did much damage. Replaced the screws, cleaned out both carbs. They both sound as though they want to turn over, cranking, cranking cranking, but neither will start.

I assume it's either the fuel or spark. The fuel wasn't an issue before, both bystarter's have been replaced. So my guess is spark?

Below is a picture of one of the plugs. It looks awfully oily to me but I feel like two strokes tend to get that way. Does it look fouled? If so, what is the proper way of cleaning the oil out of where the plug is seated? Because I took a second plug, threaded it, and then pulled it out and it was covered in oil as well.

Thanks for your help.

check compression, with the screws out she may have run them lean

Crank the engine without the plug see if some oil/fuel comes out. She may have pumped the cylinder full trying to start it. If so, keep cranking until most of it is out. Spray that plug with some carb cleaner wait until it drys and reinstall.

martynkim wrote:Crank the engine without the plug see if some oil/fuel comes out. She may have pumped the cylinder full trying to start it. If so, keep cranking until most of it is out. Spray that plug with some carb cleaner wait until it drys and reinstall.

Crank with the vacuum line off for the petcock and hold it WOT.

Picture of this so called gf? My answer will be based upon her hotness.

Finally got a hold of a compression tester today. The '84 put out 90 lbs, the '85 put out 80 lbs. Thoughts?

CMason wrote:Finally got a hold of a compression tester today. The '84 put out 90 lbs, the '85 put out 80 lbs. Thoughts?

manual shows 114psi, so..

in the automotive racing world, we call this "upgrade time!!"

CMason wrote:Finally got a hold of a compression tester today. The '84 put out 90 lbs, the '85 put out 80 lbs. Thoughts?

The 90 PSI on should start, the 80 PSI one is iffy at best and may never fire up.

Cleaning plug is problematic at best a new plug my let the 90 PSI motor run.

In either case both motors need a rebuild.

Suggestion, Hide the keys next time.

Bear45-70 wrote:In either case both motors need a rebuild.

When you say rebuild do you mean replace the piston rings as seen here: http://hondaspree.net/wiki/index.php5?t ... eplacement? Or is there more to it than that? I have the time and I'd love to get into both of them and do that this winter, I just don't know where to start. I have decent mechanical knowledge, and am pretty well versed in Spree's now, but am still unsure what the must replace parts on a rebuild are.

Any links/tutorials/general advice would be greatly appreciated.

CMason wrote:

Bear45-70 wrote:In either case both motors need a rebuild.

When you say rebuild do you mean replace the piston rings as seen here: http://hondaspree.net/wiki/index.php5?t ... eplacement? Or is there more to it than that? I have the time and I'd love to get into both of them and do that this winter, I just don't know where to start. I have decent mechanical knowledge, and am pretty well versed in Spree's now, but am still unsure what the must replace parts on a rebuild are.

Any links/tutorials/general advice would be greatly appreciated.

The top end needs rebuild. Piston and jug.

You can get away with just a hone job if the cylinder wall is not scratched to bad. The way to tell if the scratches are so bad you need an overbore and an oversized piston and rings is, if you can catch your finger nail in any scratch, then you must bore the cylinder and buy an oversized piston and rings.

Bear45-70 wrote:You can get away with just a hone job if the cylinder wall is not scratched to bad. The way to tell if the scratches are so bad you need an overbore and an oversized piston and rings is, if you can catch your finger nail in any scratch, then you must bore the cylinder and buy an oversized piston and rings.

Also, spec the cylinder. It will only take so many hone jobs before it needs to be bored over.

Pull the spark plug and dump a little oil in the cylinder then rotate the engine. Now try starting it. Sometimes a little oil will raise the compression enough to get the engine running for a short time.

I dont know if this will help you, but, My 86 spree had starting issues to, What I found was if I just turn the key to ON and leave it there for about 3-4 mins, then go ahead and start it,. it starts fine. I think the bystarter has to fully retract or extend before attempting to start it, because if it aint cold outside there should be a need to choke?...Make sense? Well it works for me so...

kpa2004 wrote:I dont know if this will help you, but, My 86 spree had starting issues to, What I found was if I just turn the key to ON and leave it there for about 3-4 mins, then go ahead and start it,. it starts fine. I think the bystarter has to fully retract or extend before attempting to start it, because if it aint cold outside there should be a need to choke?...Make sense? Well it works for me so...

Sounds more like you have a maladjusted carb and it is so rich at idle that the extra fuel from the bystarter prevents starting (floods the engine). Because what you are doing is very abnormal and counter to proper starting procedure.

Greetings:

Quoth KPA:

What I found was if I just turn the key to ON and leave it there for about 3-4 mins, then go ahead and start it,. it starts fine. I think the bystarter has to fully retract or extend before attempting to start it, because if it aint cold outside there should be a need to choke?...Make sense?

Well, it would except that turning the key on does NOT power up the coils to warm the bystarter. IIRC it runs only when the engine spins, like the headlamp. By that logic, Spitting over your left shoulder while standing on your right leg makes sense too. What say you, Master Mouse?