Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

Hello everybody. I was gifted a 1994 honda elite sr50 which I love,only got 126 miles on it. Trouble is it had been sitting in a garage for 15 years with a full tank of now varnish in it. I'm no mechanic but I can turn a few wrenches. Strip her down emptied and cleaned tank new pepcock fuel lines, plug, battey, strip and clean carb (4times) new needle and seat. Put it all back together with out plastics. Starter fluid in carb. Kicked kicked and kicked squirt starter fluid a boom she's alive yaay. However heres the problems that are driving me mad. Electric start cranks and cranks but will not fire, will not idle. needle all way in and out makes no difference but runs amazing when feathering throttle and lastly headlight very dull but turn signals bright and good aswell as brake and tail light. Any help would be amazing and I'm sorry if this has all been posted before but I think I've stared at carbs till I am crosseyed. Help please.need fresh eyes on this.

Starter fluid is bad news for 2strokes. Just beware if you do it. No oil to lubricate it. Clean the carb again check air filter check plug. Make sure your getting fuel into the carb. Clean carb again. I've heard guys need to clean it quite a few times to get it clean., screw needs to be 1.5 turns out. Make sure exhaust is clear. And welcome to the addiction

Battery might need a charge from sitting so long. I picked up a new Battery Tender(charger) from harbor freight for $6. Couldn't hurt to top it off.

Thanks guys. I bought a brand new battery and checked volt it's all good. I thought it might not be getting charged but when I metered the battery it was like 12.14 or something. When I kick her she runs great responsive throttle i can even run her around the block but as soon as I let her die down to idle it stops like u shut the run\stop button. Good advice on the starter fluid I never knew that. Plenty of gas in the bulb of the carb.could it be the bystarter that's causing the problem? I don't mind spending money on her to get original parts but it's just driving me loopy. The bottom screw air/mix is set 1and half turns out but I can wind the idle screw in and out all the way with no change to idle.Even when I put the idle screw in with the carb in my hand it only opens less than eighth of inch. I swear the screw is almost touching the needle. I read you could move the needle to different positions but I don't believe the net.

Pilot circuit deals with idle. Take a close look at that area. Also double check that the Air Screw is in the recommended spot per the manual. Regardless if it makes a noticeable difference while running. Only change one circuit at a time when tuning.

So it is turning over when you use the electric starter? Or is it just spinning? Check to make sure it's engaging. The pilot hole is pretty small could be partial blockage. Make its clear. Check float level make sure it's to spec. Have you checked and made sure the filter is in good shape? And post up some pics of the bike.

The starter turns strong. Just won't fire with the starter but starts everytime with a kick.It runs great it really does but as soon as I ease of the throttle it won't stay running. Excuse the ignorance but is the pilot the bottom screw and the idle the screw above it with the spring on the outside. I tried to download the pbf manual but it didn't work. I will take pictures tomorrow to post. Again thanks for your help everyone.

U got the screws right, top idle, bottom a/f. Could be ur bistarter, but most likely pilot circuit. Next to main jet is small straw like tube the size of a capri sun straw. Also with slide out looking down from top u can see small needle size hole off centered that where it comes out. I used a peice of garage door cable, peeled off a hair of it cuz its thin yet stiff wire. Poke that thru in both directions to try to clean it out with carb cleaner also. Those small passages get clogged easy when they sit. Or source a new carb.

Make sure your airbox and fikter with lid is on good, and to test your bystarter take it off the carb when the bike hasnt been running for a few hours and put the leads to the battery and see if it grows if it does then its good.

Amazing people great job I eventually found out it was the pilot tube blocked. My friend had really fine needle files he uses for his gas/plasma cutter. Cleaned the carb out again put it all back together and it works great now. Needles all set correct and the electric start is working fantastic. Now just to address the orange dim headlight. I cleaned all the ground wires all is good I'm thinking it might be the rectifier. Is there a way to test, or is it un-serviceable

I belive in the service manual there is a test to run but if not I have a working one that will work, but if the headlight is staying dim even when you rev it could be the bulb. Does it change from high to low or just give a orange glow?

There's no change in color or brightness when it's revved. Just stays the same orange glow, even between hi and lo beam. I forgot to mentire the illumination on the speedo and gluster is also very dim and can hardly be seen at night but all the gauges work

Rip_City_Spree wrote:Starter fluid is bad news for 2strokes. Just beware if you do it. No oil to lubricate it.

A word on starting fluid: modern fluids have now included upper cylinder lubrication in the formula. The can will indicate whether or not lubrication is included. True that older fluids did not have lube and is risky.
Another note of interest: When a bystarter is faulty, it can fail to close the enrichment circuit (once it has warmed up) causing a rich idle and resulting in killing the engine.
Bystarter testing is a simple process described in Wikispreedia.

Kungfooomonkey wrote:There's no change in color or brightness when it's revved. Just stays the same orange glow, even between hi and lo beam. I forgot to mentire the illumination on the speedo and gluster is also very dim and can hardly be seen at night but all the gauges work

Yeah that sounds like the rectifier. I have a few sitting around, I can give it to you but you have to pay shipping you can have one.

Also make sure the rectifier is grounded to the frame. If not it it wont work right.

Pm me if your intrested in the rectifier.