Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

I bought a basket case 86 spree over a year ago. Black with the purple logo decals. So I spent the winter of 05-06 tearing it appart and cleaning it. I mean everything!! just like in all the forum letters.New battery. Marbles and solutions in the fuel tank. dish soap and hot water in the oil tank .Cooking the muffler in the stove. Lots of rust removal. Got the oil pump working. Soaked and cleaned the carb, I got some good used parts from Greg S. an air box ,Stator ,CDI, pulser. exhaust donut. I had it all together by summer. But wouldn't start. So it sat till 12-15-06 I admitted defeat and took it to the local Honda shop who charged me $150. to put some silicone on the crank seal on the drive side they say was bad . and tried to get me to buy a new vacume operated pet * fuel valve they say was bad. " they ran it off a bottle".
I tested the pet * before I took it in and when I suck on the vacume line
fuel flows to the carb. So when I took it from the Honda shop I sucked on the vacume line I heared a little pop and fuel flows and the bike runs. BUT Now
when I ride the bike it goes for a bit the dies out, I start it, it goes then dies out.??? My wife bought an electric scooter for Christmas I am in shame. TOM

i would run it direct.

Mine was doing this too. Try cleaning out the petcock well with carb cleaner and THEN oil it up with WD40 on the vacuum side. Sometimes older petcocks get sticky and won't open under engine vacuum.

Low engine vacuum, though, also means low compression on these engines... check that too.

I'm kinda new to this machine, but here is my 2 cents...

The float in the carb controls a valve that IF WORKING PROPERLY will not allow too much gas in the carb bowl. Therefore, you basically have two controls over getting gas into the bowl.

Most cycles only rely on the float, and don't use this "vacuum controlled auto petcock". They have a manual petcock for long term storage.

Based on these principles, you should be fine to run it off a manual petcock or som othre method to stop flow for when the day is done.