Spree Engine Swap: Honda Elite CH80 onto Spree

[Tyler VR]

Hello Everyone,

It's time for another engine swap, just for fun. I've already done a 125cc 2 stroke spree swap but I thought a 4 stroke spree would be cool. The elite 80 has an air cooled engine, all the larger Honda 4 stroke scooters are water cooled. This swap has been done before, so I'm not completely in the dark on how to go about the swap. It won't be as fast as my nh125, but it will still be a quick spree.



I purchased this 1985 Honda Elite for $60, it has about 4000 miles on the odometer. The Scooter was purchased from a Honda dealer by the previous owners family and spent it's last days as a pit scooter at the race track. No title or key, but the price was right for a donor swap.

With a little effort I got it fired up, seems to run all right. The back tire is flat so I haven't road it more that 4 ft.

[patthesoundguy]

Love the idea . Can't wait to see some pics when you get along in the build

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Tyler VR]

Got all the plastics off, labeled the wiring and getting ready remove everything else.

[Tyler VR]

Got the elite stripped down.

[Tyler VR]

Cut out the elite frame section with the center stand and where the motor mounts.
I'm going to weld it onto the spree, it will be cut down more when I get to fitting.

[Tyler VR]

Planning on doing a front fork swap too.

[Tyler VR]

So here's the spree, finally. The plan is to strip it down and do some mock up fitting of the 80 engine this weekend.

[Tyler VR]

I got the spree from a local guy who has over 100 scooters, he's pretty much a hoarder. I gave him all the plastics off the elite 80 and got a little discount. I've been to his place a couple times in the past, but this time I asked his permission to take pics of his scooters. Uploading them now...

[Tyler VR]

Elite collection

[patthesoundguy]

Looks like heaven to me:-D

Sent from my LG-C800G using Tapatalk 2

[Tyler VR]

[paulpauly7]

how did he get so many scooters really its just a waste of good hondas that could be out on the street

[Tyler VR]

how did he get so many scooters really its just a waste of good hondas that could be out on the street

I remember him telling me he's bought a lot of scooters at garage/yard/estate sales, the classifieds or whenever one came up for cheap. I'm assuming Craigslist too, since that's how he found my aero 125 parts I was selling awhile back.

I'm guessing it started as a collection became hoarding at some point. He's retired so he makes extra money buying and selling them, but his prices are high and prefers to sell complete scooters rather than parts.

[rowdyc]

I'm enjoying watching the progress of your project. Keep up the good work.

Wonderful pictures of all of those scooters. To a true Honda scooter lover, those pictures are wonderful and disturbing but If i had the means, I'll prob be just like him. I've been looking for a nice Aero 50 for quiet a while and seeing those makes me

I'm going to drop the engine on my Elite to get to the carb, again, and do a valve adjustment. I know I don't have to but if the process is not difficult, I think I'll like doing that better, as I'm having trouble with the small spaces. May you provide some detail in regards to removing the Elite engine? How long did it take and do you have any tips that the manual does not provide?

[Tyler VR]

I'm enjoying watching the progress of your project. Keep up the good work.

Wonderful pictures of all of those scooters. To a true Honda scooter lover, those pictures are wonderful and disturbing but If i had the means, I'll prob be just like him. I've been looking for a nice Aero 50 for quiet a while and seeing those makes me

I'm going to drop the engine on my Elite to get to the carb, again, and do a valve adjustment. I know I don't have to but if the process is not difficult, I think I'll like doing that better, as I'm having trouble with the small spaces. May you provide some detail in regards to removing the Elite engine? How long did it take and do you have any tips that the manual does not provide?

Thanks!

I'm still new to the ch80 but from my research you have to remove the engine to do some of the maintenance. With the 1985 model like I have you have to remove the engine just to do a oil change, there's no dipstick tube like the newer model engines.

I've removed a few other scooter engines, the ch80 isn't that different. Since I've done it before it only took 20mins. Here's a quick run down on how I remove engines, in this order:

1. Remove side plastics.
2. Disconnect throttle/brake cables. Don't forget the bracket to the engine for the brake cable.
3. Disconnect wiring, it's all color coded.
Here's a list of wiring that needs to be disconnected, off the top of my head.
-Starter
-Pusler
-Stator
-Bystarter (to carb)
-Spark plug wire
4. Disconnect fuel lines, one from the carb and the other on the intake manifold.
5. Disconnect oil breather lines, one on top of the head and the other on the intake tube.
6. Remove bolt from the top of the spring. The motor will hang down a few inches now.
7. Motor mount unbolting: you could remove the mount from the engine or leave it on and remove them both from the frame. I removed everything from the frame which is one long bolt through and a small 12mm bolt on the center damper of the mount to the frame, take that one off first.