Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

I just recently bought a 1985 Honda Spree. It would run and drive but wouldn't hold an idle and would cut out coming off of throttle. The idiot before me also ran it on dirt roads with no air filter. He also said oil pump stopped working so he had a zip tie over cutting off the feed from the tank and ran premixed. Exhaust also has no gasket between the jug and exhaust. Cleaned out the carb and that didn't do anything. Compression tested it and came back with 30 psi. Did a top end rebuild on it and cleaned out the bottom end as there was dirt in it. Took it for a drive after idling it for a bit and breaking in the new parts and instantly cut out under high speed. Recompression tested it and it showed 35 psi but still struggled to hold an idle and bogged out under high throttle. My buddies Honda spree showed 30 psi of compression using the same tester but ran completely fine. I've seen a few things about reeds or the oil o-ring can cause problems like these. My thought was maybe new reeds as the dirt could have cut them up. Let me know what you think or if you need more information.

You can't just install a new bore kit then go riding it like it was an old scooter. You must follow break-in procedures and make sure no other air is entering the motor except through the carburetor/air filter box. Read the post just before this one for some insight to break-in or you can just give it to someone else and be done with it.

Dirt in crankcase = RIP crank and rod bearings

Pinching off the oil pump line and running it dry is bad juju. It spins by way of the crankshaft. Except now its spinning/pumping with no lube. Doing this long enough would eventually cause thermal breakdown, seize the pump, create excessive heat and likely spit shiny metal parts into the crankcase.

If your buddy’s rig “runs great at 30psi”…buy a new compression test kit. Needs to be like 100 give or take.

It needs a full teardown to accurately assess the damage caused by the previous owner’s neglect and shade-tree mechanic handywork.