Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

A week ago I purchased what I was told was a running 87 Honda Spree for cheap off CL. I almost made it home when the starting drive gear fell off, uh oh! I brushed it off as "what do you expect stupid for buying a cheap scooter off CL?" I figured I would paint the thing while I tried to figure out what i need to do to get it running.
I posted some pics of my super nice paint job and was informed that what I actually bought was a 85 Aero 50 by some helpful forum members.
Tonight I went over to a buddies house and with his help was able to determine that we will probably have to pull the whole engine apart to fix the problem as the starting drive gear took a hunk of the shaft it was welded to off with it.
I don't really want to take the time to part the thing out. I probably don't want to dump a bunch more into taking it to a shop for a rebuild. So that leaves either trying to take it to the welder up the street for a patch job, or just sell the thing and try to get my money back. I really like this little scoot and want to ride it, but may be in over my head.
Any suggestions?

it really aint that hard to rebuild it and wont cost much

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

pauly will tell you that most of what i say is pointless, but here are my ramblings on this issue...... your issue is you need a new/used crank.

IF you did this operation, it would be a great learning experience to pull apart the engine and put a new crank in. while the engine was apart you could replace parts that would ensure it would run for 1000's of miles and make it go faster.

If you did this operation you would also... spend $60 on a tool( tusk crank puller) and $25 on another ( flywheel puller) these are tools that you might only use once in your life

you would also need new bearings and seals ( $36.00) and im sure you would find a used crank for around $50 ( member on this forum might give you a better deal).... oh and an engine gasket set $20.00

so by this point you have now spent more money than you paid for your scooter if i rember correctly.

oh and now you still have the electric motor/ no kick start problem.

i think you should try and sell it. parting it out will take along time. i know you can sell that basket on ebay, ive seen ones where you bid, not buy, go upward of $100

if you price things to move they will sell, $15 for a seat, $5 petcock $7 coil not to mention the piston and cylinder are still good.

it shouldn't be hard to recoup your $150 just a little timely, then you can wait for a $300 honda aero with no problems thats just a little "ugly"

I can probably rent those tools from the nice folks at Autozoo. I think I'm going to go for it. Also Devenex recommended throwing an aftermarket variator on there while i'm all up in it. I seem to remember seeing a thread on here where to locate aftermarket parts. $100 for the basket, that's just silly! Maybe I'll sell it off just to pay for some of the parts. Also while I got the sucker all tore apart I can go through and patch all the cracks in the plastic.

If you're going to be splitting the case I would recommend opening up the intake, the intake port, and the exhaust port. Just need a dremel, some chainsaw sharpening bits and patience.

sounds like a build thread is coming

Shornuff! Better head on over to the proper forum...

devenex wrote:If you're going to be splitting the case I would recommend opening up the intake, the intake port, and the exhaust port. Just need a dremel, some chainsaw sharpening bits and patience.

From WikiSpreedia Performance Tech:

-Intake and Air Filter Modifications for the Spree
-Porting Exhaust - Spree

Is this what you are referring too?

paulpauly7 wrote:sounds like a build thread is coming

promise to head over to build forum after this...

Now that this has turned into a build thread I will start posting some pics. first let's look at what went wrong. Dang ol' gear fell off my scoot while driving it home from where I bought it. Wah waaah!

Before photo of scoot and all taken apart to get painted. I primed it with black primer and then flat black. I did a few coats of each. It scratches off really easy so maybe i need to pull it all apart and clear-coat it? I should probably patch up the cracks too while i'm at it. For any noobs out there i recommend using painters tape to hold bolts/washers where they come out of while you paint. it makes it easier to remember where everthing goes.

getting ready to pull the motor out, clean and pull her apart. been digging around the forums for a couple hours for ideas.

It looks like you have a 4 bolt intake. Which would mean you have an 86-87 aero, or at least an engine from one. I'd rebuild it as well. It has plenty of potential!!! Talk to red eft for a bore kit as well. Worth every penny.

Learning as I go. I have almost no mechanic experience. I have been receiving all my info from what I read from threads on this forum and feedback from members. Today I printed two pages from the 85 Aero 50cc Service manual (41/42) to remove my engine. Few beers later I got her out of there!

Kevinstonge wrote:It looks like you have a 4 bolt intake. Which would mean you have an 86-87 aero, or at least an engine from one. I'd rebuild it as well. It has plenty of potential!!! Talk to red eft for a bore kit as well. Worth every penny.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm really just trying to get it back in running condition. Some of the rollers in my variator have flat spots, so i may upgrade to an aftermarket one. other than that i really only plan on cleaning it up and possibly opening up the intake and exhaust. And I need to buy crankshaft rod and starting drive gear.