Honda Spree and Elite 50 Forums

So it got warm in Charlotte today, almost 80 degrees. Spree ran just fine to work, but when I was coming home, it ran like crap. As in, it was struggling to keep up to 20MPH, and it dragged * getting there. I checked all the usual suspects, but everything seemed ok. Then, while it was running (poorly), I was behind the bike and noticed some crap stuck in hole in the back of the muffler. I poked at it with a screwdriver and it all blew out. It's hard to describe what it was. It kind of resembled burned tar paper, like the kind used underneath shingles on a roof. There were a few chunks of this crap that flew out, then all of a sudden, the Spree started running right again, just like that. The stuff that came out was black and when I picked it up and rubbed it between my fingers, it turned into black dust.

I pulled off the muffler, and when I shake it, there is a very noticable rattling. It's like there something in there, and it seems like something big. I ran some water through the muffler (forward and backward), then I put it on the grill with the grill running at full blast. I found a pinhole leak in the muffler as well.

Is the rattling normal? What the * is in there? And the pinhole leak, is that something to be concerned about? I'm thinking I should start looking for a new exhaust soon.

Thanks,

-aseigler

That black stuff is carbon build up. I would clean the muffler as in the tech docs. Make sure you are running 2 stroke injector oil in the bike. The wrong type of oil will cause that buildup in the muffler. A pin hole leak is nothing to worry about unless its the beginning of a bad rust hole. Make sure your exhaust port on the cylinder head where your muffler attaches is not all blocked up either.

I only run GN2 in the bike, but the flying spaghetti monster only knows what the peeps who had it before me ran. I wouldn't be surprised if it was 4 stroke motor oil. Top end has been fully rebuilt, all carbon removed. The rest is in the muffler, I guess.

I'll try not to worry about the leak. It's just above the heat shield. I first noticed when I painted the muffler black and the shield red. After a few days, I saw a big black spot on the red heat shield. I kinda knew there was a leak at that point, but when water came out of it, I knew exactly where it was.

I think I'll go for the chemical method of muffler cleaning this weekend.

Thanks,

-aseigler

CharlotteSpreeRider wrote:I only run GN2 in the bike, but the flying spaghetti monster only knows what the peeps who had it before me ran.

You a Pastafarian? I love being a pastafarian, cant wait to see the beer volcano and tour the stripper factory!

Holy crap, is this muffler ever clogged. Today I poured in some Seafoam into the muffler and let it soak into the carbon deposits for a few hours. Then I used the water hose to blow water forward and backward through the muffler for a few minutes. Then I'd pour out as much water and shake the * out of the muffler to try to break up the carbon, then flush forward and backward with water again. Then when my arms got tired, I'd throw the thing on the grill for 30 minutes to dry out the deposits and try to get them to get brittle, then shake it again to break up more deposits, then flush with water again.

So far, I've gotten over 100 large chunks of carbon out. By large, I mean from the size of a dime to just over the size of a quarter, and about the thinkness of a dime. A great many much smaller bits have also come out, and it is starting to feel lighter, and when I shake it, it's obvious that progress is being made. It's just taking FOOOORRRREVVVVEEEERRRRR....

-aseigler

Get a keg, 20 friends and throw the muffler in the bonfire and watch the muffler self clean itself. Remove in morning after hangover and ur set to go

Sadly, due to extreme drought, there is a statewide burn ban in North Carolina. Even if there wasn't, I'd have to get a permit to burn in Mecklenburg county, which is nearly impossible to get. I'd have to drive 2 hours to my wife's dad's house in the middle of nowhere to do anything like that. It might come to that if I can't get this thing cleaned out soon.

-aseigler

That just shows what running the wrong type of oil can do. A lot of people who do not know or just do not care think any type of oil will do. Its a sure bet to not only clog up the muffler but the inside of the engine as well.

I got the inside of the motor fixed up last month. I'm starting to think this pipe may be toast. The pinhole leak I've discovered is on the weld on the back baffle. There are massive chunks of crap stuck in the muffler between the baffles that will just not come out. I got a crapload of carbon chunks out this weekend, but the more I get out, the more just keep seeming to come out. This stuff is really weird. It's not like a charcoal briquet, it's very much like really thick tarpaper. All the fibers run in the same direction on each layer. It's really bad. I've had to pull over twice and find a twig on the side of the road to unclog the exhaust from this stuff that has loosened up in the exhaust.

This bike has only run GN2 since I've had it (almost 1 year/1000 miles), but the FSM only knows what was in it before. The carbon build up on the exhaust port on the jug was just horrific before I cleaned it last month.

-aseigler

This damned muffler is really starting to get on my nerves. I had no idea how bad the pipe was. Now I've went and loosened all the crap up, and it's stuck. Some of the chunks have been 4mm thick. Every time I ride it, at some point, I have to pull over and poke at the exhaust with a stick to loosen up the piece that is blocking the exhaust. I've gone from having a pretty decent low end and about a 30MPH top end (unless downhill with tailwind), to now most of the time limited to about 25, even on the downhill, and struggling to stay over 20 on a very slight uphill. I'm about to drill out the back baffle just to try to get my top end back.

-aseigler

when i used to race YSRs in cali we used to take our stock pipes and have them boiled at a radiator shop over night. It always cleaned out all the crap in them. Or if thats not possible, get drain cleaner or boraxo, make sure it has lye in it, pour it in and let sit and few hours, rise out, repeat if needed. if its bad let it sit over night, rinse out and let your ped idle for about 10/15 mins.
hope that helps

I ended up finding a brand new Spree exhaust (round one). It was NOS, for real, as in never bolted to a bike before, and you could tell. Looking through the hole in the back, the inside was all shiny except for a very light surface rust right around the inside of the hole. Amazingly, this new exhaust is heavier than that exhaust I had on there. I don't have a scale so I couldn't weigh them, but the old (bad) one is alot lighter, and seems to have a large chunk of metal stuck in it. The new one is quite a bit quieter. No noticeable loss of top end so far, but it accellerates much, much more smoothly.

-aseigler

CharlotteSpreeRider wrote:I ended up finding a brand new Spree exhaust (round one).
-aseigler

You should cut open the old one, and take pictures. I'm sure we'd all be excited to see how bad it looks in there.

I think I tore the old one up with drain cleaner containing hydrochloric acid. It has a small and growing hole in it and I think it's full of rust. I think I dissolved the baffles, and that's what the chunk of metal that is rattling around is. I'm sure the thick part that comes down off the exhaust port on the cylinder is probably still useful for something. If I knew how to weld and had a welding machine, I imagine I could weld up a replacement.

-aseigler